In 2000, the American Association of Zoo Keepers performed a workplace study, finding that 75% of zookeepers nationwide are now female. Women with PhD degrees in science are increasingly in demand as curators, nutritionists, researchers, and veterinarians at zoos. According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, 70% of veterinary school graduates are female. Given the significant advancements for women in the workplace, one would question how things got started, particularly for Black women.
The first African-American senior zookeeper at what is now the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, Mary J. Wilson, specialized in taking care of gorillas and elephants. According to reports, Wilson worked with mammals from the start of her career and specialized in gorillas, cats, cheetahs, tigers, monkeys, and elephants, whereas the majority of women zookeepers at the time were tasked with caring for smaller animals.
Elephants and gorillas were her favorite animals. She stood six feet tall. She was said to be able to direct her elephant charges. She was known for bringing young animals home to care for. Wilson was 21 years old when she received her high school certificate from Paul Laurence Dunbar and began working at the zoo. She had no formal training when she started. She was there for 38 years before retiring in 1999. According to The Sun, her only initial qualifications were “a willingness to work hard and a love of animals.”
In the mid-1960s, a juvenile gorilla named Sylvia arrived at the Baltimore Zoo from the Congo. The question of where zoos should obtain their animals in an ethical manner was less significant back then. Sylvia was taken away from her mother at a young age to make her debut. She rapidly became disoriented in her new surroundings. Wilson had to look after her.
“We had to care for her just like we’d care for a human baby,” Wilson told The Sun in 1996. “The first thing when I came in the morning, I used to give her a bath. Then I’d feed her breakfast. I’d cook three-minute eggs for her. She just became like my little daughter.”
Sharron Wilson Jackson grew up with animals thanks to her mother, and she became the Omaha City Zoo’s first Black female senior zookeeper. She believes she was employed at the zoo because of her mother’s experience working with animals. Jackson oversaw five keepers and more than 100 animals. Among the species she has worked with are hyenas, big and small cats, alligators, monkeys, bats, bunnies, goats, and snakes.
Wilson, Jackson’s mother, who worked as a senior animal keeper at the Baltimore Zoo from 1961 until 1999, was her most important career influence. Wilson frequently brought home snakes, one of Jackson’s favorite animals. Jackson used to go to the zoo as a child to watch the animals and work as a “unauthorized volunteer.”
Wilson retired from the zoo in 1999, and dementia eventually claimed the feisty woman. Her daughter stated that she died of the coronavirus on May 25, 2020, in Randallstown, Maryland. Wilson was born and raised in West Baltimore, the daughter of Willie Wilson and Mary Henry. Prior to working at the zoo, she graduated from Paul Laurence Dunbar High School.
“Mary brought love, skill and passion to her work with the animals at the zoo. She was also like everyone’s mentor. She was a mother, friend and supervisor. What a great woman,” Carol M. Barth, of Parkville, who worked with Wilson from 1973 to 1991, told The Baltimore Sun.