Moses Williams (1777- 1825) was a African-American artist and the first known black American ornithologist. Williams was born to slave parents that were freed after the age of 28, however, since he was still a teenager, he had to remain enslaved to the family of Charles Willson Peale until he hit 28 years old. Peale was a painter, naturalist, and founder of the Philadelphia Museum. Williams spent a lot of time with Peale’s children, who were taught painting, while he trained on a silhouette making machine. There is also documentation that he also aided in the gathering, prepping, sorting of bird species samples for Peale. He also learned how to dip mounted birds in a bath of hot arsenic to preserve fur and feathers. Becoming extremely skilled with that machine, he is most known for his silhouette drawings. Only in recent times has he been recognized for his contributions to expeditions.
References:
- https://matthewhalley.wordpress.com/2023/12/24/moses-williams-americas-first-black-ornithologist/
- https://anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1525/mua.1996.20.2.25?casa_token=BC_xZbPmfFMAAAAA%3A1XmAZdqmQIQF_DdF8AyJPEW1olBDqeZVRq0pyKebZAcjsFaLuVSx1gEbTHFtzMyv3GGHT8P5pFc8IwE
- https://www.thepealecenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Gwendolyn-DuBois-Shaw-on-Moses-Williams-APS-149-1-Mar-2005.pdf
- https://latinogenealogyandbeyond.com/blog/moses-williams-the-first-black-museum-professional/
Image Source:Silhouette attributed to Raphaelle Peale, after 1802.
Wikipedia via Library Company of Philadelphia
