Specimens and Souls: Baptist Naturalist & Bioprospecting in Brazil with Bryce C. Brown Fellowship Researcher David Criscione  

Texas missionary couples Zachary and Kate Taylor and William and Anne Bagby travelled to Brazil to establish the first Baptist missions in the city of Salvador, Bahía, Brazil. Later, Zachary Taylor returned to Texas in 1905 with the skeleton of a humpback whale alongside other natural history artefacts (including plant samples, taxidermized animals, and samples of local culture) from the mission field in Brazil. This presentation explains how these specimens came to the Mayborn Museum’s collections through the fascinating lives of their donors, the Taylors and the Bagbys, and their interests in Brazil’s natural history, peoples, and culture.

Presentation given by Bryce C. Brown Fellowship Researcher David Criscione.