S a n D i e g o H i s t o r y Center Newsletter VOLUME 57 NUMBER 1 SPRING 2016 From the Photograph Collection (#16639) The ‘Lore’ Roars into the Park! Exhibition celebrates Zoo’s centennial THE LION GROTTO WITH ELLEN BROWNING SCRIPPS, FROM THE HISTORY CENTER PHOTOGRAPH COLLECTION, 1923. In an unprecedented collaboration, the San Diego visited the Zoo; in 2015 over five million streamed Zoo and the San Diego History Center present a through its gates. In 1916, the Zoo housed 40 vibrant exhibition celebrating the Zoo’s centennial. animals; now, its animal collections number 6,800. The Lore Behind the Roar! 100 Years of the San The Lore Behind the Roar! explores the Zoo’s Diego Zoo tells the extraordinary story of the Zoo, contributions to popular culture, to San Diego, and from its humble origins as a haphazard collection to the animal world, from the pioneering concept left behind by the 1915 Panama California Exposition of cage-less animals to the innovative Institute for TIMES to its evolution as a global animal conservation Conservation Research (ICR) and the high-tech leader and San Diego’s largest cultural institution. Frozen Zoo. Engaging, interactive exhibits recreate Inspired by the roar of a lonely lion, Dr. Harry the Zoo’s famed veterinary and surgical care, and M. Wegeforth laid the groundwork for what became the Roar Family Den features entertaining family one of the world’s great zoological institutions. activities, such as the Animal Dinner Table, Condor In its early days, the Zoo struggled for credibility Puppets, and the Life of a Zookeeper. and financial resources. With unyielding will and a profound love for animals, Wegeforth stubbornly BY CHARLOTTE CAGAN, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER fought for his Zoo. In 1923, fewer than 5,000 people the FROM THE EXHIBITIONS president Building Our Legacy The History Center has All of us would like to leave our community in made great progress a better place after we pass on. That’s why so in our collections, many wills and trust agreements provide for Our mission exhibitions, programs, charitable donations. The History Center has been On Exhibit and our staff. The the beneficiary of several significant gifts over the The Lore Behind the The San Diego History community’s recognition past six years – from volunteers, members, past Roar!: 100 Years of Center tells the diverse of our work is growing donors, past trustees, and in some cases, from the San Diego Zoo story of our region - and is gratifying. One people we hardly knew. They all make a lasting (opens March 20, 2016) past, present and of our fundamental difference to our institution. Many of you will Presenting Sponsor: future - educating challenges remains recognize the more recent names: Donna Sefton THE LEGLER BENBOUGH and enriching our building our endowment. (largest donor over time), Richard Dyson (collector FOUNDATION community, preserving Our audited financial statements for the past and donor), Phyllis Paul (member and history buff), Presenting Media our history and six years show that our net assets have grown Ruth and Ken Milburn (volunteers), Phil Klauber Sponsor: fostering civic pride. from $2.7 million to $5.1 million. While we make (past trustee), and Claire Crane (volunteer). San Diego History Center significant efforts to raise money to cover annual Preserving our history is a noble cause. To Board of Trustees operating expenses, the growth in assets has do this effectively and sustainably, we need an President Thompson Fetter essentially come from estate gifts and bequests. endowment of at least $20 million. I am confident Sponsored by: Vice President Typically for nonprofits, these are the major source that we can obtain that level of support from estate Thompson & Joseph Craver of endowments. Mindful of this, we are inviting gifts over time. Our benefactors will know that they Robert Watkins Jane Trevor Fetter our Heritage Circle and other supporters to an are preserving our history for future generations to Treasurer Philip & Lyn Gildred Frank Alessi estate planning seminar in February, conducted by come. Please join me in this commitment. George & Alison Gildred Secretary experts from the law firm Seltzer Caplan McMahon Gene Trepte Ann Hill Vitek. Additional information about this event is BY TOM FETTER, PRESIDENT BJ Williams President Emeritus on page four. Robert F. Adelizzi Neil Shigley: Hal Sadler, FAIA From the Photograph Collection (#UT84 22255-6) Invisible People, Trustees Chuck Bieler Invisible Structures The San Diego Natural History Museum will Richard Bregante (through April 2016) Raymond Carpenter present the interactive traveling exhibition Debby Cushman-Parrish The Whale: Giants of the Deep. The Museum of Dan Eaton Of Animal The Border: Gayle Hom Photographic Arts (MOPA) will present a unique The Line that Divides Lucy C. Jackson photographic exhibition, Beauty and the Beast: (through July 2016) John Morrell Ann Navarra The Animal in Photography, curated by MOPA Importance Susan Peinado Executive Director Deborah Klochko. The