William Bartram Hall

Honoree

William Bartram

William Bartram, born in 1739, was America's first native-born naturalist and the first author in the modern genre of writers who portrayed nature through personal experience as well as scientific observation. William and his father, John, traveled from the Appalachian mountains to Florida, experiencing eighteenth-century environments in more than eight states. In 1791, William published “Bartram’s Travels,” a book based on these travels. The book immediately influenced Europe's romantic poets and travelers and is now considered an American classic. The book is described by one scholar as "the most astounding verbal artifact of the early republic."

During the first quarter of the 19th century, William Bartram became the grand old man of American natural science, advising and mentoring the first generation of naturalists who were beginning to explore the new territories that were being added to the United States.

Facility History

William Bartram Hall houses the Department of Botany and the Department of Zoology. It was the first of a cluster of similar buildings originally planned for the south-facing hillside at the intersection of Museum Road and Newell Drive. Its design work was done by James Deen, AIA of Jacksonville, supervised by Forrest M. Kelley, Jr., architect to the Board of Regents. C.A. Fieliand, Inc., of Tampa, constructed the building at a cost of $1.8 million.