On Sept. 11, Jane Goodall, world-renowned primate researcher, founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and UN Messenger of Peace, took the the stage in a sold-out Fox Theatre to share recollections about her life in “An Evening with Jane Goodall.”
As soon as Goodall’s standing ovation concluded, she asked that Fox Theatre raise the lights over the audience. “I want to see who I’m speaking with,” she said, “I’m not here to perform for you but to have a conversation.”
Her intellectual grace and eloquence at an astounding 90 years old made for a captive audience from the very start, as Goodall recalled that her natural curiosity of living things started when she was a little girl. She read countless books about wild animals and dreamed about living like “Tarzan” and “Dr. Dolittle.” “All I could think after reading Tarzan for the first time was that he married the wrong Jane,” she joked.
She paid homage to her mother for entertaining this inner-child mindset throughout her whole career. She shared fondly of being four years old as she would stare at worms thinking, “How do they walk without legs?” or at chickens laying eggs and wonder “But where does that egg really come from?” Later in 1960, when Jane was only 26, her mother would follow alongside her for a few months to Gombe Stream Chimpanzee Reserve in western Tanzania to continue supporting her daughter’s endeavors.
Her groundbreaking studies of wild chimpanzees there were transformative, and the research continues today as the longest-running wild chimpanzee study in the world. When Goodall first began research on chimpanzees, there was little to no information on their actual behavior, as researchers before her had only studied their fossils. “Behavior does not fossilize”, she explained.
In 1961, she entered Cambridge University as a Ph.D. candidate, one of very few people to be admitted without a college degree. She earned her Ph.D. in ethology in 1966. After years of studying chimpanzees and earning their trust, Goodall recalled feeling like everything she once thought she knew was wrong. As so many newly found chimpanzee behaviors and emotions were being recorded, Goodall’s findings were truly groundbreaking.
Within her first three years of field studies, Goodall had already discovered that chimpanzees were meat-eaters and they made tools. Goodall recounted watching two chimps named David Greybeard and Goliath making tools out of twigs to extract termites from their mounds, a discovery that would force science to reconsider its definition of homo sapiens — “Man the Toolmaker.” She also observed birth order and primitive warfare.
By 1977, Dr. Jane Goodall created her namesake organization to continue her chimpanzee research as well as expand efforts on chimpanzee protection, conservation and environmental education, Jane Goodall Institute.
In 1991, a group of 12 high school students in Tanzania worked with Jane to discuss ways youth can do something to better our world. It was then that Roots & Shoots was started to place the power and resources for creating practical solutions to big challenges in the hands of young people.
“People always ask me, “Jane, do you really have hope?” and to that I say that my greatest reason for hope is young people,” Goodall said.
Atlanta was the first and is now one of the main United States hubs for Roots and Shoots and works towards creating solutions in food insecurity, climate change and solid waste disposal in its own community.
There was not a dry eye in the audience as Goodall played back a video of the release of the chimpanzee, Wounda. Goodall called this one of the most extraordinary moments of her entire life. The warm embrace shared between Wounda and Goodall was seen around the world and further highlighted Goodall’s work in coexisting with all living species.
Goodall concluded her conversation by reminding the attendees that we all make an environmental imprint every single day and to not be fearful of asking questions in order to be a catalyst of change. The evening was wrapped up with another standing ovation as Goodall waltzed off of the stage as she blew goodbye kisses to the audience.
Today, Goodall continues to connect with worldwide audiences through lectures, recordings, and her podcast, the “Jane Goodall Hopecast.” In 2021, Jane was the recipient of the Templeton Prize, and she published her newest book, “The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times.”
Jane Goodall travels approximately 300 days each year, spreading her inspirational message of hope through action.
Click here for more information about Goodall and her work.
