17121 SW 137th Lane Archer Florida United Methodist Church
To start the New Year Archer Historical Society is pleased to announce another of a series of talks by our member Bill Zettler on January 17th, Thursday 2019. This talk by Bill Zettler Phd. will feature one of the National Audubon Society’s founder, Thomas Gilbert Pearson. Although a native of Indiana he resided in Archer nine years before enrolling in Guilford College in North Carolina. It was in Archer that Pearson began his life-long interest in birds. Skilled as a taxidermist and plume hunter as a youth, he subsidized this college education at Guilford by selling extensive collection. After graduation from college, Pearson became an ardent conservationist, instrumental in forming the National Audubon Society. Much of his work was undertaken during the Victorian Era, noteworthy for ostentatious fashion, popular demand for feathered women’s hats, which made plumes worth their weight in gold.
Spearheaded by this organization, public opinion about plume hunting slowly began to change thanks in large part to the prescient efforts of Archer’s own Thomas Gilbert Pearson and his colleagues.
Bill Zettler Phd. Bill has had a life long interest in the subjects of biology and history. A native of Pennsylvania, he was a faculty member for 37 years at the University’s College of Agriculture before retiring in 2003, and has continued to teach on an ad hoc basis ever since then. One of his most popular courses was “Biohistory: Plants, Plagues, and People”. He is also the author of the book, “The Biohistory of Alachua County, Florida.” He and his wife, Carol, continue to live near Archer itself rich in both biology and history.