O.C Marsh was from a farm in Lockport, New York State. His father's name was Caleb Marsh, he was undependable in every way from financially to taking care of the family. and his mother Mary Peabody Marsh died when he was three. He and his sister move to live with relatives north of Boston. They moved back in with their father after he remarried and soon the family had six more children. His father pushed to work in the fields to help feed the family. He would go to whenever he had a chance to fish, hunt, and geologize. One of his neighbors Colonel Ezekiel Jewett, who was a mineralogist and paleontologist, he gave Marsh his first lessons in rocks and landscapes. Jewett also collected Native American ethnological material which would later interest Marsh. Marsh was guided by his aunt Judith Peabody Russell encouraged him to get educated,thus he enrolled in the Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts.He studied very little is first year until his sister died unexpectedly. He then decided that he would take his studies seriously.He became the valedictorian of his class at Andover. During the summer, he would go on mineralogy expeditions to Nova Scotia. His Uncle George Peabody was his biggest supporter.
George Peabody was one of the most admired figures of the mid-nineteenth century on both sides of the Atlantic. He was born in 1795, and he was the third of eight children. He grew up in Denvers, Massachusetts. He did not receive a lot of proper schooling and he instead went to work in the village. His father died when he was sixteen and he began to support his family. In his early twenties he began to make a massive fortune in retail and then trading copper, silk, tea, and other commodities internationally, and later as a merchant banker in London. In the last decades of his life he gave his fortune away. In this process, he became the father of modern philanthropy and the model for donors from Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller to Warren Buffett and Bill Gates. He had a small group of admirers but had no luck in his personal love life. He was said to be,"one of the dullest men in the world: he had positively no gift except of making money." He worked hard and lived well. He knew it was too late for his education, he instead paid to educate his family members. Marsh thanked him for supporting him in Andover and hopeful in collage. Most of the Peabodys went to Harvard but Marsh was set on Yale. In 1850, he created a plan to establish an educational institution in every community where he had lived or worked. They were so welled planned that most are still working today. His most conversational donation was in 1867, he donated money to the confederate states to restore schools. He was seen as a Confederate sympathizer. Overall, he gave away about $8 million or $9 million dollars. Though his support for science was small and mostly given to O.C Marsh.
Summary of article:
The Peabody Museum in honor of its 150 years opened a new exhibit:"Treasures of the Peabody:150 years of Exploration and Discovery."More than 150 people attended the event. David Skelley said that the exhibit was made to tell the story of the Peabody and its place in Yale History. The items on display were chosen because they were thought to be the most interesting and some of the objects helped solve some of the biggest issues in science. For example the theory of where biodiversity came from and how it is kept.
The exhibit is a timeline of the museum history and even has the first microscope bought by Yale seven decades before a science professor arrived at Yale.Only 0.04 percent of what the Peabody has is actually on display and this exhibit shows items from each of the ten departments.It is very difficult to place all 150 years of the museum in one exhibit but it was managed. The curators were able to unify items from each department to show the history of the Peabody.
Today, people continue to dig for fossils, but with the use of 3d processing with a CT scan researchers are pulling data that no one has ever gotten from the fossils.
Skelley stated that he not only looked at the celebration of 150 years of the Peabody but he also is looking forward to seeing what the Peabody will do for science education in the next 150 years.
Questions:
The history of O.C Marsh is an important part of Peabody Museum History.Why?
O.C Marsh's history is important to the Peabody's history because he as young boy, he would sneak again from his chores to geologize and collect rocks. His interest in Native American ethnological material was spiked from a childhood neighbor. Through high school his Uncle George Peabody would support him and his education. George Peabody often made donations to education and he rarely donated to science and when he did it was usually for his nephew. O.C Marsh would go on mineralogy expedition. His interest in geology, minerals, and science helped him become a paleontologist. All of his discoveries and findings were what created the Peabody with the help of his Uncle.
The article and Conniff's book have different styles of writing. Compared to Hill's narration of Peabody's 150th anniversary, how does Richard Conniff's style of writing effect the retelling of Peabody History/ Marsh's story?
Hill's narration is written in a way that is easier for just about everyone to read and it more of the retelling of the 150th anniversary event and the exhibit. While Conniff's writing makes the retelling of the history of O.C Marsh and the Peabody made it more enjoyable to read while being very informative and interesting.
What does Darwinian mean and how does this add to the history of O.C Marsh that you just read?
Darwinian means relating to Charles Darwin or to his ideas and theories. O.C Marsh agreed with his theories and uses his findings to prove Darwin's theories. Marsh was an enthusiastic Darwinian.
