2.24.2009

Call and Response


So I sent out press releases to several newspapers around the state describing the project and asking for people to participate by letting me know their stories.

I hadn't realized that the Projo instantly posted the entire release on its blog site. http://newsblog.projo.com/2009/02/documentary-mak.html But when I suddenly got several emails and comments I was delighted. Googled my name with the word elephants and found the post itself and the public's reaction to it. The first response was from Our tax dollars at work who wrote: The state is in financial chaos, and is this what we are doing with our tax dollars? No wonder we are becoming the laughing stock of America.

Now, I have to say I've been expecting this reaction as the economy tanks and have been waiting to respond to it (no use stirring up the pot unneccessarily). So I now post my reply to that writer and give it to all of you who are interested in and supporting this documentary yourselves.

Here are the reasons that the Humanities Council funded my research.
1)History is important. The Humanities Council was formed and exists to promote and protect our understanding of the humanities, the area of knowledge that allows us to understand the world in a wider context and act on that understanding.
2)All over the nation there are lawsuits re: the proper treatment of exotic animals by zoos, circuses, etc. By studying our own responses to them in the past, we are better able to address such concerns when they come up here in the future. And they do come up every year when the circus comes to town or when the zoo must make decisions about the animals they keep.
3)By learning about our own stories of the past, we strengthen our identity and understanding of ourselves today.

All comments are gratefully appreciated...

2.21.2009

Bingeing....



I binged on Pawtucket this week. I kept thinking of those files, those stacks of folders, just waiting to be mined by the right person- who happens to be- me. Although I had appointments here on the island or nearby every day, by Wednesday I exploded, rented a hotel room up north and headed for Pawtucket Public Library.

The files were no disappointment. Though I got a little weary of reading what seemed to be the same stories over and over, it suddenly occurred to me that I was reading the accounts of politics and impassioned advocacy with 20/20 hindsight. I knew what was going to happen. I knew that Fanny's last ten years would be happy and healthy and good for everyone all around. But Pawtucket, the mayor and concilmen, the public- none of them had any way of knowing (though they could hope) that it would all turn out for the best.

There had been a lot of problems at the zoo, after all. Vandals released Frosty the polar bear and he was shot in his tracks before the zoo folks could get a tranquilizer gun on the scene. Seven animals in the prairie exhibit died from various causes within a couple of months at the zoo due to the results of overcrowding, infant mortality, etc. A camel in rut went nuts and killed his keeper. One of the bears (it turned out later) had pancreatitis and died on his way to his relocation zoo. Fanny, even with her questionable surroundings, seemed to be on the winning end of things. Certainly she was in the hearts of Pawtucketers....

The 1992-93 fights to do the best by Fanny were a fascinating peek into the era. Fermenting partisanship against the animal rights folks and the hearts of the public with a dash of self-promotion along the way. Good hearts pretty much all the way around.

My list of people to contact grwos exponentially. I want to do a Man-in-the-street kind of thing at the zoo when the weather perks up and the leaves green out.

Thursday, Ray met me in Providence and we shot a talk with Chris Kane, the sculptor of the Fanny statue. I asked him what makes his statue Fanny, rather than a generic elephant. He did a lot of thinking and a lot of experimenting and a lot of examining of pictures of our heroine. He worked the eyes to reflect (pardon the pun) her gentle gaze, and created a special tool to try her head in all sorts of angles to get her just right. I can hardly wait to get back.

Size was an issue, Chris informed us. If he made her too large, she wouldn't be accessible to the kids he wanted to play on, under, around and through her. If he made her too small, she'd look like a toy. Even the shade of grey he used to paint her was a major consideration. Too light, and she became a plaything only. Too dark and she'd be forbidding. Although he originally envisioned her in bronze, lack of funds dictated Plan B, which was to go to fiberglass.

"In retrospect," he confided "It was totally the best decision because it really fit in with the surroundings and was more reasonable for the purpose. Bronze gets too hot in the summer for the kids to touch, and looks too old fashioned to fit into the modern surroundings."

So I continue, and will be burning the phone wires this week all the way to Pawtucket.

More as things develop.

2.14.2009

Fanny begins...

There's something pretty satisfying about being presented with stacks of primary source folders on a subject, and that's what I faced earlier today up in Pawtucket. The Fanny files from both the Library and Historical Society there were waiting for me to mine them. I only had a couple of hours to go through them today, but I can hardly wait to retun next week for more digging.

