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JANE GOODALL GREAT LIVES FROM HISTORY: 2000–2017

JANE GOODALL (chimpanzees, orangutans, and gorillas), and he felt British primatologist and ethnologist that women researchers would be more observant and less threatening than men to the animals they Jane Goodall is best known for her groundbreaking were watching. Leakey even considered Goodall’s work observing chimpanzee behavior in the wild. lack of formal training to be an asset, as it would 6KHKDVPDGHVLJQL¿FDQWFRQWULEXWLRQVWRWKHVWXG\ not interfere with her observations. She agreed to of animal behavior, as well as to causes related to participate and she became, along with Biruté Gal- conservation and animal welfare. dikas who studied orangutans and Dian Fossey who studied mountain gorillas, part of the female contin- Born: April 3, 1934 gency of primatologists, an area that is one of the $UHD V RIVLJQL¿FDQFH Science and technology; few scientific fields with as many women scientists social issues as men. As Goodall set out for Gombe National Park EARLY LIFE in Tanganyika in 1960, it was the beginning of the Valerie Jane Morris-Goodall was born on April 3, longest field research study of an animal group in  LQ /RQGRQ (QJODQG $V D FKLOG VKH VKRZHG history. an interest in the animals on her grandparents’ farm, and her favorite books (The Jungle Book, Dr. Doolit- LIFE’S WORK tle, and the Tarzan stories) featured animals as main Tanganyikan and British authorities were not as enthu- characters. By the time she was ten years old, she was siastic about Goodall’s arrangement as Leakey had already dreaming of Africa, a dream that her mother EHHQ7KH\EHOLHYHGDVLQJOH(XURSHDQZRPDQLQWKH encouraged. bush would be in great danger, and they refused to allow Goodall’s parents divorced when she was twelve her to enter Gombe National Park alone. Goodall’s years old. As a single mother of two daughters, Vanne mother agreed to join her daughter, and Goodall began Morris-Goodall could not afford to send Jane to col- her study in the summer of 1960. lege, and instead she suggested that Jane attend secre- Initially, the chimpanzees were wary of her pres- tarial school. Vanne thought that secretarial skills would ence and would scatter whenever she got too close. enable her daughter to take a job anywhere in the world. 6KHVSHQWKHU¿UVWWKUHHPRQWKVDW*RPEHDOORZLQJWKH After graduating, Jane worked as a waitress, a secre- chimpanzees to become accustomed to her, often watch- WDU\DQGDSURGXFWLRQDVVLVWDQWIRUD¿OPFRPSDQ\EXW ing them through binoculars from a distance. Over time, the dream of Africa was never far from her mind. When she gave many of them names: David Greybeard, Pas- a school friend invited her to visit her family’s farm VLRQ)L¿)ORDQG*ROLDWK in Kenya, the twenty-three-year-old Goodall eagerly In October 1960, Goodall witnessed something accepted. that would challenge the accepted ideas about chimpan- Shortly after arriving in Nairobi in 1957, zees. Through binoculars, she observed a chimpanzee Goodall took a secretarial job and soon set up an she had named David Greybeard pluck a long blade of appointment to meet internationally renowned pale- grass from the ground and stick it into a termite mound. ontologist and anthropologist Dr. Louis Leakey. After he left, she ventured to the mound herself; after Goodall asked Leakey about his studies and encoun- sticking a blade of grass in the hole she discovered that ters with animals, and by the end of the meeting, it was covered with termites, common food for chim- Dr. Leakey