*Virtual* EX LIBRIS: The Feather Detective

The Providence Athenaeum enriches the mind, inspires the spirit, and elevates public discourse.As an independent, member-supported library and cultural center located on Providence’s historic Benefit Street, the library has welcomed illustrious writers, spirited thinkers, and intellectual community members through its doorsover its nearly 200 years of existenceto engage in reading, conversation, and debate.

Providence Athenæum

The Feather Detective: Mystery, Mayhem, and the Magnificent Life of Roxie Laybourne

<h4>The EX LIBRIS program series from the Providence Athenæum features an array of humanities scholars, authors, historians, and thought leaders, illuminating fascinating topics and inspiring the intellectually curious. EX LIBRIS programs take place at the Athenæum in front of a live studio audience and are simulcast via Zoom, as well as recorded. This is the VIRTUAL event. Members can purchase $5 in-person tickets <a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/in-person-ex-libris-the-feather-detective-tickets-1545483385409?aff=oddtdtcreator" title="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/in-person-ex-libris-the-feather-detective-tickets-1545483385409?aff=oddtdtcreator" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">here</a>.</h4> Feathers can turn up in the unlikeliest of places: the nostrils of a murder victim, the engines of a crashed airliner, the drying machine lint trap of a former KKK Grand Dragon who tarred and feathered a Civil Rights activist. These are just some of the cases that the world's first forensic ornithologist, Roxie Laybourne, encountered during her storied and at times tumultuous career within the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History. Using nothing but her microscope and the museum’s massive collection of birds, Roxie pioneered methods for turning shredded fragments of feathers into accurate species identifications. Chris Sweeney, author of The Feather Detective: Mystery, Mayhem, and the Magnificent Life of Roxie Laybourne, unearths the history of this unusual and utterly consequential field of science and tell the story of the enigmatic woman who pioneered it.-Chris Sweeney is an award-winning journalist and author of The Feather Detective: Mystery, Mayhem, and the Magnificent Life of Roxie Laybourne. His writing has appeared in Audubon, The Guardian, Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, and Wired, among many others. Over the years he has reported on everything from the mysterious death of a Golden Eagle to the cutthroat world of competitive bagpiping to a family’s fight against an ultra-rare disease. He currently lives in Somerville, Massachusetts, with his wife and two young daughters.

The Athenæum's Fall 2025 Season is generously sponsored by the following friends and partners:

Virtual EX LIBRIS: The Feather Detective

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*Virtual* EX LIBRIS: The Feather Detective

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Virtual EX LIBRIS: The Feather Detective