My entry is about Marlin and Carol Perkins and their actions to help protect wild animals though a television show called Wild Kingdom. It was sponsored by the insurance company, Mutual of Omaha and aired on Sunday nights on NBC from 1963-1988. I have a passion for animals and knew I wanted to do a National History Day project about animals or saving animals. After talking with my mom and Ms. Amy Boehning, I decided that learning about Marlin Perkins and his stand for animal conservation would be fun. I got started with National History Day because my mom is a coordinator at another school. I thought that even though I’d have to do a project in my free time because my school doesn’t have a NHD program, it would be worth it. I hope I’m able to do another project in middle school.
One problem I had to overcome was finding sources. It was hard to find sources for Marlin and Carol Perkins in the libraries in Hawaii, so I had to go onto the internet to find sources. When I went to the State Historical Society of Missouri, I found they had a whole collection on Marlin Perkins….in St. Louis! I emailed them to find some primary sources and got more than 800 pages of paper and digital copies. I’m very thankful for Mr. Kenneth Thomas, Ms. Nancy McIlvaney, and Mr. William Fischetti for making all those copies and helping me with my research. My most valuable sources were the memos that talked about the relationships between Don Meier Productions, Mutual of Omaha, NBC, and Marlin Perkins. I liked reading all the letters from fans of the show too.
At first, I did not know anything about Marlin Perkins other than my grandmother used to watch his show when she was young. It turns out that if not for television, he would not have been able to send his message out to the public about how and why we should protect wild animals.
This topic relates to the NHD theme because Marlin and Carol Perkins took a stand for animals who couldn’t stand up for themselves. It is important for others to learn about him because it shows how valuable television can be when delivering a message. From the materials sent to me by the State Historical Society of Missouri, many people wrote letters to help support Marlin and Carol Perkins in their conservation efforts. His show is where all the animal shows we watch now started from. Wild Kingdom was able to inspire other people to take a stand that probably would not have otherwise known about the problems animals face.
NHD was definitely difficult but it was an enjoyable and valuable learning experience. Because of NHD, I know how to create a website, cite my sources, and research a topic, even when finding sources is hard.