San Diego San Diego Invites Sandra Perlatti the World Kay Porter Museum of Art (SDMA) will display a breathtaking Margie Warner exhibition from its collection, Ferocious Bronze: San Diego Artists Discuss the Wild (through August 2016) Allan Wasserman The Animal Sculptures of Arthur Putnam, featuring Sponsored by: Tom Wornham Roger Zucchet sinewy animal bronzes by the acclaimed California June and Neil Ash & Advisory Board sculptor considered the “American Rodin.” The BELLE BARANCEANU TEACHING AT SAN DIEGO ZOO, FROM THE HISTORY CENTER PHOTOGRAPH COLLECTION, 1955. Malin Burnham SDMA exhibition will also feature three pieces Thomas A. Caughlan M. Wayne Donaldson on loan from the History Center, including two of Iris Engstrand, PhD Putnam’s puma sculptures. The Timken Museum Humans have forever been fascinated by wild a core undercurrent in their work. Ingeniously Kim Fletcher of Art will display the renowned painting, “The animals; we have feared them and worshiped them blending botanical and animal forms, Irwin’s White Tom Karlo CELEBRATING Entry of the Animals into Noah’s Ark” by Jan Bob Kelly and are insatiably curious about their existence Works Series is both cautionary and playful. Set YEARS Photo by Matthew Meier, Gift of Charles E. Scripps, from the Object Collection 78.2.1. Helen Kinnaird Brueghel, on loan from the J. Paul Getty Museum. and ways of life. in a dreamlike landscape, Ball’s watercolors explore Yvonne W. Larsen David Malcolm The goal of these intertwined exhibitions is Of Animal Importance, a four-person exhibition, the interconnectedness of all living creatures. Seth W. Mallios, PhD BRONZE “FEMALE PUMA” BY ARTHUR PUTNAM, to foster continued collaboration among Balboa showcases artwork featuring animals by local Taking a different perspective, W. Haase Wojtyla’s Jack Monger FROM THE HISTORY CENTER OBJECT COLLECTION. Park museums and to expand the visitor pathway Rana Sampson San Diego artists, both past and present: Laura Ball, work from his Stalker Series embodies the spirit of Hon. Lynn Schenk between the San Diego Zoo, the park’s anchor Belle Baranceanu, Jeff Irwin, and W. Haase Wojtyla. the wild beast, specifically that of the canine. These Heritage Drew Schlosberg attraction, and other park attractions, enhancing Each artist’s chosen medium differs, creating a aggressive, unconstrained paintings and drawings Mary L. Walshok, PhD Japanese American Stephen B. Williams Whales, Beasts, and Balboa Park as a multifaceted cultural campus and diverse display: delicate watercolors by Ball, sharp reverberate with the primal energy of the predator. Historical Society of Hon. Pete Wilson visitor destination. As part of the collaboration, meditative block prints by Baranceanu, white Selected from the History Center’s own collection, San Diego exhibition Karin E. Winner Ferocious Bronzes the Zoo will promote all of the 2016 animal-themed earthenware sculptures by Irwin, and commanding block prints and drawings by Belle Baranceanu Chief Executive Officer San Diego: Charlotte Cagan Extending the partnership between the History exhibitions, including the History Center’s The paintings by Wojtyla. represent this key figure in the history of San Diego Lore Behind the Roar! Place of Promise Times Editor Center and the San Diego Zoo, four other Balboa Each artist in his or her own way explores print making. The prints are from a series of animal Sara Morrison Park museums will present animal-themed For more information, check the various concepts of human interaction with the natural portraits Baranceanu produced in the 1930s as part BALBOA PARK: Copy Editor exhibitions throughout 2016, representing another museums’ websites. world and our understanding of the wild. Both of the Works Progress Administration. The Jewel of Chris Zook first-ever collaborative venture among park Ball and Irwin find inspiration in social and BY CHARLOTTE CAGAN, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER BY TARA CENTYBEAR, CURATOR San Diego Photo Editor institutions. environmental issues, conservation serving as Chris Travers Film showing daily: Graphic Design 11am, 1pm, 3pm Jennifer Cadam DEVELOPMENT/ EDUCATION MEMBERSHIP Follow Your Heart: Jazz Rocks State! Planned Giving Event A Crooner’s Event On Thursday, February 11, from 2-4pm, the San Diego State University is known for being at History Center is hosting an intimate discussion the forefront of San Diego’s live music scene. Welcome with afternoon tea, sponsored by Seltzer Caplan Concerts by such greats as Chico Hamilton, Ella Welcome new members McMahon Vitek. With Valentine’s Day just around Fitzgerald, Roberta Flack, and Sammy Davis Jr. at San Diego Zoo the corner, attendees will discover how to leave SDSU’s Greek Bowl and Back-door concert venues Members who have a legacy by following your heart and making a gave many San Diegans their first taste of live Volunteers joined the San Diego gift through your will. music as well as an introduction to the Civil Rights As part of our History Center from An expert from Seltzer Caplan McMahon Vitek Movement.