AUBURN, Ala- The Auburn Public Library is hosting a new traveling exhibit: "William Bartram and Alabama," a celebration of the naturalist’s journey through the Southeast and his enduring legacy in science, art and culture. The exhibit will be available for public viewing Aug. 4-Sept. 4 in the Library’s atrium.

"William Bartram and Alabama: A Traveling Exhibit" is sponsored by the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts & Humanities in the College of Liberal Arts at Auburn University. The exhibit is funded in part by the Leah Rawls Atkins Endowed Fund for Excellence and the Ann Draughon Cousins Endowed Fund for Excellence.

About the Exhibit

"Bartram and Alabama" explores naturalist William Bartram's groundbreaking 1775-76 journey through Alabama during his four-year botanical expedition across the Southeast. Following what later became the Federal Road, Bartram traveled through present-day Russell and Macon counties to the future site of Montgomery, then southwest through Lowndes, Butler, Conecuh, Escambia and Baldwin counties to Mobile, documenting Creek towns and Native American cultures. His detailed observations became essential resources that historians still use today for understanding 18th-century southeastern flora, fauna and indigenous peoples.

Special Thanks

Concept and Content: Dr. Kathryn Holland Braund, Hollifield Professor of Emerita of History at Auburn University. Graphic Design: Laura Murray

Auburn University Libraries provided images from "Watercolours & Drawings by William Bartram, 1739-1823, including those made on his travels in Carolina, Georgia, & Florida during the 1770s," published in Facsimile by Alecto Historical Editions in Association with the Natural History Museum, London, 2003.  This unique edition was gifted to Auburn University Libraries by Helen and Dwight Carlisle and is available to researchers through AU Special Collections and Archives.

"Cultivating the Wild" is a one-hour documentary that focuses on six Southerners committed to reclaiming the nature of the South through art, science and culture. Their inspiration is William Bartram. Co-produced by South Carolina Educational Television, Delicate Prince Pictures and Sputnik Pictures.

For more information about visiting the exhibit, please call 334-501-3090 or email weblibrary@auburnal.gov.