About purple martins (see Tuesday’s post, “gourds and cans”): they have become entirely dependent on humans for nests in which to breed along the North American east coast.
Susie at pbmGarden sent me the link to a short (about 8 mins.) NPR documentary about the songbirds and the threats they face in the modern world (the fault is partly in Shakespeare).
Check it out here: “The Mystery of the Missing Martins” by Adam Cole
“Birdhouse Group,” 1922, by National Photo Company, via Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division (all pictures here).
I’m not certain, but I believe this happy group of young designers/builders were Washington, D.C., schoolchildren taking part in an annual “American Forestry Association National Bird House Contest.”
The Library of Congress has a set of 1921 photos labeled as such (and also as “bird house story”). You can scroll through them by clicking on any thumbnail in the gallery below.
Unfortunately, I could find almost no other information about the competition. Today, the American Forestry Association is known as American Forests. Their website does not mention the event.
The event must have continued until at least April 15, 1924, when Senator George W. Pepper made the presentation on the Capitol grounds.
“Portrait of woman with infant,” ca. 1900, probably near Sydney, Australia, via Phillips Glass Plate Negative Collection, Powerhouse Museum Commons on flickr.
You don’t usually see such smiles in Victorian photos.
In the picture below, you can see a little more of the garden and admire the woman’s beautiful sleeves and collar.
“Sculpture and children in fountains – Jane Addams Houses,” between 1938 and 1940, Chicago, Illinois, by Peter Sekaer for the U.S. Housing Authority, via Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
The Jane Addams Homes public housing project was built in 1938 under the New Deal Public Works Administration Act. The “Animal Court” figures were carved from limestone by Edgar Miller.
The sculptures still exist, although the buildings around them were razed in the early 2000s. As of September 2013, they were in storage awaiting restoration and a new home. They may eventually return to a place near their old location, as part of a National Public Housing Museum.
There are more photos here, at the blog Playscapes.
“Children swinging on pier rope at beach,” between 1900 and 1920, by Detroit Publishing Co., via Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
enclos*ure 