New Light on the History of American Ornithology and the Legacy of Alexander Wilson
Friday, October 13, 2023
6:45 PM-8:45 PM
For more than a century, Alexander Wilson (1766–1813) has been hailed as the “Father of American Ornithology.” However, groundbreaking new work by Academy Research Associate Matthew R. Halley challenges that paradigm by unveiling the forgotten ornithological contributions of Charles Willson Peale (1741–1827) and his children.
Peale was a polymath and proprietor of the Philadelphia Museum, which occupied the second floor of Independence Hall — then known as the Pennsylvania State House — during Wilson’s time. Through a systematic study of mostly unpublished and rare primary sources in Philadelphia-based archives, Halley has reconstructed the first digital inventory of Peale’s famous bird collection, which dramatically changes our understanding of the historical development of scientific ornithology in the United States, and the legacy of Wilson and later scientists.
Matthew R. Halley is an ornithologist and historian from Chester County, Pennsylvania. He is the assistant curator of birds at the Delaware Museum of Nature & Science and a research associate at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, where he earned his PhD in 2021.
Halley is also a Fellow and former Editor of the DVOC. He has extensive research experience in the United States and abroad, especially in the Neotropics, and has authored dozens of research papers about bird evolution and the history of American science. During the last decade, Halley relocated and exposed a litany of overlooked primary sources, which have reshaped our understanding of historical figures like Wilson and Audubon, and the development of scientific ornithology in the United States.
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Illuminating Birds will be open to attendees. The doors to the auditorium will open at 6:30 p.m. and the presentation will start at 7 p.m. The presentation will also be accessible via Zoom which will go live at 6:45 p.m.
Whether attending in person or via Zoom, register for the event here: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0kceqqrT8vHNIIaGUgFJh4h-4wrSyHNB-3