The 2025 Bartram Trail Conference will be held in St. Augustine, Florida, where both John and William Bartram visited in October 1765. The venue is historic Flagler College. All events will be held at the Ringhaver Student Center, 59 Sevilla Street.
The Bartrams in Florida are the focus this year, so if you live in Florida, this is an excellent opportunity to gain a deeper appreciation of their travels here through many lenses. It's also a great time to get connected or reconnected to the Bartram Trail Society of Florida!
12:00 PM to 1:00 PM Flagler College, Virginia Room
Our annual membership meeting is held immediately before the Trails workshop - please plan to attend if you're a member or if you're interested in joining. It's a free and open meeting.
Trails Workshop is Free!
The conference begins on Friday with a Trail Workshop sponsored by the Bartram Trail Society of Florida. The workshop is free, but please register to attend so we can prepare accordingly. If you're working on the Bartram Trail in Florida, we'd love to see you there!
Building the Bartram Trail Workshop | Aug 1, 2025 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM Flagler College, Virginia Room
Dr. Tony Abbott admires a panel he contributed to at the Bartram Garden at the Stetson University Institute for Water & Environmental Resilience in Volusia County.
Conference Overview
Friday evening: Reception and viewing of the film Cultivating the Wild
Saturday's Symposium: Lectures featuring leading scholars on William Bartram. All presentations will focus on William Bartram's time in East Florida!
Saturday Evening Keynote: Imagining Other Lives: Plant and Animal Perspectives in the Work of William Bartram, by Dr. Elizabeth A. Athens, author of William Bartram's Visual Wonders.
This book highlights the importance of the vivacity and unique integration of text and image employed by Bartram at a time when many illustrators drew from dry plant specimens.
Bartram's integrated view of nature's interconnectedness influenced modern ecology. Anyone familiar with Bartram has probably fallen under the spell of his vivid writing and captivating imagery. Dig deeper into this heart of Bartram scholarship with Dr. Athens.
Sunday Morning: Optional Bus Tour and Kayak Tours (Tours fill fast, so book soon if you're interested!)
This park is a 40-acre waterfront historic site, featuring a Smithsonian-sponsored recreation of the original fort built to defend the first legally sanctioned free African settlement in what would become the United States.
This park preserves both history and natural beauty and offers picnic areas, an observation boardwalk, birding opportunities, a kayak launch and a visitor center/museum. The Bartrams visited this site (at the time in British hands) in 1765.
