With its proximity to the cultural hub of New York City and its quieter suburban and rural landscapes, Connecticut was fertile ground for artists and writers in the period of Modernist movements between 1913 and 1979. Many of these cultural figures are well known through biographical and critical studies. Creative Places seeks to show how place played a significant role in creative work, and how in turn the artists and writers influenced communities in Connecticut.
Mary Jobe Akeley
Education/Curation, Journalism/Non-Fiction
1886 – 1966
Writer on nature and conservation promoting recognition of endangered resources in Africa, and important in the conservation movement for making the transition from hunting specimens for museum display to photography. Also an educator and feminist.
- Biography/Description of Work
Mary Lenore Jobe was born on an Ohio farm, but evidently to a family of means, as she attended Scio College, in New Market Station, Ohio. She went on to Bryn Mawr College, and to Columbia University for a master’s degree in history and English. Her great love was exploring, and she went on numerous expeditions to the Canadian Rockies, mapping the mountains and studying the Native American tribes. She was responsible for documenting several unmapped areas and was elected to the Royal Geographical Society in 1915. Mary L. Jobe purchased her land in Mystic between 1914 and 1920, and started Camp Mystic for girls. She believed strongly in education for girls that included swimming, life-saving, riding, arts and crafts, nature study, dancing, and “Indian Masque.” As part of her program, Jobe invited scientists to lecture at the camp. Carl Akeley was one of these; she had met him during the off-season in New York and visited his laboratory at the Museum of Natural History. She become his second wife in 1924. Together they planned an expedition to Africa in 1926-27 to collect specimens for the museum displays. They were acutely aware of the rapid changes occurring in Africa as human settlement was advancing into natural areas and wildlife being hunted to extinction. Their mission was initially to hunt and collect animal specimens and landscape backgrounds for museum displays that would represent in a natural-looking way the wonders of African wildlife. They also adopted the mission of conservation – educating the American public about the vanishing wildlife of Africa and promoting the establishment of national parks to protect habitats. The volumes written by Mary Jobe Akeley after Carl’s death (on their first joint expedition), repeatedly tell of their regret at killing the animals they treasured, although they felt it necessary to complete the educational mission. She went on to work as the advisor to the Museum of Natural History through the completion of the Hall of African Wildlife (opened in 1936), made additional expeditions to research animals and peoples of Africa, and wrote a series of books about Africa in support of conservation goals.
- Sources view
- Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame: http://www.cwhf.org/inductees/arts-humanities/mary-jobe-akeley/ Sanctuary: http://stonington.patch.com/listings/peace-nature-sanctuary http://collections.conncoll.edu/akeley/index.html http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1915&dat=19780217&id=3gwiAAAAIBAJ&sjid=k3MFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1589,2989541 Akeley papers at Conn College: http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1915&dat=19941201&id=1wIhAAAAIBAJ&sjid=b3QFAAAAIBAJ&pg=5288,694529
- Associated Resource(s)