The curious case of Central Park's dinosaurs: The destruction of Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins' Paleozoic Museum revisited

IF 1.2 4区地球科学 Q2 Earth and Planetary Sciences

Proceedings of the Geologists Association Pub Date : 2023-06-01 DOI:10.1016/j.pgeola.2023.04.004

Victoria Coules , Michael J. Benton

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引用次数: 1

Abstract

In May 1871, models and skeleton casts of dinosaurs and other ancient vertebrates destined for a new Paleozoic Museum in Central Park, New York were smashed and destroyed. This greatest act of vandalism in the history of dinosaur study and museum development was attributed to the infamous William ‘Boss’ Tweed, leader of a notorious group of rogue politicians who at the time held the reins of power in the booming city. Our research on primary sources shows that Tweed was not involved, and the real villain was Henry Hilton, a powerful lawyer and businessman. Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins had been employed to do the work and yet he was dismissed and not compensated, creating a scandal. Contrary to the generally accepted narrative of these events, we find no religious motive for the destruction, only potential conflict with the developing American Museum of Natural History. Further, based on well-reported evidence, we find that Hilton exhibited an eccentric and destructive approach to cultural artefacts, and a remarkable ability to destroy everything he touched, including the huge fortune of the department store tycoon Alexander Stewart. Evidently the destruction of Hawkins' New York City dinosaurs was one of many such crazy actions through his life; Hilton was not only bad, but also mad.

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中央公园恐龙的奇特案例：本杰明·沃特豪斯-霍金斯古生代博物馆被毁事件重访

1871年5月，运往纽约中央公园新的古生代博物馆的恐龙和其他古代脊椎动物的模型和骨骼模型被砸碎并销毁。这起恐龙研究和博物馆发展史上最严重的破坏行为要归功于臭名昭著的威廉·“老板”·特威德，他是一群臭名昭著的流氓政客的领袖，当时他掌握着这座繁荣城市的权力。我们对主要来源的研究表明，特威德没有参与其中，真正的恶棍是亨利·希尔顿，一位有权势的律师和商人。本杰明·沃特豪斯-霍金斯曾受雇从事这项工作，但他被解雇，没有得到补偿，这引发了丑闻。与人们普遍接受的对这些事件的叙述相反，我们没有发现破坏的宗教动机，只有与正在发展的美国自然历史博物馆的潜在冲突。此外，根据大量报道的证据，我们发现希尔顿对文物表现出了古怪和破坏性的态度，并有非凡的能力摧毁他所接触的一切，包括百货公司大亨亚历山大·斯图尔特的巨额财富。显然，霍金斯在纽约市恐龙的毁灭是他一生中许多疯狂行为之一；希尔顿不仅坏，而且还疯了。

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来源期刊

Proceedings of the Geologists Association 地学-地质学

CiteScore

2.70

自引率

8.30%

发文量

审稿时长

6-12 weeks

期刊介绍： The Proceedings of the Geologists'' Association is an international geoscience journal that was founded in 1859 and publishes research and review papers on all aspects of Earth Science. In particular, papers will focus on the geology of northwestern Europe and the Mediterranean, including both the onshore and offshore record. Following a long tradition, the PGA will focus on: i) a range of article types (see below) on topics of wide relevance to Earth Sciences ii) papers on aspects of Earth Science that have societal relevance including geoconservation and Earth management, iii) papers on palaeoenvironments and palaeontology of the Mesozoic and Cenozoic, iv) papers on aspects of Quaternary geology and climate change, and v) papers on the history of geology with particular reference to individuals that have shaped the subject. These topics will also steer the content of the themes of the Special Issues that are published in the PGA.