Etching by F Barlow 1671
Object ID 2003.68.1
With the passing of pioneer American falconers, important historic correspondence, photos, books, and artifacts were being lost. To meet the need for a repository to preserve this heritage, the Archives of American Falconry (AAF) was established with strong support of The Peregrine Fund founders.
The AAF, having outgrown several Peregrine Fund facilities, builds a new wing onto The Fund offices, named in honor of Peregrine Fund co-founder Bob Berry's mentor Jim Rice.
AAF commenced its Heritage Publications Series (AHPS) to make available unique, historic but previously little-known falconry works. First to be published was this 1930's manuscript penned by R. Luff Meredith, commonly acknowledged as "The Father of American Falconry."
AAF publishes the second volume in the AHPS - a previously unknown diary by young American falconer-twins John and Frank Craighead recounting an epic falconry adventure hosted by an Indian prince, chronicling an era immediately preceding the end of the British Raj.
Having outgrown the first "Rice Wing," AAF raises funds from the falconry community, again with great support from Bob Berry, to construct the "Collections Building" facility ("Rice Wing II") at the Peregrine Fund's World Center for Birds of Prey.
Failing to attract British financing, AAF is gifted a significant memento of falconry history, an ornate 1781 tea urn associated with the revival of falconry in the UK. In the same year AAF receives an Arab hunting tent from a royal family in the United Arab Emirates.
Recognizing that the majority of falconry memorabilia received from our 1930's pioneers was of foreign origin –– the Archives of American Falconry changes its name to The Archives of Falconry (TAF).
TAF adds to the list of AHPS offerings this reprinting of the first book written by a practicing British falconer (1603). Until this reprinting, the work was known only from a single copy in Yale University's Beinecke Library.
Necessitated by an increasing number of accessions and expanded administrative requirements, TAF hires its first "employee:" David Wells, as "Administrative Assistant."
Through the generosity of our supporters in the UAE, TAF opens a new exhibit wing to explore the rich falconry heritage of the Arabian Peninsula.
Founding Director S. Kent Carnie retires as "Curator Emeritus," and John Resler Swift, formerly volunteer Curator of Books and Manuscripts, becomes volunteer Curator.
TAF adds Curator Swift's extensive Bibliotheca Accipitraria II to its AHPS. This large annotated bibliography of English-language falconry books, filled a long-standing gap since its namesake, published in Britain in 1891.
Curator Emeritus Kent Carnie publishes An Ancient Sport in the New World, an extensive and long-researched book on falconry history in the Western Hemisphere. It is the most recent (to date) addition to the AHPS.
Under the leadership of Collins, the Wall of Remembrance and associated Book of Remembrance achieves increasing participation and support from the American falconry community.
Major financial support from the Wolf Creek Charitable Foundation enable TAF to separate from The Peregrine Fund and become a stand-alone non-profit organization, adopting a new Strategic Plan stressing expanded accessibility for the falconry community.