Hi, all,
This list has been remarkably quiet about the Field Museum's recent acquistion
of Sue, the dinosaur. Fortunately, for those who might be interested, much of
what *could* have been said here has been said, instead, in the local papers
-- in particular in the Chicago Tribune. There wasn't much new for old-timers
like many of us, but it has been interesting to see it all being said in
public, for a change. (It might also be of interest to a museum studies
class....)
The Tribune has a Web site (http://www.chicago.tribune.com/) and an America
Online site, as well. If you visit either and search using "Tyrannosaurus" or
"dinosaur" or some other related term, you can dig up about a dozen articles
like the ones listed below. (Be warned that the titles on the Web site
articles are often generic -- at least look at everything you turn up!). The
following listings include titles, dates, and the first few paragraphs (for
review purposes only, of course). I put the articles in reverse chronological
order, because the ones most interesting to the list have been published most
recently.
I'm kind of proud of the reporters who work for our old Tribune -- I think they
picked up on most of the major issues surrounding Sue's purchase. However, on
behalf of the entire City of Chicago, I apologize for all the awful puns in
the headlines!
Eric Gyllenhaal
[log in to unmask]
*****
CULTURE'S NEW DEEP POCKETS
ARE CORPORATE TIE-INS AND BLOCKBUSTER SHOWS SAVING OR DESECRATING MUSEUMS? (a
pair of "pro" and "con" articles)
Date: Monday, October 13, 1997
Section: TEMPO
Column: Commentary.
Copyright Chicago Tribune
A NECESSARY EVIL
By Charles Leroux, Tribune Staff Writer.
"To blockbuster or not to blockbuster?
"For Chicago's major museums, the question is moot, made so by the economic
realities of our time. As has been the case over the past three decades,
collections in the foreseeable future will be dominated by big-thunder
attractions...."
JUST PLAIN EVIL
By Howard Reich, Tribune Arts Critic.
"With public support for the arts and humanities apparently withering,
perhaps it's no surprise that cash-strapped museums have been turning to a
different source of support: corporate America.
"Museums, theaters and concert halls realized years ago that the days of
counting on beleaguered government agencies such as the National Endowment for
the Arts were coming to an end. In the lean, mean, fend-for-yourself '90s,
America's curators and artists began flocking to the nation's board rooms
singing that golden oldie, "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?"...."
MUSEUMS' CORPORATE TIES RATTLE SOME BONES
Date: Sunday, October 12, 1997
Source: By Stevenson Swanson, Tribune Staff Writer. Tribune staff writer Susan
Chandler in Chicago contributed to this report.
Section: NEWS
Dateline: NEW YORK
Copyright Chicago Tribune
"When a new science and industry museum opened in Oregon in 1993, an auto
manufacturer paid the museum to put one of its new vehicles on display. The
museum, which had no related car exhibits, agreed.
"Over the summer, the American Museum of Natural History here drew large
crowds with a glitzy exhibition, sponsored by another car company, that was
linked to the Steven Spielberg movie "The Lost World: Jurassic Park." The
exhibition included displays of scientifically shaky Hollywood versions of
many dinosaurs. And, of course, a car.
"Last week, Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History paid a staggering $8.3
million for the tyrannosaurus rex skeleton known as Sue. Much of the money
will come from two Fortune 500 corporate sponsors, and a new fossil
preparation lab in the museum's main hall will be named after one of those
companies...."
FIELD TOLD IT WILL HAVE TO PAY FOR DINO NAME
THAT $8.3 MILLION DIDN'T INCLUDE SUE
Date: Friday, October 10, 1997
Source: By Sue Ellen Christian, Tribune Staff Writer.
Section: METRO CHICAGO
Copyright Chicago Tribune
"The Field Museum of Natural History may not be able to call its new, $8.3
million Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton by the only name it has ever known, Sue,
without getting the permission of the private fossil-finding institute that
first christened the bones.
"The Black Hills Institute of Geological Research in Hill City, S.D., which
recovered the bones in 1990, is claiming trademark rights based on past
marketing of Sue paraphernalia, officials said Thursday.
""We've used the name Sue since the fall of 1990, from almost the moment we
took her out of the ground," said Marion Zenker, marketing coordinator at the
institute. "We're one of the few places that has ever named a dinosaur.
