Now Is the Time to Collect

Summary

The rediscovery of a curator's lost journal illuminates the astonishing African journey that formed the basis of the Chicago Field Museum's famed collections



After the extinction of the dodo and Carolina parakeet and the collapse of the American bison population, naturalists expected many more vulnerable species to die out with spread of industrialization. This triggered a race to collect rare species of animals expected soon to be lost forever. Established in 1893, Chicago's Field Museum aimed to become a global center of study. Zoologist Daniel Giraud Elliot persuaded museum patrons to fund an immediate expedition to British Somaliland (contemporary Somalia). There, his team hunted and killed hundreds of animals for the growing collection. On the trip was groundbreaking taxonomist Carl Akeley. Back in Chicago, Akeley created captivating lifelike dioramas of rare animal groups that enhanced the museum's fame and remain popular to this day. Now Is the Time to Collect is a case study in what author Paul D. Brinkman calls "salvage zoology"—the practice of aggressively collecting rare animal specimens for preservation just prior to the birth of the modern conservation movement. It is a riveting account of the expedition, the travelers' experiences in Somalia during its colonial period, and the astonishing origins of one of Chicago's classic museum experiences.