The Faces of ASDM Board Leadership

From the beginning, ASDM’s co-founders, Arthur Pack and Bill Carr demonstrated strong vision and leadership. Shortly after the Museum’s opening on Labor Day, 1952, Bill Carr began to look ahead to the Museum’s organizational and fiscal needs.

With its first gathering in April, 1953, the ASDM Board of Directors (later Board of Trustees) read like a who’s who of Tucson’s leaders:

Arthur Pack
ASDM Co-founder
Circa 1960s

Arthur N. Pack, the co-founder and first ASDM President was one of the co-founders of the American Nature Association of Washington, D. C. and for many years Editor of Nature Magazine. In 1934, he moved to New Mexico where he founded Ghost Ranch. Then in the 1940s, he moved to Tucson, Arizona where he was one of its leading citizens as President of the YMCA, Chairman of the County Park and Recreation program, a Director of the Chamber of Commerce and an active member of many other civic and philanthropic groups.

Roy Chapman Andrews
Circa 1920s

Roy Chapman Andrews, the first Vice-President was internationally known as an author, explorer, a former Director of the American Museum in New York, Director and organizer of the American Museum Gobi Desert Expeditions, and noted paleontologist. He made his winter home in Tucson, Arizona and was one of the Museum’s leading supporters. The Roy Chapman Andrews Research Fund was established at ASDM in 1960 in his honor, and continues to this day.

Joseph Wood Krutch & Friend
— Circa 1960s

Joseph Wood Krutch, the first Secretary-Treasurer, was one of the country's leading nature, philosophical and bibliographical authors. He was formerly Professor of English and Drama at Columbia University in New York. He was also a dramatic critic, a field naturalist, and editor of several leading journals. A Tucson resident, he served on the board for seventeen years.

Mrs. G. H. d'Autremont represented a link with Tucson’s early history and of Arizona representing the Phelps Dodge Corporation mining interests and railroad developments in the region. She was one of Arizona’s most public spirited citizens.

Mrs. Lewis W. Douglas, wife of our former Ambassador to the Court of St. James, Ms. Douglas was a foremost leader both in the East and the West in such civic enterprises as the International Red Cross where her ability as an organizer was well known.

Mrs. R.E. Ellinwood, co-publisher of the Arizona Daily Star of Tucson, was from the start a strong supporter who aided in every way to publicize the Museum’s efforts.

George W. Chambers, a newspaper executive of long experience in the Southwest, he was also a publisher in his own right. His Arizona Silhouettes Press was well known. He was a leading member of the Arizona Pioneer Historical Society and a leader in the establishment of the ‘new’ Historical Museum in Tucson.

Robert D. Morrow, Superintendent of Tucson Schools, was an outstanding Southwestern educator, who won national recognition for his work in building what was to become Tucson Unified School District.

Bill Carr wrote of them, ‘I don't know any other museum with so devoted a board. I'm most proud that I got that first board together. They took the ball and carried it.’

And so it grew — and with board development came formal organization as — “Later that year (1953), we were duly organized, ‘… a non-profit educational corporation established under the laws of the State of Arizona’ and were empowered to conduct, operate, maintain and carry on an indoor and outdoor educational institution, fostering study and evaluation of natural history … to the end that visitors to, and residents of, Arizona may obtain an understanding and rounded view of all forms of desert life … in order that the study of the natural sciences and/or resource conservation may be furthered”

The Board of Trustees continued to expand over the years with some well-known faces and the successors of those original trustees have included community leaders, scientists, writers, artists, politicians, and actors, including:

John Jameson - 1970

John Jameson filled many roles at the Desert Museum from 1956 to 1978. He was elected president of the board in 1962 and reelected for five additional terms. Later, he was employed by the Museum as development officer, then as chief administrative officer. Under his direction, a multi-million-dollar campaign was conducted that provided the means to expand the Museum. John, an eloquent spokesman for the Museum, was particularly fond of otters. As a surprise for his seventieth birthday, his extended family purchased a pair of them, given in his name to the Museum.

Dr. Lawrence M. Gould
South Pole - 1969

Dr. Laurence M. Gould served as second-in-command and chief scientist on Admiral Richard E. Byrd's Antarctic Expedition, which established ‘Little America’ in 1929. Gould was a valued trustee of the Desert Museum in 1969, when he made one of his return trips to the South Pole. With him he carried ASDM's flag, designed by Sheridan Oman.

Congressman Morris K. Udall
Dedication of Cat Canyon
— March 10, 1973

For three decades, Congressman Morris K. Udall served as a valued member of the ASDM advisory council and board of trustees. He was the featured — and humorous — speaker at the dedications of both the Small Cat Habitats in 1973 and the Mountain Habitat in 1986.

Amanda Blake/ Merv Larson
Dedication of Cat Canyon
— March 10, 1973

Amanda Blake, ‘Miss Kitty’ on TV’s Gunsmoke, was a strong supporter of ASDM and a member of the board of trustees. She was particularly interested in various types of wild cats and active in efforts to protect large African cat species. . For many years, she maintained a ranch in the Phoenix area focused on cheetahs and other large cats. Needless to say, ASDM’s Cat Canyon was one of ‘Miss Kitty’s’ preferred exhibits!

A February, 2020 interview with Kevin E. Bonine, Phd., Chair, and Stephen K. Brigham, Vice-Chair, revealed that the spirit of strong board leadership continues. When asked about leadership and guidance for the Museum over the years, Bonine & Brigham noted the following:

Photo Credits:

• Jack Sheaffer
• Ray Manley
• Anne C. Warner

The Faces of ASDM Board Leadership vignette text and photos are extracted, in part, from Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum A Scrapbook by Peggy Pickering Larson and from ASDM archives. Quotes from Bill Carr are from Pebbles in Your Shoes, 1982. The vignette was edited by Anne C. Warner.

The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum (ASDM) Oral History Project is designed to chronicle the history of ASDM. The interviews and collected materials provide an opportunity to capture the memories of museum founders, members, staff, and guests; and to share those memories with Tucson and the conservation community at large.