Interview 4487 – Caption Index: 86

Did you find that the zoo had good record keeping?… Read More

Interview 4487 – Caption Index: 87

A good question about record keeping, the record keeping was essentially non-existent when I arrived at the zoo and one of my first responsibilities was develop an inventory system. There were lots of ledgers in buildings that had either daily notes or scribbles on a page, in a bound volume… Read More

Interview 4487 – Caption Index: 88

Was this something they directed you to do, or this was on your own?… Read More

Interview 4487 – Caption Index: 82

Did they conflict?… Read More

Interview 4487 – Caption Index: 83

Were they in sync with what you were trying to do?… Read More

Interview 4487 – Caption Index: 84

Les Fisher’s management style was pretty much what Les Fisher’s life has always been, easygoing, friendly, outgoing, everybody’s buddy, don’t make waves under any circumstances, do whatever needs to be done, but do it in a politically correct way. His number two, Jean Harts, was essentially in charge of the… Read More

Interview 4487 – Caption Index: 79

The strategy developed because I learned, after I ran into the wall two or three times, that the only thing I was gonna do accomplish was to bruise myself. And so I worked with what I had. You have to remember that during this era, a significant number of the… Read More

Interview 4487 – Caption Index: 80

So to try to implement any kind of written guidelines or instructions for whole areas of the zoo, whether it would be bird, mammal or reptile, just wasn’t gonna work because they couldn’t read, or they were incapable of understanding what was going on. Read More

Interview 4487 – Caption Index: 81

You talked about your management style then, what was the director’s management style and what was your immediate boss’s style?… Read More

Interview 4487 – Caption Index: 75

What form did that resistance?… Read More

Interview 4487 – Caption Index: 76

What was that form of resistance?… Read More

Interview 4487 – Caption Index: 77

Yeah, the resistance was sometimes it was subtle. Sometimes it was overt. Sometimes it was direct in your face. Sometimes it wasn’t doing things that should have been done just to see what kind of arise they could get out of me. The senior keeper in charge of the zoo… Read More

Interview 4487 – Caption Index: 78

That strategy kind of developed, or you kind of had that as you were going in?… Read More

Interview 4487 – Caption Index: 73

You’d had experience of going to Rochester Zoo, but what kind of zoo did you find at Lincoln Park when you started?… Read More

Interview 4487 – Caption Index: 74

The zoo at Lincoln Park, when I started was largely a reflection of WPA days, some leftover conservation core work, the collection was a very good collection. There were animals there that I had never seen before. I had a lot of book learning, but I didn’t have a lot… Read More

Interview 4487 – Caption Index: 70

All mammals?… Read More

Interview 4487 – Caption Index: 71

My responsibilities essentially, were learn the mammal collection, help where help is needed supervise on a day-to-day basis the entire mammal collection, focus on the children’s zoo and the nursery, because that area needed almost constant attention because of the number of infant animals that were being hand-raised in the… Read More

Interview 4487 – Caption Index: 72

What kind of zoo did you find?… Read More

Interview 4487 – Caption Index: 66

There was a zoologist in charge of reptiles, and that was Eddie (indistinct). There was a zoologist in charge of birds, and that was Jim Mizaur. So that left me with the zoologist in charge of mammals or whatever else needed to be done. So your direct boss was the… Read More

Interview 4487 – Caption Index: 67

Yes, that my direct boss was the general curator who was a, how should I put this?… Read More