DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For
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LABORATORIES, LYCEUMS, LORDS: THE NATIONAL ZOOLOGICAL PARK AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF HUMANISM IN NINETEENTH-CENTURY AMERICA DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Daniel A. Vandersommers, M.A. Graduate Program in History The Ohio State University 2014 Dissertation Committee: Professor Randolph Roth, Advisor Professor John L. Brooke Professor Chris Otter Copyright by Daniel A. Vandersommers 2014 ABSTRACT This dissertation tells the story of how a zoo changed the world. Certainly, Charles Darwin shocked scientists with his 1859 publication On the Origin of Species, by showing how all life emerged from a common ancestor through the process of natural selection. Darwin’s classic, though, cannot explain why by the end of the century many people thought critically about the relationship between humans and animals. To understand this phenomenon, historians need to look elsewhere. Between 1870 and 1910, as Darwinism was debated endlessly in intellectual circles, zoological parks appeared suddenly at the heart of every major American city and had (at least) tens of millions of visitors. Darwin’s theory of evolution inspired scientists and philosophers to theorize about humans and animals. Public zoos, though, allowed the multitudes to experience daily the similarities between the human world and the animal kingdom. Upon entering the zoo, Americans saw the world’s exotic species for the first time—their long necks, sharp teeth, bright colors, gargantuan sizes, ivory extremities, spots, scales, and stripes. Yet, more significantly, Americans listened to these animals too. They learned to take animals seriously as they interacted with them along zoo walkways. In fact, zoo animals led zoogoers in surprising directions— to the halls of Congress, to the halls of museums, to global trade networks, to the birth of the airplane, to the formation of primatology, to tuberculosis outbreaks, to the rise of animal rights, and to the genesis of ecology. Zoos, in turn, ushered animals into the heart of American politics, print culture, science, environmentalism, ethics, and medicine. Zoological parks encouraged visitors to approach animals on their own terms. In so doing, zoos put Humanism on display, where the limits of anthropocentrism could be scrutinized ii by a zoogoing world. Zoological parks at the turn of the century prepared the way for later environmental, conservation, and animal rights movements. They prepared the way for later cultural entanglements with the life sciences, like the Scopes Monkey Trial. Zoological parks functioned as theaters that first demonstrated simple lessons about animals that would capture the attention of the ever-expanding and ever-specializing body of scholars devoted to the study of life throughout the twentieth century. And zoological parks functioned as the first public tutorials in post-humanist thinking. This dissertation tells the story of how a zoo transformed the way that Americans thought about humans, animals, and environments. iii DEDICATION To Miles From Daddy I love you iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Many individuals have contributed to the successful completion of this dissertation. First mention is reserved for my dissertation committee. Randolph Roth, my dissertation advisor, taught me to embrace interdisciplinary thinking, encouraged me to follow my passions, pushed me to improve my writing, and always provided encouragement and support. John Brooke showed me how to look into the past and see both micro- and macrocosms simultaneously. He always went out of his way to express confidence in my project and me. And Chris Otter, who directed the environmental history seminar in which this project was born, taught me the most important lesson of my graduate school years—Read broadly because things are interconnected in surprising ways. Beyond these three mentors, I must also thank Alan Gallay, Walter Rucker, Stephen Kern, Nigel Rothfels, and Leslie Alexander. These professors took interest in me, and they all contributed to shaping me as a scholar and teacher. Furthermore, I would like to acknowledge Michael Kimaid, Amílcar Challú, and Leigh Ann Wheeler for first kindling my love for history at Bowling Green State University. Research over the last four years has led me to many archives. I must thank the staff of the following institutions: The Philadelphia Zoo Archives, Library Company of Philadelphia, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Museum of Science in Boston, Harvard University Archives, Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University, Massachusetts Historical Society, Bronx Zoo Archives, Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress, National Air and Space Archives, National Anthropological Archives, and (most importantly) the Smithsonian Institution Archives. Research conducted at these institutions shaped this dissertation and my larger project v concerning zoos and zoology in American history. I am indebted to the archivists, librarians, and staff associated with these institutions. Financial support for my research has been provided by The Ohio State University Graduate School; The Ohio State University Department of History; The Ohio State University College of Arts and Sciences; The Society for Literature, Science, and the Arts; The Kauffman Family Research Fund; and the National Science Foundation. I am thankful for everyone who believed in and supported my research. When I page through this dissertation, I see the fingerprints of loved ones in its margins. First, I would like to thank my parents, Dana and Aaron Vandersommers, for reading to me as a child. I truly believe that those (almost) daily trips to the library and bookmobile are somehow responsible for everything I have accomplished in school, from elementary years to doctoral years. I would like to thank Steve and Debbie McCarter for demonstrating what it means to live lives fueled by curiosity. They also showed me how to live for others. I would like to thank Dan Watkins for reading and commenting on drafts of several of the chapters below. I would like to thank Jeff Battiste for a decade of intellectual conversation and, more importantly, friendship. And I would like to thank Megan Pillar for loving me in and through all things. vi VITA June 2003 Graduated High School Wadsworth High School Wadsworth, Ohio May 2007 Earned B.A. in History Bowling Green State University Bowling Green, Ohio June 2010 Earned M.A. in American History The Ohio State University Columbus, Ohio May 2011 Ph.D. Candidate The Ohio State University Department of History Columbus, Ohio PUBLICATIONS “History from the Howdah: A New Methodology for Animal History.” Review of Entertaining Elephants: Animal Agency and the Business of the American Circus, by Susan Nance. Humanimalia: A Journal of Human/Animal Interface Studies 5, no. 2 (Spring 2014). "William Temple Hornaday e Sua Zoologia Taxidermista: de animais mortos a animais vivos." Translated by Eduardo Vasconcelos. Expedições: Teoria da História e Historiografiada 3, no. 2 (2012): 9-46. FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: History Specialization: Early American History Secondary Specializations: Environmental, Atlantic World vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ............................................................................................................................................ ii Dedication ....................................................................................................................................... iv Acknowledgments............................................................................................................................ v Vita................................................................................................................................................. vii List of Tables .................................................................................................................................. ix List of Graphs ................................................................................................................................. xi List of Images ................................................................................................................................ xii Introduction: A “New Institutional History” of the Zoological Park ............................................... 1 Chapter 1: William Temple Hornaday and His Taxidermist Zoology ........................................... 14 Chapter 2: The Utility of a National Zoo ....................................................................................... 76 Chapter 3: Runaway Animals ...................................................................................................... 120 Chapter 4: The National Zoological Park as a Crossroads for Science and Popular Culture ...... 161 Chapter 5: Environments and Ecologies in the National Zoological Park ................................... 229 Chapter 6: Animal Activism and the Zoo-Networked Nation ..................................................... 298 Chapter 7: The Zoonotic Nature of Tuberculosis ......................................................................... 349 Conclusion: Being-in-the-World After the Zoo Movement......................................................... 403 Bibliography ................................................................................................................................ 457 viii Appendix A: Tables ....................................................................................................................