Usually they are just given catalog numbers."..."
BRINGING T. REX TO CHICAGO
Date: Friday, October 10, 1997
Section: EDITORIAL
Copyright Chicago Tribune
"Sometime about 65 million years ago a huge Tyrannosaurus rex--among the
most fearsome creatures ever to roam the planet--died in a streambed in the
middle of South Dakota."
[big cut]
"There were disquieting aspects about the purchase, raising concerns about
more auctions with more exorbitant prices for dinosaur remains--at once
encouraging amateur explorers to pillage fossil beds for gain and selling the
remains into private hands.
"There ought to be such concerns, but there also ought to be celebration
that this particular tyrannosaur will stay in the public domain. And there is
no more worthy public domain than the Field--already renowned for its dinosaur
exhibit--where Sue will go on display after two years of painstaking
preparation, an event that also will be open to the public...."
PALEONTOLOGISTS PICK BONES OVER PRICEY FOSSILS
Date: Thursday, October 9, 1997
Source: By William Mullen, Tribune Staff Writer.
Section: METRO CHICAGO
Copyright Chicago Tribune
"The $8.3 auction sale of Sue the Tyrannosaurus rex fossil to the Field
Museum of Natural History may have created a monster that will scare even the
most intrepid dinosaur hunters in the future.
"That is what some of the biggest names in the dinosaur business were saying
Wednesday as 900 scientists gathered at the Ramada Congress Hotel for the
four-day meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology.
""I try to find the upside of it (the Sue auction), but I can't find it
yet," said John Horner, the model of the paleontologist hero of the "Jurassic
Park" book and movie...."
THE WHEELING AND DEALING THAT SNARED A TYRANNOSAUR
Date: Tuesday, October 7, 1997
Source: By Stevenson Swanson, Tribune Staff Writer. Tribune staff writers
Susan Chandler in Chicago and V. Dion Haynes in Los Angeles contributed to
this report.
Section: NEWS
Copyright Chicago Tribune
"The three were top officials of Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History,
and they had just seen the Tyrannosaurus rex fossil nicknamed Sue at the
warehouse of Sotheby's, the auction house.
""It was as spectacular as we had heard that it was," said John Flynn, head
of the museum's geology department. "Overall, the bone is exquisitely
preserved."
"The museum's leaders brought six months of intense behind-the-scenes
negotiating and planning to fruition Saturday. Outbidding many competitors,
the museum bought the skeleton for $8.3 million, most likely the highest price
paid for a fossil...."
ACQUISITION OF DINOSAUR MAKES BOY A FIELD FAN
TYRANNOSAURUS REX COMING TO MUSEUM
Date: Monday, October 6, 1997
Source: By William Mullen and Dave Newbart, Tribune Staff Writers.
Section: METRO CHICAGO
Copyright Chicago Tribune
"Troy Connolly, an 8-year-old 3rd grader from Channahon, had exactly the
kind of reaction the Field Museum of Natural History hoped to elicit when it
spent an unprecedented $8.3 million to buy Sue, the celebrated tyrannosaurus
rex skeleton.
""Troy is just crazy about dinosaurs," said his mother, Teresa, as she
shepherded her family through the Field's dinosaur exhibit Sunday afternoon
while her son ran ahead of the group. "He had been following the whole story
about Sue being up for sale.
""He got incredibly excited yesterday when he heard that the Field Museum
was the winning bidder. He insisted so strongly that Sue would be here today
we decided to come. He's still excited just being here, even though Sue
isn't."..."
FIELD MUSEUM CLAIMS SUE AS ITS OWN
$8 MILLION AT AUCTION WINS PRIZED T. REX
Date: Sunday, October 5, 1997
Source: By Stevenson Swanson,Tribune Staff Writer.
Section: NEWS
Dateline: NEW YORK
Copyright Chicago Tribune
"In an auction that was charged with high-stakes drama, Chicago's Field
Museum of Natural History outbid eight competitors Saturday and bought the
dinosaur fossil known as Sue for more than $8 million.
"Sue, the largest and most complete tyrannosaurus rex skeleton in existence,
will become a permanent display at the museum starting in 2000, according to
museum President John McCarter, who announced plans for the fossil following
the auction at Sotheby's...."
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