ENV 305: BARTRAM, ECOLOGY, AND MEMORY

The activities of John and William Bartram cover a century, from the colonial period through the revolutionary period and into national history. The published and unpublished writings of the two botanists can be studied through the lens of memory studies and environmental psychology. They are a case study in the relationship between humans and the natural world, and the relationship between environment and memory. During their travels, they collected and discovered dozens of new plants and animals and introduced many of these to other countries (especially England). When they traveled, various Native American groups controlled large territories and the Bartrams both personally interacted with the Native individuals and were guests of delegations sent to negotiate with Native groups. Their recorded perceptions and memories of the Native Americans they encountered make them ideally suited to introduce us to the intertwined history, geography, biology and Native American cultures of colonial America.