hired Goodall as his personal secretary. panzees. She had just learned that chimpanzees could He invited her to join him and his wife, Mary, on XVHWRROVDQGWKDWWKH\PRGL¿HGWRROVWRVXLWWKHLUQHHGV a fossil dig at Olduvai Gorge in Tanganyika (now which were things completely unknown to Western sci- Tanzania). ence. Shortly after witnessing David Greybeard use Upon returning to Kenya, Goodall took a job at the blade of grass as a termite scoop, Goodall watched a Nairobi museum, but Dr. Leakey was convinced another chimpanzee strip the leaves off of a branch and she would be the perfect observer for a group of use it in a similar manner. chimpanzees near Lake Tanganyika. He was plan- 'XHWR*RRGDOO¶VODFNRIIRUPDOVFLHQWL¿FWUDLQLQJ ning in-depth field studies of each of the great apes VKHDSSURDFKHGKHUVXEMHFWVLQDQRQVFLHQWL¿FPDQQHU

264 GREAT LIVES FROM HISTORY: 2000–2017 JANE GOODALL

:KHQ*RRGDOO¶VUHVHDUFK¿QGLQJVZHUHVFUXWLQL]HG E\ WKH VFLHQWL¿F FRPPXQLW\ DV EHLQJ XQSURIHVVLRQDO and unreliable, Leakey arranged for her to obtain a PhD in ethology, the study of animal behavior, at Cam- EULGJH8QLYHUVLW\LQ(QJODQG7KHVFKRRODFFHSWHGKHU ¿HOG VWXG\ DQG H[SHULHQFH LQ OLHX RI XQGHUJUDGXDWH degrees, and though Goodall met repeated opposition from her dissertation committee for what they consid- ered her “nonobjective” style, she received her degree in 1965. In the decades since Goodall began her studies in Gombe, she has gained not only respect and legitimacy ZLWKLQWKHVFLHQWL¿FFRPPXQLW\EXWLFRQLFVWDWXUH3UL- matologists, anthropologists, and graduate students in HWKRORJ\FRQGXFW¿HOGVWXGLHVDWWKHFDPSLQ*RPEH In 1975, however, Zairian rebels (in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) invaded the camp Dr. Jane Goodall, Tournament of Roses Grand and kidnapped four students. They were later released 0DUVKDO(via Wikimedia Commons) unharmed, but the event almost caused the camp to per- manently shut down. Whereas traditional study protocol would have a scien- Goodall has dedicated her life to the study of tist assigning the chimpanzees numbers, Goodall gave chimpanzees, and she now spends less time in the them names. She viewed the chimpanzees in human ¿HOGDQGPRUHWLPHRQWKHOHFWXUHFLUFXLW,QVKH terms and attributed human characteristics and emo- founded the Jane Goodall Institute, headquartered in tions to them. She noted that individual chimpanzees Silver Spring, Maryland, with the aim of providing had different personalities and that chimpanzees had FRQWLQXDOIXQGLQJIRUFKLPSDQ]HH¿HOGUHVHDUFK7KH a humanlike social structure with nurturing mothers, mission statement of the Institute is to educate and playful children, and family bonds. empower individuals to make a difference through *RRGDOO¶V¿QGLQJVDERXWYLROHQWDQGDJJUHVVLYH conservation and environmentalism, thus creating a tendencies in chimpanzees, including cannibalism better environment for all living creatures. This is and territorial wars, were judged more harshly than especially vital to the wild chimpanzee population, her discovery of other humanlike qualities in chim- whose numbers have dropped from 2 million in 1900 panzees. Because humans and primates share 99 per- to less than 300,000 in 2012. It is believed that the cent of the same DNA, some scientists urged Goodall decline is a result of poachers selling chimpanzees to suppress her information, fearing it would justify to zoos, hunters selling meat to African markets, and war and violence in humans as genetically predeter- environmental problems such as pollution, the clear- mined. cutting of forests, and