January 19, 1921. Central American union attempt, and nature.

On a day, in 2021, in which large numbers of Honduran refugees are trying to march north from Guatemala into Mexico, and on to the United States, it's worth remembering that on this day in 1921 the last attempt at a union of  El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Costa Rica to form a second Federation of Central America occurred.

The attempt failed as the delegates were provisional in nature, meaning that their efforts were free to ignored back in their home states, all of which had their own politics.

The union would be a natural one, and an advantageous one as well.  The Central American states are too small to be effective countries and they're too small not to be buffeted by internal politics, a problem for all very small nations.  That may sound odd coming from the United States, which is enduring a particularly odd moment in its history right now, but if we stop to consider how volatile the politics in individual US states are, the problem is obvious.

On the same day Frederick C. Lincoln, noted ornithologist for the United States Biological Survey, and creator of the flyway concept, was photographed in his occupation.

Lincoln pointing out a band on duck's foot.

Lincoln had developed improved method of trapping and banding birds, and was active in taking information from hunters, as part of the expansion of scientific and regulatory effort associated with the migratory bird treaty that had just gone into effect in 1918.

A veteran of the First World War, during which he served as an experts on pigeons, he's buried in Arlington National Cemetary.  He died in 1960 at the age of 68.

On the same day, school children were photographed in connection with contests sponsored by the National Forestry Association.

It's easy to make a lot of assumptions about the world of the 1920s that are unwarranted, including about the state of nature, if you will.  In reality, in the 1920s efforts conservation efforts were still somewhat in their infancy.  Not to the extent that they had been in 1900, but none the less they had a long ways to go.  The super abundant wildlife we see now in much of the country, in spite of the gigantic increase in the human population, is really something that came about post World War Two.

This contest was a birdhouse contest.  Note the footwear in evidence in this photograph.  Everyone is wearing boots, and the girl on the far left a heavy pair of boots at taht.

And lots of urban Americans had little contact with nature on a day to day basis in the 1920s.  Having said that, the country was much more rural than it is presently.  And people, if less exposed to the wilds than we might imagine, if they were urban dwellers, retained a more realistic, and perhaps therefore a more appreciative, and certainly less warped view of it, than they do today.