#cincy library

[realtapiocafan]

I'M CACKLING

[cincylibrary]

Mississippi kite. From John James Audubon’s Birds of America v.02, circa 1834-1834.

[cincylibrary]

Selections from The heritage of Hiroshige, c1912. 

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Selections from American ornithology v.03, 1811.

The Carolina parrot or parakeet in the top image is now unfortunately extinct. Due mostly to humans hunting them for their colorful feathers for fashion purposes. These birds were also captured and sold in the pet trade and also battled invasive species in their natural habitat.

[cincylibrary]

On January 28, 1856, Margaret Garner, her husband Robert, their four children, and approximately 11 other enslaved people crossed the frozen Ohio River. The Garners sought shelter in Margaret’s uncle’s home along Mill Creek. While in hiding, Margaret’s uncle, worried about how to keep the family safe, left his home to consult with Cincinnati abolitionist Levi Coffin.

Before his return home, U.S. Marshals and slave catchers surrounded and ultimately stormed the home. Faced with seeing her children returned to slavery, Margaret ended her two year old’s life just before being apprehended.

Margaret was held for trial in Cincinnati and abolitionists from across the country came to support her. Abolitionist Lucy Stone spoke at her trial stating, “If in her deep maternal love she felt the impulse to send her child back to God, to save it from coming woe, who shall say she had no right not to do so?”

Margaret was returned to slavery. When Ohio authorities got a warrant for Garner to try her for murder, they were unable to find her. She and her husband, Robert, died in 1858 of typhoid fever in Mississippi. Garner’s story inspired Nobel Prize-winner Toni Morrison’s novel "Beloved".

See this image and more of Cincinnati’s Black history in CHPL’s Digital Library:

[cincylibrary]

Brown pelican. From John James Audubon’s Birds of America, 1835

[cincylibrary]

Selections from American ornithology v.08, by Alexander Wilson, 1814.

[cincylibrary]

Black skimmer or shearwater. From John James Audubon’s Birds of America v.04, 1836.