Vassar mastodon bones at SUNY face uncertain future

Jason Lipeles Guest Writer

Vassar College, 1986: A pink slip of paper rested on a table on the New England Building's third floor. It instructed the janitor to promptly dismantle the nine foot tall and 20 foot long mastodon skeleton that had resided at Vassar for 83 years and throw it in the garbage. The mastodon, whose bones were collected from nine different mastodon excavations throughout the United States and Canada, waited in the next room, unaware that administrators, who believe it to be nothing more than a plaster cast, have arranged for its execution.

Yet, instead of the janitor finding the note and sealing the mastodon's fate, an art professor noticed it. Taking matters into his own hands, he contacted someone at the Museum of Natural History in Manhattan, New York, who told him of the skeletons value and proposed New Paltz as a possibility for its new home. The professor spoke to Russell Waines, a Professor of Geology at the State University of New York at New Paltz, who agreed to take it. The mastodon was saved.

Well, kind of. The mastodon was dismantled and the bones were transported to New Paltz, where they have remained for the past 19 years, virtually unprotected and still in pieces.

Professor Frederick Vollmer, the Chair of the Geology Department at SUNY New Paltz, would still like the bones to be displayed as long as they are put together with care. "From my point of view, I would like the [mastodon bones] restored I would certainly be pleased to work with Vassar if there was some sort of plan [to display the bones]," says Vollmer. He stressed that they had no intention of disposing of the mastodon bones.

Through the faults of time, members of Vassar College did not have active interest in bringing the mastodon skeleton back until 2001 when Betty Daniels, the Vassar Historian, and Steven Taylor, Vassar's current Director of Academic Consulting Services, went to SUNY New Paltz to visit the mastodon. They met Geology Professor at SUNY New Paltz Russell Waines and talked about possibly displaying the mastodon at Vassar. The transaction was never finalized and the mastodon bones never left New Paltz.

Today, however, various professors, students, and other Vassar faculty have become passionate about bringing the mastodon back to Vassar. "He's historically Vassar," said Lois Horst, the Geology/Geography Departments Administrative Assistant, who recently earned her Environmental Studies degree from Vassar. Horst wrote much of her thesis about Vassar's natural history museum and the mastodon. In her thesis, she wrote hopefully, "Someday, perhaps, the Circleville mastodon will be returned to the Vassar campus." (The skeleton was called the Circleville mastodon because the greatest portion of bones came from an excavation site in Circleville, Ohio.)

Benefits of Returning the Mastodon to Vassar

Some would like the mastodon back to improve the richness of the Geology Department's academics. Joel Dashnaw '05, the geology department's Academic Intern, said, It would be tremendously helpful to have the mastodon for the Geology introductory level course. He believes that the mastodon could be used as a visual for the introductory class, which explores the evolution of life on earth, and also for lab sessions that incorporate fossils.

Kirsten Menking, a Professor of Geology at Vassar, supports bringing back the mastodon because "it would be a nice teaching tool for [the paleontology] class."

Menking also mentioned that there are a lot of school groups near Vassar that could visit and benefit from an improved natural history museum. "I think its a shame that [the mastodon] is just sitting there in boxes where no ones looking at it, when it could be a resource for local school children," she said.

Others at Vassar would like the mastodon back to increase interest in and support for the Geology Department. Allison Tumarkin-Deratzian, a visiting geology professor and paleontologist, said that displaying the mastodon would be a great way of advertising the geological past to people who didn't necessarily have contact with geology. Katherine Phillips '05, a geology major and a curator for Vassar's natural history museum, said, "we want to let people know that geology is not just about rocks, but about dinosaur bones and paleontology and we want the museum to touch on those different areas."

Historical Background

The desire to house a mastodon skeleton at Vassar is definitely not new to the College's community. Actually, the effort to bring a mastodon to Vassar began in the early 1900s when William Buck Dwight, a geology professor at Vassar, wanted to bring a mastodon to the College to improve the status of its natural history museum. Dwight worked for three or four years with two taxidermists to piece together a mastodon from bones of various mastodons bones and an unspecified number of plaster bones.

