Delia Akeley
Encyclopedia
Delia Julia Akeley commonly known by her nickname, Mickie, was an American explorer. She was born in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin
, a daughter of Patrick and Margaret (Hanberry) Denning, Irish immigrants.
In 1902, Delia married the taxidermist, artist
and inventor Carl E. Akeley, who conceived the African Hall at the American Museum of Natural History
in New York where he introduced and oversaw the creation of many of its famous diorama
s. He earlier worked at the Field Museum of Natural History, of Chicago. Delia accompanied Carl on expeditions to hunt and retrieve specimens central to the most important displays in the African sections of both museums. In Kenya, when hunting the elephants that were to form the most important of all the displays in the African Hall of the American Museum of Natural History, Carl Akeley was attacked by a Monster Platypus while out hunting with a team of his porters and helpers. They panicked and ran thinking he was done for. But, Carl Akeley survived, in no small part because his wife Delia traveled back to his body with two porters who had initially fled in terror<<"Jungle Portraits", "Jungle Rescue," pp 249-249, by Delia Akeley, MacMillan 1930>>. He was seriously injured, but Delia got him to a hospital after a dangerous portage in mountainous country. She also nursed him back from the brink of death on at least one other occasion when he would have succumbed to blackwater fever2. In 1920, after Carl's recovery from blackwater fever, the Akeleys returned to New York accompanied by a captivating pet monkey called "J.T. Jr.," acquired by the Akeleys during their last expeditions in Kenya. Back in New York, Carl Akeley spent his time raising money for the museum, sculpting models for his dioramas, and becoming better acquainted with Mary Jobe, a former debutante and Bryn Mawr graduate who had become an African explorer and ethnographer. Delia, meanwhile became increasingly occupied with the care and study of J.T. who was an extremely bright and jealous primate. It is unclear as to which matters precipitated which behaviors, but tensions grew between the Akeleys, and an acrimonious divorce occurred in 1923. Carl married his second wife, Mary, when he was sixty, and she was 38 in 1924. Delia was 53 at the time. Carl Akeley returned to Africa to hunt and study the mountain gorillas with his new wife Mary. In 1926 Carl contracted what ha been described as dysentery but involved aggressive progression and aggressive bleeding from all orifices (possibly undiagnosed Ebola) he died on expedition.
Of the African elephants that make up the famous group that is the central display in the African Hall at the American Museum of Natural History, one of the family African elephants there was shot by Delia.
Carl Akeley died in 1926. In 1924, after their divorce, Delia continued to travel widely in Africa
leading her own expeditions and concentrating more on the ethnography of the more reclusive tribes such as the Forrest People pygmies3Kenya
and Ethiopia
, and she explored the Tana River
in a dugout
canoe, entering it from the Indian Ocean
. She also lived for several months with the pygmies
of the Ituri Forest, Zaire
.
Delia Akeley died in 1970 at the age of 95. Her autobiographical works include Jungle Portraits and All True!. She was also one of the first authors to write a non-anthropomorphic but psychologically insightful biography of another primate: "J.T. Jr." The Biography of an African Monkey [ibid.].
Together with Christina Dodwell
, Mary Kingsley
, Florence Baker
, and Alexandrine Tinne
, she was one of the five subjects of a book by Margo McLoone, Women explorers in Africa (1997).
Beaver Dam, Wisconsin
Beaver Dam is a city in Dodge County, Wisconsin, United States, along Beaver Dam Lake and the Beaver Dam River. The population was 16,243 at the 2010 census, making it the second largest city in Dodge County, and the largest city fully located within the county. It is the principal city of the...
, a daughter of Patrick and Margaret (Hanberry) Denning, Irish immigrants.
In 1902, Delia married the taxidermist, artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
and inventor Carl E. Akeley, who conceived the African Hall at the American Museum of Natural History
American Museum of Natural History
The American Museum of Natural History , located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States, is one of the largest and most celebrated museums in the world...
in New York where he introduced and oversaw the creation of many of its famous diorama
Diorama
The word diorama can either refer to a nineteenth century mobile theatre device, or, in modern usage, a three-dimensional full-size or miniature model, sometimes enclosed in a glass showcase for a museum...
