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In 1919, McCormick generously donated 83 acres to Let the Lions Roar! The Evolution of Brookfield Zoo
of land near Riverside and Brookfield to the by Andrea Friederici Ross (Chicago Zoological Society,
Forest Preserve District of Cook County for develop- 1997), the board articulated its mission as follows:
ment of the zoo. The District subsequently added
some additional 100 acres and the groundwork for “The foundation, maintenance and control of Zoo-
a new zoo was laid. logical Parks and Gardens; the promotion of Zoology
and kindred subjects; the instruction and recreation
McCormick was a notable figure of Chicago in of the people; collection, holding and expenditure
the years prior to and throughout the 1920s. She was of funds for zoological research and publication;
the daughter of wealthy philanthropist and industrial- the protection of wild life; and kindred purposes.”
ist John D. Rockefeller and the wife of Harold F.
McCormick, whose father founded the International Breaking Ground
Harvester Company. She was considered fabulously
wealthy for her time. The Chicago Zoological Park was officially chartered
and ground was broken in 1922 for construction.
An intellectually curious woman, McCormick had George Frederick Morse, Jr., was hired as the Society's
many eclectic interests including astrology, psychology, first manager. The project was held up by a few
philosophy, and reincarnation. She became a devotee years of political turmoil and financial challenges.
of a new school of thought—psychoanalysis, led by Then in 1926, Stanley Field—nephew of the famous
the likes of Sigmund Freud
and Carl Jung. To further Chicago merchant Marshall
her interest in this new Field—was approved as a
philosophy, she decided to visit trustee and as chairman of
Europe. She initially left for the Building Committee.
several months; she ended up The building program
spending eight years abroad. began in earnest.
Barless Zoos One of the conditions
McCormick had attached to
Throughout McCormick’s her gift was the requirement
European travels, she visited that the park be opened by
several zoos with barless July 31, 1934. After an ardu-
exhibits. Used extensively ous 15 years of construction,
in Europe since 1900, this the Chicago Zoological
new type of zoo used moats, ditches, and rock Park was opened to the
formations to separate animals from guests and public on the first weekend of July 1934. More than
other animals. Instead of cramped cages with 58,000 eager visitors turned out.
bars, animals were housed in natural-looking
habitats. McCormick envisioned America’s first A Lasting Legacy
zoo with barless exhibits and it would be located
in Chicago. She envisioned Chicago as a hub McCormick died before she saw her vision come
of scientific research; a place where unique and alive. But her legacy has lived on. The zoo stretches
lasting ideas and innovations would be born. across 216 acres of land. It resides in a park-like
setting featuring unique, roofless exhibits separated by
Chicagoans were receptive to McCormick’s moats, including sculpted bear grottos. The zoological
vision. They expressed a desire for a zoo with more park also features spectacular buildings in the
space than the existing zoo could offer. In 1921, Italian Renaissance and Art Deco styles, designed by
a committee of prominent citizens established Edwin H. Clark, a prominent Chicagoland architect.
a blueprint to build a zoo “that would allow Sculptures were added, made by the team of WPA
[us] to see wild animals virtually at large…” artists who were in residence from 1934 to 1938.
Shortly after, the Chicago Zoological Society was Since opening in 1934, Brookfield Zoo has
commissioned with a board of 25 trustees. According welcomed more than 150 million visitors.
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