The mastodon was displayed in The Museum, in Avery Hall, which was located where the new Center for Drama and Film currently stands. It was located in Avery from 1903 to 1918 and then was moved to the New England Building until 1986.

The Mastodon's Present Home and Possibilities for the Future

Currently, the spine lays under a lab table, the legs, wrapped in green tarp, rest on top of a row of closets, and an unspecified number of real and plaster bones are spread out around the room. And those are only the bones in a geology classroom: the basement houses the rest. Tusks with only original tips, the entirely plaster skull, and the massive pelvis all reside there. According to Kalbouss, Waines has said repeatedly that the mastodon has absolutely no scientific value.

"My plan is to convince Waines to give this thing back to Vassar as soon as possible," said twenty-eight-year-old Robert Kalbouss, a good friend and former student of Waines. Kalbouss said that it is ridiculous that SUNY New Paltz still has the mastodon bones because he believes that the Colleges Geology Department doesnt care about keeping them, except for Waines.

"The only reason why I think it would require Waines blessing [to bring the mastodon back to Vassar] is because he is the only one who knows where all the parts are," said Kalbouss. He explained that the mastodon bones are literally scattered throughout the SUNY New Paltz geology department building.

"This is a perfect example," said Kalbouss with his back turned as he walked over to the corner of the room. He returned with a bone in his hand, which he believed was real, about the size of a 5-pound dumbbell. A few flakes fell off of the bone as he placed it on the table. After looking at the bone with a magnifying glass to verify its authenticity, he put it down, and walked to a nearby counter. "Here's a rib just lying around here. Here are some pieces wrapped in newspaper," said Kalbouss as he gestured with his hand toward the respective bones.

Kalbouss, who dropped out of Vassar College in 1997 and went to the Marines for a number of years, received his undergraduate degree in geology from SUNY New Paltz earlier this year. He attended SUNY New Paltz for only three years, but Waines spoke to him constantly about the history of the mastodon and his dreams for the mastodon's fate.

"[Waines] has big plans for the mastodon, but they will never come to fruition," said Kalbouss. He said that some of Waines dreams included setting up the mastodon at SUNY New Paltz surrounded by mock Native Americans holding spears and, another, having school children adopt-a-bone to raise money to have a caste made of the mastodon.

If it was agreed to give the mastodon back to Vassar, the members of the College would still have to put in a huge amount of time and effort to have it displayed on campus.

On the prospect of bringing the mastodon back to Vassar, Vice President of Finance and Administration Betsy Eismeier said that it would be beneficial to think of this as a two-step process: first, finding the space for the mastodon and, second, gathering the money to reassemble and transport the mastodon back to Vassar.

Director of Academic Facilities Planning Rachel Kitzinger is currently working on space issues on the Vassar campus. She explained that currently at Vassar there is a tightness for space, especially for the sciences.

"The best way to approach this would be to incorporate [the mastodon] into the museum in Ely Hall," said Kitzinger. According to Kitzinger, the Geology/Geography Department hopes to expand their space in Ely to make room for a larger natural history museum. She stressed that the mastodon needs to ally itself with this museum or other programs. "The mastodon in and of itself, divorced from all other programs, doesn't make sense," said Kitzinger.

If the space was reserved for the mastodon, then money could begin to be raised to reassemble and transport it back to Vassar. On using the school's money for this project, Eismeier said, "It would be like acquiring a painting: acquiring an object of interest and display that adds value to the College, but it doesn't make it possible to educate one extra student, for example. Its not adding to our productivity; its enhancing the richness of the program. In these economic times, proposals like that have tough sledding."

Director of Vassar's Corporation, Foundation and Government Relations Jim Olson works with various groups to fund projects outside of the schools budget. He said that it would be tough to return the mastodon to Vassar, but that it would be easier if it had very strong faculty support. He suggested that the professors should in some way link the mastodon to how it would enrich teaching and learning at Vassar. Olson said that the project would need a faculty member to seize upon this and articulate upon the reason why we would need it now.

With additional reporting by Sarah DeFilippe, Assistant Features Editor