Jane of Gombe

By: Grace

Hello everyone! Welcome to JANE OF GOMBE, hosted by myself, Jane Goodall. I will be taking all of you on a wild (life) ride: my exotic and extraordinary life! You will meet adorable chimpanzees, a particularly talented photographer, and volunteers who changed the world! (For the most part, at least.) Anyways, seatbelts, everyone! My childhood starts...NOW!! 

I had a very intriguing childhood that was based around one main thing: animals. That is what I loved. 

I was born on April 3, 1934, in London, England. When I was one and a half years old, I was gifted a chimpanzee toy that was named Jubilee, and she sparked my passion for animals (not started; the word sparked here means encouraged). 

Now, let me tell you a funny story that happened when I was 3, and very curious. My family had a chicken coop at the time, and I loved the chickens we had, so one day, I went out to the chicken coop and stayed there for a whopping 3 hours! My parents were deathly afraid that I had gone missing and searched the whole place for any sign of me, but found nothing, and eventually called the cops! 

Finally, my mother spotted an extremely excited Jane all covered in hay running toward the house. Honestly, that is probably more embarrassing than when I was a little older and brought a handful of worms into my room!   

When I was about 6, I would climb my favorite tree, and read the adventures of my heroes, such as Tarzan and Dr. Dolittle. I would dream at night of being a man adventuring in Africa. 

By the age of 22, my animal-lover dreams of African adventures came true. On that day, I was invited by a friend to Kenya, Africa. When I was in Africa, I immediately met up with Luis Leakey, a professional journalist and researcher who had been working in Africa. I became his secretary, and he sent me out on a dig to hunt for the bones of our ancestors. That was how he tested me, and I did so well that I passed the test! Luis immediately sent me word that he would try to get a loan to fund my research.  

That did not go as planned. You see, few supported my expedition, so it took a while to get a loan from anyone until the Wilkie Brothers Foundation sponsored us. By now, there was enough money, and I was thrown into the field, supplied with little more than a few small snacks, binoculars, some nice boots, and a small but thick notebook. But believe me, that is more than enough to get me going.  

It was 1960, and it was unheard of for women to do that kind of work. I even had to bring my mother with me because people thought it was unsafe for me to go alone.  

 

My Research 

I researched differently. My methods were called crazy, mostly for naming my subjects once I got to know them. (But who would name a chimpanzee no. 3? Like, why are we the only ones that get names? I mean, I guess I get it, but think about it! #3 is NOT a name! Oh, sorry, back to the point.) Also, I did not keep my distance from the chimps and was eventually accepted as a very low-ranking member of the chimpanzee community. 

The most groundbreaking discovery was with the first chimp who really let me watch him: DAVID GREYBEARD! I saw David take a leafy twig, strip it of its leaves, and gently push it into a termite mound, before removing it and calmly plucking at the bugs with his teeth. This may not seem major, but it was a major discovery because at the time, chimpanzees were thought to be vegetarian, and although bugs aren’t much, they are still meat. It was also thought that humans were the only creatures on this planet that used and made tools. But here was the first step of toolmaking: object modification.  

Many began to notice my research and National Geographic wanted to send a photographer to document my work. I (hesitantly) accepted this offer. The photographer was named Hugo van Lawick, and we quickly got to work. Oddly enough, during his photography, not only was the wildlife a subject of interest, but I was also. And then Hugo actually proposed marriage over telegram! (Which was a SHOCKING surprise, yet a pleasant one.)  

Many were interested in being employed, so we employed them! This was nice because I needed to go to Cambridge University to get a PhD in Ethnology, which is the study of cultural groups. They continued my research in my absence. After that, we went broke, went to the Serengeti to make films, and wrote books. We got married and had a child we named Hugo (nicknamed Grub).  

Then some trouble occurred. My husband Hugo was interested in staying in the Serengeti and making films, but the chimps had stolen my heart. Sadly, after almost 10 years of marriage, our road had split, and we each went our separate ways. I almost immediately married another man, and that lasted five years (because he died, oof).   

 

My Activism 

Eventually, it became clear that something was off. The natural chimpanzee habitats were disappearing, and fast. I knew I had to do something about it. This wasn’t a change I would let happen – not without a fight. So I left the chimpanzees, with their lives in mind, and began to raise awareness as far spread over the globe as I possibly could. This is why I created an organization called Roots and Shoots, which still stands today. Its main cause is getting the young people of our generation involved in the cause of protecting nature.  

This April, I turned 90. And all over the place, I'm being celebrated! As you can see, my life is pretty important in today's world. So, next time you see a chimpanzee, or any other animal, know that YOU can make a difference. YOU can make a change. Thank you all, from Jane --  Jane of Gombe. 

Sources: 

• The Chimpanzees I Love by Jane Goodall 

• “First Look at Jane,” National Geographic YouTube video, Oct. 5th, 2017 

• “Jane,” a National Geographic documentary film 

• Jane Goodall Institute Biography: https://janegoodall.org/wp-content/uploads/Janes-Bio-Extended-Length-Version.pdf 

• Wikipedia: Jane Goodall: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Goodall