There were a couple of bombshells even in the little I was able to go through, and I am running up a real photocopy account as I go along. Fanny, it appears, left her footprint in cement at the zoo the day before she left for Texas in 1993. I don't remember seeing it there, but then again, I wasn't looking for it the last time I visited the zoo. There was more memorabilia as well, and I'm hoping to dig it up as I go along.

It's time to actually start shooting interviews. I have a couple lined up and a list of names that reaches all the way to the ground to do at the same time.

I've also begun lining up speaking engagements for the summer, to update people on the research. Chepachet first, in May, and then Pawtucket in July. Anyone who wants to book my presentation is welcome to contact me at tapit@care2.com.

2.07.2009

Moving down south...


Big news in elephant world this week, as my friend Sue on the island was quick to point out.

According to the New York Times, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the Animal Welfare Institute and the Fund for Animals have brought Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus to Federal District Court for "engaging in a number of practices they call cruel, including chaining the elephants for long stretches." Apparently the blockbuster evidence against the circuses include some pretty damning video footage of mistreatment. The circuses, of course, are pissed. In moving to dismiss the case, they argued that the plaintiffs "have most of their “facts” wrong and are also wrong on the law, basing much of their case on the Endangered Species Act, which the defendants say Congress never intended to apply to animals in captivity."

For more info, read
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/01/us/01circus.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=elephant%20court&st=cse
There's also a fascinating account of the background and proceedings over at http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202427940908
And to keep up to date on the proceedings, check out http://awionline.org/legal_affairs/ringling_bros/court_documents.htm

Now I've been having a real dilemma about whether this film should primarily focus on history, advocacy, or just entertainment for the whole family. Since I'm just in the hunting/gathering stage, I don't really need to decide on anything right now, but the trial gives me pause. I love the "gentle giants" and I would love to think that I could do something to help them live happy, free-ish and contented lives. But if I go down that path, I could lose the impact of the history and the intimacy of the Rhode Island angle. It will, of course, continue to haunt me.

On Thursday night, I went to a meeting of the RI Film Collaborative Documentary Makers' group. They really got me jazzed to greenlight the interviews we need for the piece and start running with it. When I described my project there was, as usual, a great outpouring of passion from, among others, the partner of the former zoo vet over at Roger Williams Park Zoo (where Alice awaits her next date with the Pittsburgh stud) and a designer who is working on a communication device (ele-tele) for elephants. Now this whole piece has an audience, has a passionate audience, and deserves to be made and seen. I wish I had a producer- but until then...

So I'll be on the phone a lot this week setting up interviews and shooting opportunities. I can hardly wait to get started again.

Research wise, I've packed up my tent and moved south from Chepachet to Pawtucket- from Bette to Fanny. The folks over at Pawtucket, who are manning the Pawtucket History Research Center, have gathered their packets and pictures and called me to come on up any time to start digging. So, god willing and the snow don't fall, I'll be headed north early next week.

More later....

2.02.2009

Jackpot- sort of


Paydirt.

As I was photocopying the info I'd gathered on Bette's demise in Chepachet for the Historical Society, I ran across the names of the five defendants who were found guilty of the murder. I immediately emailed Andrew Smith up at Judicial Records with the info so he could locate anything of value from the courts. I'm waiting for his answer about the process that sealed the fates of Fenner Eddy, John Inman, Albert Eddy, Francis West, Angell Darling and Benjamin Bowen, but I've already got fascinating stats on how many bullets were used and by whom, who stood where and when and why the fine was set so high.

It seems that killing pachyderms came under the general "law which makes the killing of a beast an offence, punishing the same with a fine not exceeding $100 and two months imprisonment, and also subjecting the party convicted to pay to the owner treble damages to be recovered in an action of trespass. This was doubtless intended to apply to ordinary animals, horses, kine, etc. and the law could not have anticipated the shooting an elephant."

This is where the fun begins. I've started trying to track down the descendents of the perpertrators with uneven results. And there are mysteries. For example, "Fenner Eddy" (how many of those can there be?) appears to have moved to NY state before the killing. Were there two? Or did he do the deed on Spring break? If the one I found is the same, he would have been 23 at the time of shooting and with a family, to boot. But...

Angell Darling provided testimony after the Dorr Rebellion, but was he a participant or onlooker? And who is related to Amasa Eddy, Dorr's Lt. Governor? RI is a small state and Chepachet even smaller, so my hunch is that these guys were all pretty much related. Certainly the Inmans and Eddys were, I've found.

But were the conspiracy theories hinted at darkly and in back corners true, or is it, in fact, more accurate to say that the Chepachet Six were just out on a lark, taking the Elephant Man (with apologies to Merrick) at his word.

To be continued...