April 26: Birthday of John James Audubon (1785)
Prayer Idea
Pray for people who seek to understand and protect birds and other wildlife.
History Note
John James Audubon was born on April 26, 1785, on the island of Santo Domingo, now known as Haiti. His father was a French naval officer who owned a sugar plantation there. Audubon’s father encouraged an early interest in the natural world and in birds particularly.
Audubon moved to Pennsylvania in 1803, where his father owned another farm. There he married Lucy Bakewell in 1808. They later lived in Kentucky and in Louisiana. Audubon became a talented artist. He painted portraits, taught art lessons, and worked as a taxidermist. He once painted backgrounds for exhibits in a museum.
In 1820 Audubon embarked on his great life project—researching and painting the birds of America. He traveled widely, from Labrador in Canada to the Florida Keys to Texas. He studied birds in their natural habitat, took specimens, and painted them lifesize with realistic backgrounds. During his long absences from home, his wife Lucy worked as a schoolteacher and governess. Their sons Victor Audubon and John Woodhouse Audubon also became artists who worked with their father.
A publisher in the United Kingdom agreed to publish Audubon’s artwork. Audubon did most of the original illustrations, though he had help from artists Joseph Mason, Maria Martin, and George Lehman. Customers subscribed to receive a collection of individual prints. The Birds of America appeared in dozens of installments between 1827 and 1838. The complete set featured 435 images, each measuring about 39” by 26”.
In the 1839 introduction to a smaller version of The Birds of America, John James Audubon wrote that he never could cease “to admire and to study with zeal and the most heartfelt reverence, the wonderful productions of an Almighty Creator.” John James Audubon died in 1851.
One of Lucy Audubon’s students was George Bird Grinnell (1849-1938). Grinnell helped to found the National Audubon Society to protect birds and bird habitats. It recognizes April 26 as National Audubon Day.
This photo shows an illustration from The Birds of America on display at the National Museum of Natural History. Photo by Toohool / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0.
Learn More
This video shows a copy of The Birds of America that is on permanent display at the Public Library of Cincinnati.
Explore more resources at Homeschool History.
