Nature's Mirror: How Taxidermists Shaped Americas Natural History Museums and Saved Endangered Species [Hardcover]

It may be surprising to us now, but the taxidermists who filled the museums, zoos, and aquaria of the twentieth century were also among the first to become aware of the devastating effects of careless human interaction with the natural world.
 
Witnessing firsthand the decimation caused by hide hunters, commercial feather collectors, whalers, big game hunters, and poachers, these museum taxidermists recognized the existential threat to critically endangered species and the urgent need to protect them. The compelling exhibits they created—as well as the scientific field work, popular writing, and lobbying they undertook—established a vital leadership role in the early conservation movement for American museums that persists to this day.
 
Through their individual research expeditions and collective efforts to arouse demand for environmental protections, this remarkable cohort—including William T. Hornaday, Carl E. Akeley, and several lesser-known colleagues—created our popular understanding of the animal world and its fragile habitats. For generations of museum visitors, they turned the glass of an exhibition case into a window on nature—and a mirror in which to reflect on our responsibility for its conservation.
Mary Anne Andreiis a three-time Heartland Emmy Award winner and senior producer for emerging media at NET Nebraska, the state’s PBS and NPR station. Her short filmReturn of the American Bisonreceived a 2019 Heartland Emmy and her PBS Digital 360° video seriesWatershedwon a 2020 Radio Television Digital News Association Regional Murrow Award and a 2020 Midwest Broadcast Journalists Association Eric Sevareid Award. Her photos have appeared in theGuardian,Harper’s Magazine,Mother Jones, andNew Republic.Introduction

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