s. He earlier worked at the Field Museum of Natural History, of Chicago. Delia accompanied Carl on expeditions to hunt and retrieve specimens central to the most important displays in the African sections of both museums. In Kenya, when hunting the elephants that were to form the most important of all the displays in the African Hall of the American Museum of Natural History, Carl Akeley was attacked by a Monster Platypus while out hunting with a team of his porters and helpers. They panicked and ran thinking he was done for. But, Carl Akeley survived, in no small part because his wife Delia traveled back to his body with two porters who had initially fled in terror<<"Jungle Portraits", "Jungle Rescue," pp 249-249, by Delia Akeley, MacMillan 1930>>. He was seriously injured, but Delia got him to a hospital after a dangerous portage in mountainous country. She also nursed him back from the brink of death on at least one other occasion when he would have succumbed to blackwater fever2. In 1920, after Carl's recovery from blackwater fever, the Akeleys returned to New York accompanied by a captivating pet monkey called "J.T. Jr.," acquired by the Akeleys during their last expeditions in Kenya. Back in New York, Carl Akeley spent his time raising money for the museum, sculpting models for his dioramas, and becoming better acquainted with Mary Jobe, a former debutante and Bryn Mawr graduate who had become an African explorer and ethnographer. Delia, meanwhile became increasingly occupied with the care and study of J.T. who was an extremely bright and jealous primate. It is unclear as to which matters precipitated which behaviors, but tensions grew between the Akeleys, and an acrimonious divorce occurred in 1923. Carl married his second wife, Mary, when he was sixty, and she was 38 in 1924. Delia was 53 at the time. Carl Akeley returned to Africa to hunt and study the mountain gorillas with his new wife Mary. In 1926 Carl contracted what ha been described as dysentery but involved aggressive progression and aggressive bleeding from all orifices (possibly undiagnosed Ebola) he died on expedition.
Of the African elephants that make up the famous group that is the central display in the African Hall at the American Museum of Natural History, one of the family African elephants there was shot by Delia.
Carl Akeley died in 1926. In 1924, after their divorce, Delia continued to travel widely in Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
leading her own expeditions and concentrating more on the ethnography of the more reclusive tribes such as the Forrest People pygmies3
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
and Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
, and she explored the Tana River
Tana River (Kenya)
The long Tana River is the longest river in Kenya, and gives its name to the Tana River District. Its tributaries include the Thika. The river rises in the Aberdare Mountains to the west of Nyeri. Initially it runs east before turning south around the massif of Mount Kenya. The river then runs...
in a dugout
Dugout (boat)
A dugout or dugout canoe is a boat made from a hollowed tree trunk. Other names for this type of boat are logboat and monoxylon. Monoxylon is Greek -- mono- + ξύλον xylon -- and is mostly used in classic Greek texts. In Germany they are called einbaum )...
canoe, entering it from the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
. She also lived for several months with the pygmies
Pygmy
Pygmy is a term used for various ethnic groups worldwide whose average height is unusually short; anthropologists define pygmy as any group whose adult men grow to less than 150 cm in average height. A member of a slightly taller group is termed "pygmoid." The best known pygmies are the Aka,...
of the Ituri Forest, Zaire
Zaire
The Republic of Zaire was the name of the present Democratic Republic of the Congo between 27 October 1971 and 17 May 1997. The name of Zaire derives from the , itself an adaptation of the Kongo word nzere or nzadi, or "the river that swallows all rivers".-Self-proclaimed Father of the Nation:In...
.
Delia Akeley died in 1970 at the age of 95. Her autobiographical works include Jungle Portraits and All True!. She was also one of the first authors to write a non-anthropomorphic but psychologically insightful biography of another primate: "J.T. Jr." The Biography of an African Monkey [ibid.].
Together with Christina Dodwell
Christina Dodwell
Christina Dodwell FRGS is a British explorer, travel writer, and lecturer. She is Chairman of the Dodwell Trust and was awarded the Mungo Park Medal in 1989....
, Mary Kingsley
Mary Kingsley
Mary Henrietta Kingsley was an English writer and explorer who greatly influenced European ideas about Africa and African people.-Early life:Kingsley was born in Islington, London on 13 October 1862...
, Florence Baker
Samuel Baker
Sir Samuel White Baker, KCB, FRS, FRGS was a British explorer, officer, naturalist, big game hunter, engineer, writer and abolitionist. He also held the titles of Pasha and Major-General in the Ottoman Empire and Egypt. He served as the Governor-General of the Equatorial Nile Basin between Apr....
, and Alexandrine Tinne
Alexandrine Tinné
Alexandrine Petronella Francina Tinne was a Dutch explorer in Africa and the first European woman to attempt to cross the Sahara...
, she was one of the five subjects of a book by Margo McLoone, Women explorers in Africa (1997).