In 1992, author and historian Joel Greenberg presented Project Passenger Pigeon to a Pittsburgh audience, inviting local institutions and individuals to join him in commemorating the centenary of the extinction of the Passenger Pigeon in 2014. As we enter this centenary year, Greenberg’s book, A Feathered River Across the Sky: The Passenger Pigeon’s Flight to Extinction (left), has been released to much acclaim, including several reviews and interviews. Greenberg’s aim is to use the centenary as a teachable moment, to seize this anniversary to reflect on the causes of not only the passenger pigeon’s extinction but other species that have been driven to extinction by human ignorance and greed.
“The story of the passenger pigeon is unlike that of any other bird. With a likely population between 3 and 5 billion, it was the most abundant bird in North America and probably the world. Yet human exploitation drove this species to extinction over the course of a few decades” (Greenberg).
Pinpointing the exact date of an extinction is rare—September 1, 1914 marks the death of the last passenger pigeon, Martha, at the Cincinnatti Zoo—and provides us with a unique opportunity to learn from the past to inform how humans and nature can sustainably coexist.
Greenberg has launched a massive effort to bring attention to this watershed year through his Project Passenger Pigeon web site, his book and a film in production. He has developed various teaching aids and has fostered a wide range of activities—lectures; museum displays; and visual, performing, and public art. Numerous institutions are on board across the eastern U.S.
In Pittsburgh, we have launched Project Passenger Pigeon Pittsburgh (P4). See the About page for info about us and our plans for 2014!
