Archived Articles
Written by Dr. William Carroll
Jurica Nature Museum
By William J. Carroll
February 2006
Centuries ago, three Wise Men/scientists diligently and curiously
followed a new, bright star and found themselves in the tiny town
of Bethlehem. They simply followed that star to learn what it
was telling them. Looking back through centuries of history, we
seldom find people so inquisitive and determined that they just
pack up and follow a constellation. These three wise men, three
very early scientists, are still known for the journey they made.
Occasionally we need to take a look around us, for there are still
very innovative and daring people. They are the people who lift
our spirits.
I want to tell you about two innovators closer to home. Early
in the1920s, two men, brothers by birth and Benedictines by choice,
showed that same kind of curiosity. Though not following a star
across barren lands, these two men brought to St. Procopius College
in the tiny town of Lisle a unique vision in science and a new
method of teaching.
Father Hilary S. Jurica, O.S.B., a Benedictine monk at St. Procopius
Abbey, in Lisle, and founder and professor of the Biology Department
of St. Procopius College (now Benedictine University), was the
first Benedictine monk in the country to receive a doctorate degree
from a secular university. His biology degree was awarded by the
University of Chicago in 1922. His brother, Fr. Edmund Jurica,
O.S.B., earned his doctorate degree in 1924 from the same university.
These two Benedictine monks were diligent in teaching techniques.
They might well have been the first professors who refused to
follow the podium/lecture style of teaching, for they planned
every class, every lesson, every discussion, with a "hands-on"
experience for students. However, in those years, there were no
teaching tools other than textbooks. So, they designed their own.
They literally lifted science out of the textbooks and made it
come alive.
Fr. Hilary, botanist, and Fr. Edmund, zoologist, began slowly,
but over the years, designed 700 original colored wall charts
of plants and animals. They also prepared accompanying work sheets
for students to fill in the blanks.
The teacher/student homemade charts were soon picked up by A.J.
Nystrom Co., translated into 13 languages and sold to high schools
and colleges. The university continues to receive a small royalty
for them, so somebody, somewhere is still using them. The monks
also produced microscopic slides and found motion picture clips
of World War II activities to show the destructive capability
of bombs. How did they manage to do all of this?
St. Procopius College in early years held very few summer classes,
so each summer, Fathers Hilary and Edmund traveled across the
country in a station wagon to collect specimens of birds, animals,
and bugs of all kinds. The car was often occupied with their nieces
and nephews - family who looked forward to an exciting summer
adventure with their uncles.
A number of years ago, one of the nieces recalled those summers.
She fondly remembered educational walks in downtown Chicago with
Father Edmund, for he always carried small bottles to collect
bugs and beetles, all the time explaining what the species was.
The specimens were placed and labeled in the "bug lab"
as the students called it.
When the two had extra specimens, they shared them with other
biologists. It was a smaller scientific world then, and many scientists
knew each other well. The Juricas became known across the country
as their collections grew. Many of their specimens are still on
display at the Jurica Nature Museum on the campus of Benedictine
University.
Father Hilary was an outgoing and energetic man who established
many contacts with peers in universities and museums across the
country. He held membership in 11 science societies around the
United States. For 19 summers he taught biology courses at De
Paul University where he directed over 80 masters theses in biology.
In January 1951, Fr. Hilary received a call from the Field Museum
that they were preparing the deceased body of the gorilla Bushman
for display. The museum was interested in the skin but not the
bones and wondered if Fr. Hilary would like them. Indeed, he did.
Those bones continue to reside in the Jurica Nature Museum. In
this sharing of items, a whale skeleton was received from Northwestern
University and some of the mounted animals came from Loyola University
of Chicago.
The specimens range from different species of bears, chimpanzees,
an orangutan, Rocky Mountain goats and bighorn sheep, American
bison, wolf, leopard and cougar. A duckbilled platypus from Australia,
seldom found in any museum, is on display with exhibits of birds
mounted on branches, and some suspended from the ceiling.
Hundreds of bird skins are in storage, some of which are extinct.
There is a large crocodile and a variety of snakes and fish, and
colorful dioramas that replicate a natural habitat. A number of
years ago, a visitor noted that some birds in the Field Museum
were tagged on loan from Fr. Hilary Jurica, O.S.B. of St. Procopius
College.
It was imperative to these brothers that students become familiar
with size, shape, skin and bones of birds and animals in order
to understand them. They couldn't be squeamish, but had to handle
what they were studying. Fr. Edmund said, " How inferior
is the course in zoology if the students have no contact with
at least a few real animals live or dead."
I wish I had known the Jurica brother-monks, for they were unique
men of their time. It is difficult to speak of one without the
other, for they worked closely together for over fifty years,
in developing the science department. For seven years Fr. Edmund
taught summer classes in zoology at De Paul University. He also
taught pre-med courses.
As the brothers approached the fiftieth year of their teaching
careers, they looked at a gigantic amount of specimens and stuffed
animals that overflowed many rooms, and decided to establish a
museum, which is located in the Birck Hall of Science.
A museum of this magnitude is special for it is unique on a college
campus. Annually, about 5,000 school children, teachers and area
residents spend time in the museum. High school and elementary
teachers for miles around can borrow "Discovery Boxes,"
filled with information about the ecosystem, biodiversity or fish,
to use in the classroom.
Fr. Theodore Suchy, O.S.B., while a young Benedictine, took science
classes from Fr. Edmund and inherited a protective sense for the
contents of the museum. He has been a dedicated curator for over
30 years.
In the fall of 2005, the Museum received a grant from the DuPage
Community Foundation to renovate the prairie exhibit in the Museum's
Northern Illinois Diorama. Chase Studio from Missouri has taken
over the renovation.
The Museum staff is also working on an Illinois Coal exhibit,
from a partial grant offered by the Illinois Association of Museums.
Statistics show that the energy of the coal reserves in Illinois
= the energy of oil reserves in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Annually,
the State of Illinois receives $1 billion dollars from this reserve.
Most people do not think of Illinois as a coal producing state.
I often think about the curiosity and innovation we continue
to learn from the Jurica brothers. Both men and museum nudge our
curiosity. These two Benedictine monk visionaries followed their
own star and made an impression in the lives of thousands of students.
Their legacy is one of inspiration.
I wish I had known them.
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Last updated August 19, 2007
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