About the Postcards |
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Lion cubs [with Edna Allison], New York Zoological Park, circa 1920 Botanical Garden, Bronx Park, circa 1908 |
The 450 postcards on display here have been collected by the Wildlife Conservation Society Library and The New York Botanical Garden’s LuEsther T. Mertz Library. Ranging in date from 1903 to the 1980s, the majority of the cards were published by the New York Zoological Society (today the Wildlife Conservation Society) and The New York Botanical Garden. The cards depict the serenity of the Bronx Park land on which the Bronx Zoo and The New York Botanical Garden are located. Views include lakes, the Bronx River falls, wooded pathways, and other idyllic scenes. These cards also show the buildings, plants, and animals that have made the Bronx Zoo and The New York Botanical Garden so memorable to more than a century of visitors. Buildings represented include such historic landmarks as the Zoo’s Both the Bronx Zoo and The New York Botanical Garden are as vibrant and dynamic as the animals and plants living within them. Zoo postcards featuring animals and exhibits provide glimpses into the evolution of animal treatment and care. Additionally, the captions on the Bronx Zoo cards—which, over time, stress the dangers facing wildlife and wild places—reflect a deepening of the institution’s commitment to wildlife conservation and education. Similarly, the cards show changes in the size and shape of The New York Botanical Garden as well as in its philosophy of how and where to display the living collections. These postcards, once souvenir mementos, are now reminders of the past and document the long histories of Bronx Park, The New York Botanical Garden, and the Bronx Zoo. |
Wildlife Conservation Society | The New York Botanical Garden |