Avian Ecopedagogies: Women Ornithologists and Environmental Education in Late Nineteenth-Century America

Abstract

This article examines ornithological children’s literature by women naturalists of the nineteenth century through the lens of citizen science for environmental citizenship, paying special attention to how such works paved the way to early forms of environmental education. It aims to discuss how these texts allowed American female ornithologists to develop ecopedagogical strategies against bird extinction by encouraging children’s involvement in early animal welfare and nature conservation movements, this fomenting the development of environmental awareness from an early age at a time of recurrent bird slaughter. In order to do so, it explores didactic tools in children’s books published by female members of the Audobon movement for bird protection, namely, Olive Thorne Miller, Fannie Hardy Eckstorm, and Neltje Blanchan. By publishing children’s literature, these nature writers contributed to a new understanding of Victorian natural science, one which encompassed respectful interactions with non-human life and which acknowledged the role of environmental education in preventing further ecological destruction.

Keywords

• citizen science
• environmental education
• ornithology
• victorian literature
• women writers
• environmental citizenship
• children’s literature
• ecopedagogy