global warming destroying 7KH XQRUWKRGR[ ¿QGLQJV WKDW *RRGDOO UHSRUWHG chimpanzee habitats. IURP*RPEHZHUHFRQWURYHUVLDOLQWKHVFLHQWL¿FFRP- Among the programs sponsored by the Jane Good- munity, but the National Geographic Society found all Institute is Roots & Shoots, which encourages young them interesting enough to fund her studies when people to make positive changes and improve life for Goodall’s initially funding ran out after six months. animals, humans, and the environment. Members com- National Geographic sent photographer Hugo van plete hands-on projects in their communities ranging Lawick to chronicle Goodall’s work; van Lawick from planting trees, picking up garbage at local parks, and Goodall married in 1964. The couple had a son, and supporting local animal shelters. There are more +XJR(ULF/RXLVEXWWKH\GLYRUFHGLQ*RRGDOO WKDQ  5RRWV  6KRRWV JURXSV LQ ¿IW\ FRXQWULHV later married Derek Bryceson, the head of Tanzania’s around the globe. national parks, in 1975; Bryceson died of cancer only $QRWKHU*RRGDOO,QVWLWXWHSURJUDPLV7$&$5( ¿YH\HDUVODWHU (pronounced “take care”), which targets rural African

265 AL GORE GREAT LIVES FROM HISTORY: 2000–2017

YLOODJHV DQG SURPRWHV HGXFDWLRQ ,W LV 7$&$5(¶V AL GORE aim to improve health and education, encour- 3ROLWLFLDQHQYLURQPHQWDOLVWDQGZLQQHURI age smart agriculture, and engender respect for the environment. WKH1REHO3HDFH3UL]H Gore, both as politician and activist, underscored the SIGNIFICANCE need for public concern, discussion, and debate on Goodall has received more than twenty-three honor- issues of technology, consumption, and the environ- ary degrees from international universities and has PHQW,QKHZDVDZDUGHGWKH1REHO3HDFH3UL]H received nearly 100 awards or special recognitions IRUKLVZRUNRQJOREDOZDUPLQJ,QKHUHFHLYHGD by organizations such as the National Geographic majority of the popular vote for president of the United Society and Disney’s Animal Kingdom. She has been 6WDWHVEXWZDVQRWSHUPLWWHGWRWDNHRI¿FHDIWHUWKH WKHVXEMHFWRIQXPHURXVPRYLHVDQGUHVHDUFK¿OPV U.S. Supreme Court decided against a further recount- including programs for the BBC, PBS, and National ing of damaged ballots in Florida. Geographic. Goodall is the author of several ground- breaking books, many of which have been translated Born: March 31, 1948 into other languages. Among them are My Friends $UHD V RIVLJQL¿FDQFH Government and politics the Wild Chimpanzees (1967), In the Shadow of Man (1971), The Chimpanzees of Gombe: Patterns of EARLY LIFE Behavior (1986), and the children’s books My Life Al Gore was born and raised in Washington, D.C., with the Chimpanzees (1988) and The Chimpanzee where his father was serving as a representative from Family Book (1989). In 2014, she published Seeds Tennessee’s Fourth Congressional District. When the of Hope. younger Gore was only four years old, his father was After many years without a public appearance, elected to the Senate. While Gore spent many summers Goodall agreed to appear at the Ninth World Wilder- on the family farm near Carthage, Tennessee, he lived ness Congress in Mexico in November 2009. The and attended private schools in Washington. event included lectures and workshops on environ- Gore graduated from Harvard University with mental conservation efforts worldwide. a degree in government in 1969 and entered the US Army, intending to serve in Vietnam despite his oppo- Cambria Lovelady sition to the war. While he had comparatively safer duty as a reporter for a military newspaper, simply BIBLIOGRAPHY being in Vietnam was dangerous. Gore was one of %URGLZQ(ULQ³7KH+HDUWEUHDNLQJ5HDVRQ-DQH*RRG- the very few sons of Washington politicians to serve all Stopped Doing What She Loved Most.” Busi- in the war zone. After Vietnam, he attended Vander- ness Insider. Business Insider, 16 Apr. 2015. Web. bilt University and took graduate courses in religion. 