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"B" is for Bachman, John

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  “B” is for Bachman, John [1790-1874]. Clergyman, naturalist. Born in New York, Bachman moved to Charleston in 1815 to become the pastor of St. John's Lutheran Church. He was a leader in the formation of the Lutheran Synod and in the founding of Newberry College. During the 1830s he began to publish articles on native birds, flora, and mammals. A chance meeting with the great naturalist John James Audubon led to a life-long personal and professional relationship. In collaboration with Audubon, Bachman published the massive work, The Quadrupeds of North America, which further enhanced his reputation as one of the country's leading naturalists. In the 1840s and 1850s John Bachman achieved further scientific acclaim with his defense of the idea of the unity of all races of humans as members of the same species.

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Dr. Walter Edgar has two programs on South Carolina Public Radio: Walter Edgar's Journal, and South Carolina from A to Z. Dr. Edgar received his B.A. degree from Davidson College in 1965 and his Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina in 1969. After two years in the army (including a tour of duty in Vietnam), he returned to USC as a post-doctoral fellow of the National Archives, assigned to the Papers of Henry Laurens.