Joseph Mills. EN 102. Spring 2012. John Burroughs Proposal Paper. As Laozi
once said, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” 1. For this.
Joseph Mills EN 102 Spring 2012
John Burroughs Proposal Paper As Laozi once said, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”1 For this assignment, which feels like a thousand-mile journey, my first step took place at the Library of Congress, where I looked for primary source material on John Burroughs,2 a 19th century American naturalist. There are several reasons I chose to write about Burroughs, the most compelling one being that the Library of Congress has an extensive collection of his manuscripts (there was nothing on Bob Marshall, my first choice). Also, as a Natural Resources Management major, learning about this prominent figure in the field of conservation should benefit me in my future studies. Burroughs‟ relationships with influential figures of his time, such as Henry Ford,3 Theodore Roosevelt,4 and John Muir,5 also caught my attention. 1
Laozi, a philosopher of ancient China and the author of the Dàodéjīng, is believed to have lived around the 6th Century B.C.E. 2 John Burroughs (1837-1921), “American essayist and naturalist who lived and wrote after the manner of Henry David Thoreau, studying and celebrating nature. In his earlier years Burroughs worked as a teacher and a farmer and for nine years as a clerk in the Treasury Department, Washington, D.C. In 1867 he paid tribute to his friend Walt Whitman in the book Notes on Walt Whitman as Poet and Person. In 1871 Wake-Robin, the first of his books on birds, flowers, and rural scenes, was published. Two years later he moved to a farm in the Hudson River valley, and, from various retreats, he wrote for half a century on nature subjects. His chief books, in addition to Wake-Robin, are Birds and Poets (1877), Locusts and Wild Honey (1879), Signs and Seasons (1886), and Ways of Nature (1905). Burroughs traveled extensively, camping out with such friends as the naturalist John Muir and Theodore Roosevelt and accompanying an expedition to Alaska…. The John Burroughs Association, a society to encourage writing in natural science, was established in his memory.” “John Burroughs,” Encyclopedia Britannica Online Academic Edition, 2012, accessed 2 Mar. 2012. http://mchoudini.montgomerycollege.edu:3259/EBchecked/topic/85803/John-Burroughs 3 Henry Ford (1863-1947), “American industrialist who revolutionized factory production with his assembly-line methods. He spent most of his life making headlines, good, bad, but never indifferent. Celebrated as both a technological genius and a folk hero, Ford was the creative force behind an industry of unprecedented size and wealth that in only a few decades permanently changed the economic and social character of the United States. When young Ford left his father‟s farm in 1879 for Detroit only two out of eight Americans lived in cities; when he died at age 83, the proportion was five out of eight. Once Ford realized the tremendous part he and his Model T automobile had played in bringing about this change, he wanted nothing more than to reverse it, or at least to recapture the rural values of his boyhood. Henry Ford, then, is an apt symbol of the transition from an agricultural to an industrial America.” Carol W. Gelderman, “Henry Ford,” Encyclopedia Britannica Online Academic Edition, 2012, accessed 02 Mar. 2012. . 4 Theodore Roosevelt, “bynames Teddy Roosevelt and TR (1858-1919) the 26th president of the United States (1901–09) and a writer, naturalist, and soldier. He expanded the powers of the presidency and of the federal government in support of the public interest in conflicts between big business and labour and steered the nation toward an active role in world politics, particularly in Europe and Asia. He won the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1906 for mediating an end to the Russo-Japanese War, and he secured the route and began construction of the Panama Canal (1904–14).” John Milton Cooper, Jr., “Theodore Roosevelt,” Encyclopedia Britannica Online Academic
The information I discovered in the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress includes a finding aid6 for Burroughs‟ Papers, in addition to those of Clara Barrus, his second wife. The finding aid describes the contents of more than 3,700 items, including correspondence, scrapbooks, estate papers, and travel writings. I also discovered that the Montgomery College Libraries and the McKeldin Library of the University of Maryland, College Park, have books written by Burroughs. Although Burroughs did not publish an autobiography, others, including Clara Barrus,7 his son Julian Burroughs,8 and friends Hamlin Garland9 and William Sloane Kennedy10 have written biographies about him. When I searched the MC Catalog, I found several sources: John Burroughs: Naturalist in the Industrial Age,11The Life and Letters of John Burroughs,12The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America,13The Heart of Burroughs’s Journals,14and Literary Values, and Other Papers.15 These are the most important for now and I have either checked them out of the Takoma Park Library or ordered them from Rockville or Germantown.
Edition, 2012, accessed 02 Mar. 2012. . 5 John Muir (1838-1914), “Scottish-born American naturalist, writer, and advocate of U.S. forest conservation who was largely responsible for the establishment of Sequoia National Park and Yosemite National Park, located in California. Muir‟s article on Yosemite appeared in the 10th edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica.” “John Muir,” Encyclopedia Britannica Online Academic Edition, 2012, accessed 02 Mar. 2012. . 6 Clara Barrus and John Burroughs Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington D.C. I plan to visit the Manuscript Division next week. The collection is onsite and I will start by looking through the boxes that contain his correspondence. 7 Clara Barrus, Our Friend John Burroughs (New York: Haskell House, 1971). 8 Julian Burroughs, Recollections of John Burroughs, ed. Elizabeth Burroughs Kelley (West Park, NY: Riverby Books, 1991). 9 Hamlin Garland, My Friend John Burroughs (New York: Century Co., 1921). 10 W. S. Kennedy, The Real John Burroughs: Personal Recollection and Friendly Estimate (New York: Funk and Wagnalls, 1924). 11 Lynn C. Spangler, John Burroughs: Naturalist in the Industrial Age (New York: Films Media Group, 2007). This is an electronic resource I viewed online through the MC Library. 12 Clara Barrus, The Life and Letters of John Burroughs (New York: Russell & Russell, 1968). 13 Douglas Brinkley, The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America (New York: HarperCollins, 2009). This book contains a chapter on Burroughs, “Laying the Groundwork with John Burroughs and Benjamin Harrison.” 14 John Burroughs, ed. Clara Barrus, The Heart of Burroughs's Journals (Port Washington, N.Y., Kennikat Press, 1967). 15 John Burroughs, Literary Values, and Other Papers (Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1902).