22 Sept. 2015. 1RWVDWLV¿HGZLWKWKLVDUHDRIVWXG\KHVZLWFKHGWRWKH Goodall, Jane. My Life with the Chimpanzees. Rev. ed. Vanderbilt law school. He also worked as a reporter for New York: Aladdin, 1988. Print. the Nashville Tennessean while pursing his graduate Goodall, Jane. Through a Window: My Thirty Years with education. the Chimpanzees of Gombe. New York: First Mari- ner, 2010. Print. LIFE’S WORK /DWVRQ-HQQLIHU³+RZ-DQH*RRGDOO0DGHD6FLHQWL¿F At age twenty-eight, Gore quit law school to run for Breakthrough without a College Degree.” Time. the congressional seat his father had once held. As a Time, 14 July 2015. Web. 22 Sept. 2015. border-state Democrat, Gore represented his district’s Lewis, Tanya. “Post Chimp Work, Jane Goodall’s moderately conservative views but sought to establish Passion for Conservation Still Going Strong.” progressive credentials by developing expertise in arms Livescience. Purch, 17 Apr. 2015. Web. 22 Sept. control and the protection of the environment. He served 2015. four terms in the House until Tennessee’s senior senator, Peterson, Dale. Jane Goodall: The Woman Who Republican Howard Baker, retired in 1984. Gore then Redefined Man. New York: Houghton, 2006. won his seat in the Senate. He broadened his policy cre- Print. dentials by developing expertise in modern technology, 266 GREAT LIVES FROM HISTORY: 2000–2017

DQGSV\FKRORJLFDOUDPL¿FDWLRQVRIWKDWOLEHUDWLRQDQG with the novels in her so-called Hainish cycle, espe- by his loving relationship with Estaven, an exile from cially the classic The Left Hand of Darkness (1969), both of the opposing societies on Gethen. The Left Hand and with those in her Earthsea series, beginning with of Darkness won both the Nebula Award of the Science The Wizard of Earthsea (1968) and ending with The Fiction Writers of America and the Hugo Award of the Other Wind (2001). The Hainish novels are science WorldScience Fiction Convention. In 2017, The Left ¿FWLRQ VWRULHV DERXW IXWXUH FRQWDFWV EHWZHHQ FXOWXU- Hand of Darkness was reprinted in a prestigious Library ally diverse humanoid settlements in our galaxy, while of America edition. the Earthsea novels are straight fantasy, about the life Charles and Ursula K. Le Guin, who have three and adventures of a wizard in the invented Earthsea grown children–Elizabeth, Caroline, and Theodore–live Archipelago. in a roomy old frame house on the banks of the Wil- Much of Ursula K. Le Guin's work is realistic or lamette River in Portland. The author is a tall, slender quasi-realistic. In her “metaphors for the human condi- woman with dark hair, large dark eyes, a warm man- tion” she shows us ourselves and our world at a distance, ner, and, as Harlan Ellison has noted, an “elegance and through the eyes of protagonists who are outsiders. style” inherited from her mother. Outside of reading, Transcending the limitations of culture and xenopho- her chief recreations are listening to music, especially bia, their vision is capable of facing an open universe. Beethoven and Schubert, and visiting art museums or That capacity, in her view, is an aesthetic and moral perusing art books. Her favorite artist is Joseph Mallord imperative. William Turner, the English landscape painter. Ursula K. Le Guin has taught writing workshops FURTHER READING at Portland State University and the University of Bernardo, Susan. Ursula K. Le Guin: A Critical Com- Washington, among other universities. Asked about panion (1st ed.). Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, her politics, she has said, “If people must call names, 2006. I cheerfully accept Lenin's anathema as suitable: I am Bloom, Harold, ed. Ursula K. Leguin: Modern Critical a petty-bourgeois anarchist, and an internal emigree. Views. Chelsea House Publications, 2000. O.K.? “ In philosophy and religion, she has described Rochelle, Warren G. Communities of the Heart: The herself as “an unconsistent Taoist and a consistent Rhetoric of Myth in the Fiction of Ursula K. Le unChristian.” Guin. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2001. In 2014, Le Guin was honored with a lifetime Sullivan III, C. W., ed. Young Adult Science Fiction. achievement award by the the National Book Founda- Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1999. tion. Her acceptance speech was the highlight of the event, and a video of the speech circulated widely on social media. In it, Le Guin spoke forcefully on the role of artists in society and on resisting the commercial SPIKE LEE impulses of the publishing industry. Film director ,Q DGGLWLRQ WR KHU ¿FWLRQ /H *XLQ KDV SXEOLVKHG WHQYROXPHVRISRHWU\DQGQLQHYROXPHVRIQRQ¿FWLRQ /HHLVRQHRIWKHSUHPLHU¿OPPDNHUVRIWKHWZHQWLHWK mostly collections of essays. Her most recent essay col- FHQWXU\+LV¿OPVDQGGRFXPHQWDULHVRIWHQGHSLFW lection, Words Are My Matter: Writings About Life and KLVWRULFDORUOLWHUDU\VXEMHFWPDWWHUDQGUDLVHGLI¿FXOW Books, 2000–2016, won a 2017 Hugo Award. questions of race, class, gender, color, and nationality. They routinely spark heated debates about black SIGNIFICANCE identity, aesthetics, urban life, and politics. Her tales of the marvelous are quests into imagined worlds in both outer space and “the Inner Lands.” Born: March 20, 1957 Combining the lyricism, symbolism, and allusiveness $UHD V RIVLJQL¿FDQFH Film: directing of a poet with the anthropologist's concern for concrete cultural detail, she describes in much of her major work EARLY LIFE alternative societies where the hero's encounter with Spike Lee was born Shelton Jackson Lee in Atlanta, “the Other,” the alien, culminates in a Taoist “touching Georgia, and raised in Brooklyn, New York. Lee of opposites.” Mrs. Le Guin established her reputation attended Morehouse College in Atlanta, a historically 379 SPIKE LEE GREAT LIVES FROM HISTORY: 2000–2017 black college. He returned to New York after graduation WRDWWHQG¿OPVFKRRODW1HZ

LIFE'S WORK $OWKRXJK/HHPDGHVHYHUDO¿OPVDVDVWXGHQWLQFOXG- ing Last Hustle in Brooklyn (1977), The Answer (1980), and Sara (1981), he began his professional career ZLWK DQ KRXUORQJ ¿OP Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads, in 1983. After his attempts to make a ¿OPDERXWWKHH[SHULHQFHVRIDELNHPHVVHQJHUIDLOHG /HHZDVIRUFHGWRUHJURXS+LVQH[W¿OPShe's Gotta Have It (1986), a commentary on sexual politics, gar- nered critical acclaim and earned Lee the coveted New Film Award at that year's Cannes Film Festival. Lee's career blossomed thereafter. His success ignited a fever- LVKZRUNHWKLFWKDWVDZKLPGLUHFWRQH¿OPHDFK\HDU throughout the 1990s, trailblazing what became known as the New Black Cinema movement. In 1989, Lee's , which he also Spike Lee, 70th Annual Peabody Awards Luncheon, 2011. (via Wikimedia Commons) starred in, sought to capture African American and Ital- LDQ$PHULFDQHWKQLFFRPSHWLWLRQDQGFRQÀLFWLQXUEDQ 2000s, he