Description
She was a middle-aged, divorced mother who became the world’s first female zoo director—so why has history forgotten her name? The truth is simple: there would be no world-famous San Diego Zoo today if not for Belle Benchley. In 1927, she took a temporary bookkeeper job she admittedly “dreaded,” only to stay for 30 years. Facing financial ruin, she single-handedly saved the failing institution and built it into a global conservation icon long before Jane Goodall. Join award-winning author and historian Dr. Sandra E. Bonura—author of the brand-new book, The Zoo Lady: How Belle Benchley Built the San Diego Zoo—for a highly visual, interactive presentation. Through rare archival photos, multimedia, and a lively audience Q&A, discover the “leader of steel” who broke the glass ceiling, wrestled rattlesnakes, and orchestrated the historic 1938 cross-country giraffe trek that inspired the bestselling novel West with Giraffes.
Have a personal zoo memory? Bring it with you and join the conversation as we put “The Zoo Lady” back in the spotlight.
