A decade ago, Parker Higgins filed FOIA requests to release over 7,000 USDA pomological watercolor images from the 1880s–1940s by removing their paywall.
The National Agricultural Library then published high-resolution scans for free, enabling public search and download of the collection.
Higgins built Python software and a bot to upload images to Wikimedia Commons, marking his start as a programmer.
He expanded outreach with social media bots on Twitter, Bluesky, and Mastodon, and promoted the collection through talks, videos, and dataset contributions.
The freely available watercolors have inspired a coffee table book, academic research, postcards, art prints, and ongoing media coverage.
The project highlights how following curiosity and advocating for the public domain can yield long-term cultural impact.
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