Inquiry into diverse intelligences
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Ant hill at Fort Monroe, Virginia
Fort Monroe moat. Photo: Air US Army. For a closer, clearer look at the Fort Monroe moat structure, view this page.
Situated at Old Point Comfort in Hampton, Virginia, Fort Monroe was decommissioned in 2011 after 188 years of active service. It is also known as "Freedom's Fortress" for becoming a safe haven for enslaved people during the Civil War. The site is open to the public, featuring the Casemate Museum, beaches, and walking trails.
Diverse intelligences
Fascinated by much to understand about this ant hill at Fort Monroe, Virginia, we:
wondered at the circular – slightly angular circular – shape of this mound
comparing it with the circular with angular corners shape of the grassy moat top that we had just walked at the military fort.
the moat shape is a circular with protrusions for cannon gun mounts
a grassy moat looming over the fort designed by military engineers
does the structure of the circular ant hill also have a defensive function?
did it evolve from the simpler mound shape of ant hills?
and that was just the beginning of the questions, ending with:
what unified sensibility supervised the ants, each bearing a single grain of sand?
Let’s continue the explorations with your photos and text. Great results come from open collaboration and a shared sense of purpose … and wonder.
Community Bulletin Board
Have an announcement related to our connections with the natural world? Send the details in a message through our "Contact" form for your announcement to be included in our community listings on the bulletin board below.
Note to browsers
A Living Gallery
This portal page changes regularly, and we want your contributions to be part of the evolution. We are looking for brief visual stories of the natural world and the ways we interact with it (as exemplified by the ant hill reflections above). To submit your photography or artwork, please describe your piece and provide your email address via the message section of our "Contact" form inside. If selected, we will design a format to fit your content.
Publications
Historic Anacostia community ecosystems
In her new book, Tiny Gardens Everywhere: The Past, Present, and Future of the Self-Provisioning City, historian Kate Brown provide a history of urban food production. A striking example in the book is the Anacostia communuty in Washington, D.C. During the 1910s and 20s, black residents there faced systemic neglect from city planners who refused to provide basic infrastructure like sewers or garbage pickup. In response, these residents developed an impressively resourceful closed-loop ecosystem. They managed waste through innovative composting systems and pig farming, and engineered their own water filtration systems using roof runoff and gravel—effectively inventing sustainable urban living. As Brown notes, they “were doing all the things that would be considered green architecture today.”
Community Bulletin Board
Prepare to see the American landscape through a new perspective in Beronda L. Montgomery’s When Trees Testify. Part scientific exploration and part ancestral reclamation, this compelling narrative reveals how the histories of black Americans are rooted deep within the soil and branches of our most iconic flora. From the pecan trees domesticated by the expertise of enslaved Africans to the sycamores that served as silent sentinels on the path to freedom, Montgomery, an award-winning plant biologist, transforms these "material witnesses" into storytellers. It is a vibrant, soul-stirring look at black botanical mastery and a reminder that while the stories of the past are often hidden, the trees have always been listening—and now, they are finally answering.
Events
134TH ANNUAL FARMERS CONFERENCE
Tuskegee University, February 19 - 20, 2026
Join us back on campus for workshops, hands-on demonstrations, tours and a "Taste of the Black Belt". Let's Grow Stronger Together!
The Farmers Conference at Tuskegee University is often cited as the oldest event of its type in the nation. The first Farmers Conference, originally called the “Peoples Conference” was hosted on this historic campus on February 23, 1892. This conference exists today as a two-day educational forum that features tours, panel discussions, interactive demonstrations and concurrent workshops.
