On April 4, 2014, the Jenks Society for Lost Museums was honored to speak at the opening reception of Animal Magnetism: The Pushmi-Pullyu of Consocial Life conference. Because the conference took place in Rhode Island Hall, the very building in which the Jenks Museum was once located, we spoke about John Whipple Potter Jenks’ passion for both hunting animals and conserving them, studying them in the field and displaying their taxidermic remains in his museum.
Jenks as Teacher: Dallas Lore Sharp and the Cuckoo
Jenks as Natural Theologian: Bumpus, Piety, and the Hippo
Jenks as Museum Curator: Queen Victoria’s Pony
Jenks as Field Naturalist: Turtle Eggs for Agassiz
In the following weeks, we will share four distinct stories we presented at this conference, each discussing how Jenks exemplified the ways man interacted with beast in the late nineteenth century as natural history was giving way to the emerging field of biology. To read about the many facets of J.W.P. Jenks, click the images above. Stories will be released on a weekly basis.