began to produce work that dealt less explic- VSDFH7KH¿OP VGHSLFWLRQRIVRFLDODQJVWJHQWUL¿FD- LWO\ZLWKUDFHLQ$PHULFDQVRFLHW\6XFK¿OPVDV25th tion, and police brutality attracted an array of criticism Hour (2002) and (2006) allowed Lee to DQG LQWHUSUHWDWLRQV WKDW VSRNH WR WKH UDFLDO GLYLGH ¿F- engage such issues as the lingering politics of the Holo- tionalized on screen, and the work established Lee as a caust and American life after the September 11, 2001, world-class director. Although controversial at the time terrorist attacks. These productions showed Lee's abil- of its release, it was a critical success, receiving Acad- LW\WRMXJJOHWKH¿OPLQGXVWU\ VFRPPHUFLDOLPSHUDWLYHV emy Award nominations for best original screenplay with his desire to produce work of social relevance. and best supporting actor, and performed well at the box Lee continued to direct a mix of documentary and RI¿FH,WZRXOGJRRQWREHFRQVLGHUHGDPRQJWKHEHVW IHDWXUH¿OPVWKURXJKWKHODWHVDQGLQWRWKHV ¿OPVRIDOOWLPH Miracle at St Anna  ZDVD¿FWLRQDOL]HGYHUVLRQ 2WKHUGH¿QLWLYH¿OPVE\/HHLQFOXGH of the experiences of African American troops, known (1991), which examined the politics of interracial dat- DVEXIIDORVROGLHUVLQ:RUOG:DU,,/HHSUR¿OHGEDV- ing; Malcolm X (1992), an epic portrayal of the slain ketball star Kobe Bryant in Kobe Doin’ Work (2009), African American leader; (2000), Lee's cri- provided a follow-up to with WLTXHRIWKHWHOHYLVLRQDQG¿OPLQGXVWU\ VWUHDWPHQWRI If God Is Willing and da Creek Don’t Rise (2010), African Americans; and (2004), a comedy DQG GRFXPHQWHG WKH WZHQW\¿IWK DQQLYHUVDU\ RI WKH critical of the pharmaceutical industry. Michael Jackson album Bad with Bad 25 (2012). Other During this period, Lee partnered with HBO to pro- IHDWXUH ¿OPV LQFOXGHG WKH GUDPD duce several made-for-television documentaries. In 1997, (2012), set in Brooklyn, Oldboy (2013), an adaptation he directed Four Little Girls (1997), a documentary on RI D YLROHQW PDQJD DQG WKH YDPSLUH ¿OP Da Sweet the legacy of the 1963 bombing of the Sixteenth Street Blood of Jesus (2014). Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, that killed Although Lee's work has drawn criticism for being four African American girls. His documentary on the GLGDFWLF GLI¿FXOW RU KHDY\KDQGHG KH KDV RIWHQ FDVW life of football great, actor, and community activist Jim such capable actors as Samuel L. Jackson, , Brown appeared in 2002, and When the Levees Broke: A Roger Guenveur Smith, Giancarlo Esposito, Laurence Requiem in Four Acts, Lee's meditation on the aftermath Fishburne, Rosie Perez, and Denzel Washington, many of 2005's Hurricane Katrina, appeared in 2006. of whom became stars after working with Lee. He also $OWKRXJK/HH V¿OPVDUHGLUHFWHGDWPDLQVWUHDPDXGL- was responsible for introducing longtime actors and ences, his oeuvre developed along a continuum of artistry activists and to a new generation dedicated to African American life and culture. In the of moviegoers. 380 GREAT LIVES FROM HISTORY: 2000–2017 ANG LEE

Members of Lee's family also have played key sup- *XHUUHUR(GFraming Blackness: The African American SRUWLQJUROHVLQKLV¿OPV+LVVLVWHU-RLHDSSHDUHGLQVHY- Image in Film3KLODGHOSKLD7HPSOH833ULQW HUDORI/HH V¿OPVDQGKLVEURWKHU'DYLGRIWHQVHUYHGDV 0F*RZDQ 7RGG Spike Lee 8UEDQD 8 RI ,OOLQRLV 3 DXQLWSKRWRJUDSKHU+LVIDWKHUMD]]PXVLFLDQ%LOO/HH 3ULQW ZDVDQHDUO\FRQWULEXWRUWRWKHVRXQGRI¿OPVVXFKDV 0F0LOODQ7HUU\HWDOFive for Five: The Films of Spike (1988) and Mo’ Better Blues  /HH Lee )RUHZRUG E\ 0HOYLQ9DQ3HHEOHV ,QWURGXF- KLPVHOIKDVSOD\HGFDPHRUROHVLQVHYHUDORIKLV¿OPV WLRQ E\ 6SLNH /HH 1HZ