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Zoo should permanently honor its pioneers
To the editor:
As the St. Louis Zoo celebrates its centennial, it should consider honoring the two humans most responsible for that past: George Vierheller and Marlin Perkins. Mr. Vierheller used to have a place of honor with a statue in front of Vierheller Station on the Zooline Railroad. That station was renamed “Conservation Station,” which while politically correct, has no history. Mr. Vierheller’s statue was moved to an undistinguished spot near the Living World.
Those patrons old enough to remember the train conductor calling out “Vierheller Station” as we pulled in are presumably the parents and grandparents so key to keeping the Zoo viable by bringing their children and grandchildren to visit. To properly honor this human giant of the Zoo, bring back Vierheller Station and return the statue of Mr. Vierheller and the primate to its rightful place in front of “his” station.
Furthermore, one other boringly named station should be renamed to honor another Zoo great, Marlin Perkins. I suspect most conservationists over the age of 50 were originally turned on to the beauty and fragility of the natural world by watching Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom during the 1960s.
We owe a debt of gratitude to these pioneers and they deserve lasting recognition in the world-renowned institution they helped create.
Hilda Willman
Central West End
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