Proclamation 2945—Audubon Centennial Year

Whereas John James Audubon, naturalist, ornithologist, and artist, by his devotion to a task which he loved and to which he dedicated his life, made an outstanding contribution to American culture and art by his paintings of the birds of America in their natural size and in the full glory of their colored plumage; and

Whereas Audubon was a forerunner of the movement for the conservation of wildlife in America, and his work continues to stimulate appreciation of the wealth and beauty of America's natural resources, serving as a constant inspiration in the continuing endeavor to preserve our birds and other wildlife from extinction; and

Whereas Audubon died on January 27, 1851, in the sixty-sixth year of his life; and

Whereas the Congress of the United States, by an act approved August 28, 1951, authorized the President to issue a proclamation designating 1951 as Audubon Centennial Year:

Now, Therefore, I, Harry S. Truman, President of the United States of America, by this proclamation, designate the year 1951 as Audubon Centennial Year, in observance of the one-hundredth anniversary of the death of John James Audubon; and I urge all Americans to do their part in furthering the efforts of our Government and of many of our citizens to protect and conserve the wildlife of America.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States of America to be affixed.

Done at the City of Washington this 18th day of September in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and fifty-one, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and seventy-sixth.

HARRY S. TRUMAN

By the President:

JAMES E. WEBB,

Acting Secretary of State.