Lowman family collection on Bobo the gorilla, ca. 1951-1992 (bulk 1952-1968).

ArchivalResource

Lowman family collection on Bobo the gorilla, ca. 1951-1992 (bulk 1952-1968).

The collection consists of photographs, newspaper articles and clippings, letters, postcards and cards (approximately 49 photographs, 35 clippings, and 19 pieces of correspondence, including 6 cards from an elementary school class), as well as Bobo's medical records, and lists of property damage and expenses from his time with the Lowmans. Materials deal with Bobo's life: the photographs primarily with his life before being sold to Woodland Park Zoo (including photographs with members of the Lowman family); the newspaper articles primarily about his life and death at Woodland Park Zoo; and the correspondence mostly with the Lowman family's treatment of Bobo. There are two photographs of Gertrude Davis Lintz, who also had purchased an infant gorilla in the same period.

0.21 cubic ft.

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 7624742

Related Entities

There are 3 Entities related to this resource.

Lowman family.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6vb7427 (family)

Bobo the gorilla (1951-1968) was captured in then-French Equatorial Africa in 1951 and taken to the U.S. by William Said. In Dec. 1951, Bill Lowman purchased Bobo for $4,000 from Said in Columbus, Ohio, and drove back to his home in Anacortes, Wash. Bobo was raised by the Lowman family until Dec. 1953, when the time, money, and resources needed to raise Bobo were no longer feasible. The Lowmans sold him to the Woodland Park Zoo for $5,500. The zoo built a great ape building in which to house Bob...

Woodland Park Zoo

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6353101 (corporateBody)

The Woodland Park Zoo began its existence as a small private animal collection established by Seattle developer Guy C. Phinney (1852-1893) on the northwest corner of his 179-acre Woodland Park Estate. This menagerie included North American animals like deer and black bear, as well as more exotic specimens like African ostriches. After Phinney's death in 1893, the property remained in limbo until the City purchased it from Phinney's widow in 1899 for $100,000, despite a veto by Mayor...

Lintz, Gertrude

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6z03pj3 (person)