On WorldCat I found several biographies listed that the MC Libraries own: John Burroughs,16 John Burroughs: An American Naturalist,17 The Religion of John Burroughs,18 and John Burroughs: Voice of the Catskills.19 I have ordered these books and will read the prefaces and/or Introductions carefully, in addition to checking the notes and bibliographies for more information on Burroughs and additional sources. I found several biographical articles on Burroughs on the MC Library Biography databases. The Biography in Context database had seven biographical articles on Burroughs in these sources: Encyclopedia of World Biography, Dictionary of American Biography, Almanac of Famous People, Merriam Webster's Biographical Dictionary, Environmental Encyclopedia, Contemporary Authors Online, and Encyclopedia of World Biography. In addition, Biography in Context led me to these journal articles: "Signs and Seasons,”20 by K. B. Sterling in Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries and “The Art of Seeing Things: Essays by John Burroughs.”21 CREDO Reference Biography had one article on Burroughs22 and there were none in the Biography Resource Center. I found many articles on Academic One File, Academic Search Complete, and JSTOR. Academic One File contained a dissertation by Stephen M. Mercier,23 and related articles by Michael G. Buckles,24 and John Tallmadge.25 In Academic Search Complete, I found articles
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Perry D. Westbrook, John Burroughs (New York: Twayne Publishers, 1974). Edward Renehan, John Burroughs: An American Naturalist (Post Mills, Vermont: H.N. Chelsea Green Pub. Co., 1992). 18 Clifford Hazeldine Osborne, The Religion of John Burroughs (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1930). 19 Diane Galusha, John Burroughs: Voice of the Catskills (Roxbury, N.Y., Roxbury Burroughs Club, 1987). 20 K. B. Sterling, “Signs and Seasons,” Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries (Dec. 2006): 667. Gale Biography in Context, accessed 2 Mar. 2012. 21 K. B. Sterling, "The Art of Seeing Things: Essays by John Burroughs." CHOICE: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries (July-Aug. 2001): 1983. Gale Biography in Context, accessed 7 Mar. 2012. 22 “John Burroughs,” The Crystal Reference Encyclopedia (West Chiltington: Crystal Semantics, 2005). Credo Reference, accessed 1 Mar 2012. 23 Stephen M. Mercier, “John Burroughs and the Nineteenth Century,” American Transcendental Quarterly 21.4 (Sept. 2007): 151. Academic OneFile, accessed 4 Mar 2012. 24 Michael G. Buckley, “The Footsteps of Creative Energy: John Burroughs and Nineteenth-Century Literary Natural History,” American Transcendental Quarterly, 21.4 (Dec 2007): 261-272. Academic One File, accessed 1Mar 2012. 25 John Tallmadge, “Rediscovering John Burroughs.” The American Transcendental Quarterly 21.3 (2007). Academic OneFile, accessed 5 Mar. 2012. 17
written by Daniel G. Payne26and James Perrin Warren;27 and in JSTOR, I located articles by William Gamaliel Shepard,28 Cyrus Eshleman,29 and Martyn Hart.30 My search on Project Muse and Sage Premier yielded no results. I concluded my online research for sources with the Historical New York Times and the Historical Washington Post. From these searches, I found obituaries and articles written after Burroughs‟ death. Although I have not yet finished my preliminary searches, I am considering several ways to focus my paper. First I may explore his relationship with one or more influential figures of his day. I find it interesting that he developed a relationship with industrialist Henry Ford, who one might suppose counters the goals of the conservation movement. Or I may look further into his “road trip” with Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, and Harvey Firestone. I found an article by Burroughs entitled “A Strenuous Holiday” that he wrote about such a trip. At first glance Burroughs seemed to me a pretty dull figure, but now I find this naturalist somewhat intriguing.
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Daniel G. Payne, “Emerson's Natural Theology: John Burroughs and the „Church‟ of Latter Day Transcendentalism,” American Transcendental Monthly 21.4 (Dec 2007): 235-247. Academic Search Complete, accessed 3 Mar 2012. 27 James Perrin Warren, “John Burroughs and the Scientific Imagination” American Transcendental Monthly 21.4 (Dec 2007): 235-247. Academic Search Complete, accessed 2 Mar. 2012. 28 William Gamaliel Shepard, “Roosevelt and John Burroughs,” The North American Review, Vol. 209, No. 760 (Mar.1919): 429-430. JSTOR, accessed 3 Mar. 2012. . 29 Cyrus Eshleman, “The Universe and John Burroughs,” The North American Review, Vol. 209, No. 761 (Apr., 1919): 572-573. JSTOR, accessed 3 Mar. 2012. . 30 H. Martyn Hart, “Nature and John Burroughs,” The North American Review, Vol. 208, No. 757 (Dec. 1918): 941-943. JSTOR. Accessed 3 Mar. 2012. .
