What began as a personal taxidermy collection in the 1940s and eventually became a prominent Sioux Falls attraction has found a new home at the University of Notre Dame.
The Delbridge Museum of Natural History, founded in 1984 and open to the public until August 2023, was the home of over 100 mounts featuring animals from six continents. The pieces were procured by Sioux Falls businessman Henry Brockhouse on hunting expeditions beginning in the 1940s, which he continued until his death in 1978. The collection was displayed at Brockhouse’s West Sioux Hardware store until it was purchased by Sioux Falls attorney C.J. Delbridge in 1981 and donated to the City of Sioux Falls.
When visible wear on the collection became apparent in the summer of 2022, the Great Plains Zoo took steps to assess the condition of the specimens.
“We were looking at what kind of investment we would want to make this a more modern museum experience,” said Great Plains Zoo CEO Becky Dewitz.
Testing revealed, however, that 80% of the collection contained detectable levels of arsenic on its exterior — a substance which was used to ensure preservation of the hides. The presence of potentially harmful chemicals called for action, both to protect the safety of visitors as well as the specimens themselves.
“It’s not so much that having arsenic is an issue; it’s having the protection,” said Dewitz.
To maintain the collection, the zoo would have had to invest over $1 million to put up the necessary barriers around the specimen. And, with some of the animals having been in the museum for upwards of 80 years, money would also need to be allocated towards their reworking and upkeep. Using heat mapping and cell phone technologies, the zoo was also able to conclude that only about 3% of zoo visitors were spending at least seven minutes in the museum.
“If less than 3% of our population is using it, can we justify that as a return on investment—especially using potentially philanthropic and public dollars to support that?” said Dewitz.
According to her, the total investment would have come out to roughly $6.8 million. A decision made in collaboration with the City of Sioux Falls and the Great Plains Zoo closed the museum in August of 2023. Shortly after, Mayor Paul TenHaken called an ad hoc committee made up of members representing a range of community focuses to determine the best use for the specimens.
“It was a very open and unbiased group,” said Dewitz. “We actually did some work in terms of understanding the quality, the significance and the educational value of the specimens.”
From there, the committee partnered with AM Art Conservation to evaluate the potential future and utility of the collection.
“From that assessment, we really learned that about two-thirds of them were deemed to be quite valuable and important for educational missions,” said Dewitz.
With this in mind, the committee opened up a public RFP process that extended across the United States as well as directly into the state of South Dakota. To be eligible to acquire the collection, possible recipients had to meet at least two requirements: they had to be a nonprofit organization, and they had to commit to maintaining the educational message of the specimens in the transfer.
It was not until February of 2025 that a City Council vote officially decided on the Museum of Biodiversity at the University of Notre Dame as the new home for 117 of the Delbridge animals. The remaining 33 went to the Oddities Museum in Georgia.
“I really respect the nostalgia and the love that so many had for the collection. The reality is that we had this collection in our community for upwards of 80 years, and they needed investment to continue,” said Dewitz. “While they may no longer be alive, those animals deserve to be loved and appreciated.”
On campus, the specimen will be used for future studies and instruction.
“We are in the process of creating interdisciplinary exhibits across public spaces on campus using these specimens, as part of a decentralized museum,” said Museum of Biodiversity Curator Joanna Larson. “Each exhibit will include natural history information about the animal(s) but will also feature a complementary aspect from a different field of study, such as art history or medieval studies, in collaboration with researchers and students across the university.”
The animals in the Delbridge collection are specifically valuable because they were collected before the passage of the Endangered Species Act in 1973.
“There are things to be learned about these animals and about the time that they were harvested — an indication of habitat health and what’s changed from when they were first harvested until today,” said Dewitz.
These specimens will offer a unique opportunity for scientific investigation on campus as well.
“Natural history collections are an invaluable and irreplaceable window into the past,” said Larson. “Each specimen represents a unique data point from a place and time that can never be replicated. Scientifically, they allow scientists to ask innumerable questions about the past, present, and future. From a science communication perspective, these specimens are engaging and memorable vehicles for disseminating scientific research.”
A homage is also being created to acknowledge the impact of the collection within the Sioux Falls community. With the now-empty space left by the museum’s closure, the zoo plans to build a new butterfly garden, an aquarium featuring jellyfish, sharks and a modernized penguin habitat, as well as an expanded Education Center. They have raised roughly $46 million of their goal of $70 million for the project.
“People believe in this vision, and they want this vision,” said Dewitz. “It’s really just bringing the zoo and aquarium forward for the future generations that are going to come after.”
To learn more about the Museum of Biodiversity at the University of Notre Dame, you can visit the following:
https://biodiversity.nd.edu/
