Helen Gaul was interviewed by Catherine Perge on July 5, 1996. She was born in Reading, Pennsylvania, in 1943 and moved to Washington, DC, in 1965 after completing college. Beginning in 1977, Gaul started volunteering for the Zoo, and she is still active in their animal studies. Gaul works as an accountant for a broadcasting company. This interview discusses how Gaul got involved in the volunteer program at the Zoo; the various animal study projects in which she has participated, including lesser and giant pandas, Atlas lions, seals, golden lion tamarin monkeys, and cheetahs; the Zoo's programs for species preservation and reintroduction to the wild; her visits abroad; changes in the Zoo's volunteer program; the new Amazonia exhibit and Think Tank project; the Smithsonian and the Zoo as resources for the public; her visits to the Smithsonian museums on the Mall; memories of the Folklife Festival; challenging and memorable moments in her volunteer work; and the relationship between Zoo volunteers and the staff. Gaul mentions Zoo staff members Devra Kleiman, Dr. Benjamin Beck, Stuart Wells, and Rob Shumaker.

Object Details

See more items in: Smithsonian Memories Project, Festival of American Folklife Oral History Interviews; Smithsonian Memories Project, Festival of American Folklife Oral History Interviews / Interviews

Collection Citation: Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 9594, Smithsonian Memories Project, Festival of American Folklife Oral History Interviews