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The Murals of Pioneer Hall

PAWNEE ZOO


The Pawnee Zoo has been around for 150 years. It's one of the oldest zoos in North America, and with over 250 species of animals on display, it continues to dazzle Pawneeans today:



Click to enlarge


Unfortunately, the muralist chose to depict a rather disturbing and isolated event in the history of the zoo: in 1914, a Jewish ornithologist who was headed for the Mississippi River took a wrong turn, and wandered into Pawnee looking for directions. The mayor at the time had never seen a Jewish person before, and, believing him to be some kind of rare alien creature, placed him in the zoo's abandoned otter cage.


A few days later, the residents of Pawnee received confirmation that this was merely a human being with a different heritage, and let him out with great apologies. The mayor even invited the man to settle right there in Pawnee for good, an offer which the man politely declined.


Yes, it is a harsh image, but ask yourself: would it sway your opinion if you knew the mural was painted by a Jewish man? (It wasn't.) Also, lest you feel that Pawnee as a town was unfairly cruel to Jewish people, there is evidence that people from many other religious minorities were also put in cages: Catholics, the Amish, and Unitarians, to name just a few.


Obviously, it is shameful and disgusting that a human being was placed in a cage. And I can promise you, it won't happen again. Not on my watch!


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