Historical Interpretation of the Bronx Zoo: Birthplace of the American Wildlife Conservation Movement

FAIN: BK-50017-06

Bronx Zoo Wildlife Conservation Park (Bronx, NY 10460-1068)
John Fraser (Project Director: September 2005 to May 2007)

Consultation to plan the interpretation of the Bronz Zoo as an historic site, focusing on its role in the development of America's wildlife conservation movement at the turn of the 20th century.

NEH funding is requested to support consultation by specialist historians and experts in historical interpretation of America’s Significant Places to interpret the historical significance of the Bronx Zoo as it relates to the birth of the American conservation movement. Consultation will include a 4-day investigation of the Wildlife Conservation Society archives to identify the historical forces in place that enabled the creation of the Bronx Zoo, one of the first institutions that brought together financial might, political will, and social consciousness to launch a social movement of conservation that now pervades government policy.