Dr. Robert Archibald chatting with Charlie Hoessle.

When Charlie Hoessle addressed a group from a local women’s auxiliary in 1962, he could never have imagined that the talk would lead to a 40-year career at the Saint Louis Zoo. But lucky for him—and lucky for the Zoo—the audience that day included Carol Perkins, the wife of then-director Marlin Perkins. She convinced her husband to hire Hoessle, launching a career that would include jobs as reptile curator, education coordinator, and general animal curator, not to mention a 20-year stint as director.

On April 1, Hoessle sat down with Dr. Robert Archibald, president of the Missouri History Museum, to discuss some of his favorite memories of his tenure at the Zoo. The free public event was the first in a series of “Zoo Conversations” that will be held over the next three months in celebration of the Zoo’s centennial. The first Conversation, exploring the Zoo’s past, was held in the Lee Auditorium at the Missouri History Museum. Attendees were greeted in the Grand Hall by zoo residents out on a field trip: an owl, falcon, and chinchilla.

The Zoo and the History Museum have also partnered to create an exhibit commemorating the Zoo’s centennial. The exhibit, presented by First Bank, opened May 15 in the 1917 Elephant House at the Zoo.

See below for a flier on the Zoo Conversations series. For more information, click here.

—Jody Sowell, Oral Historian

Watch segments of the first Zoo Conversation:

Zoo Conversations I - Part 1 of 2 from Missouri History Museum on Vimeo.

Zoo Conversations I - Part 2 of 2 from Missouri History Museum on Vimeo.