June 30, 1998
Hubert H. "Hub" and Kathleen McBride Hall of Lecompton, Kan., gave $20,570 to KU Endowment for the acquisition of two dinosaur skeletons discovered by KU scientists in 1997. The larger of the two dinosaurs has been nicknamed "Lyle" by researchers.
The dinosaur skeletons, an adult and baby found side by side, were discovered by KU researchers on the western edge of the Black Hills. Lyle is complete, making it a rare discovery. Both the adult and baby appear to be camarasauruses, which are from the same dinosaur clan as the brontosaurus.
The Halls also have developed a $25,000 gift for the Kansas University Endowment Association to help support the Natural History Museum. The gift, which includes matching funds from the Exxon Education Foundation, will establish two funds to benefit the museum: the Charles D. Bunker Museum Fund and the Handel T. Martin Fund. The funds honor two former assistant curators of the museum.
"The Natural History Museum deeply appreciates the Halls' gifts, which continue their steadfast support of the museum," Krishtalka said. "As chair of the museum's board and son of a former director of the museum, Hub has a keen understanding of the institution and its mission. His and Kathy's gifts for the museum's dinosaur discovery, and for the undergraduate and graduate student research projects that the Martin and Bunker funds will support, demonstrate their devotion to that mission and continue the generous legacy of the Hall family."
Hub Hall, a retired geologist with Exxon, said he and his wife wanted to honor Bunker and Martin. "These two remarkable men had great success in attracting KU undergraduates to the study of living and fossil animals," he said. "C.D. Bunker and Handel T. Martin prepared those students for graduate studies and, eventually, distinguished careers in scientific research."
Although neither Martin nor Bunker went to school beyond the elementary grades, both were motivated by curiosity and a deep interest in the natural world. Together these assistant curators worked about 80 years in the Natural History Museum. When KU's famous zoologist Lewis Lindsay Dyche left KU in 1910, the university did not appoint a curator, but rather titular heads. It was Bunker and Martin who served as the museum's devoted keepers, maintaining and expanding the collections and informally teaching the undergraduates.
Charles Dean Bunker was important to the Hall family. Bunker mentored Hall's father when he was a KU undergraduate in the early 1920s. Known for his generosity with students, Bunker helped to establish KU as a premier institution for the training of mammalogists and ornithologists.
Birds fascinated Bunker. His first KU job was a $15-a-month position mounting birds in the museum's collections. He later helped construct and arrange the panorama of the mammals brought back from Dyche's expositions.
He died in 1948 at age 78.
An active fossil collector, Handel Martin is responsible for much of the museum's collection. His specimens include one of the most perfect fossils of birds with teeth, a 14-foot sea fish and a tortoise that lived 50 million to 75 million years ago. His collecting took him to many states and countries, and his specimens have added greatly to KU's reputation as one of the premier natural history museums. He died in 1931 at age 69.
Martin took a young Raymond Hall on fossil trips and strongly influenced his decision to pursue advanced studies in paleontology. Hub Hall is Martin's namesake as Hub's father, KU professor E. Raymond Hall, gave his son Handel as a middle name.
"These men were quiet, self-effacing teachers who never stood before a formal class," said Hall. "Many of the illustrious scholars in vertebrate zoology and paleontology were the products of these unlettered men. They were incredible people."
Hub Hall earned a bachelor's degree in geology from KU, and Kathleen M. Hall earned a bachelor's degree in education. The couple said they hope the Bunker and Martin museum funds will attract contributions from friends of the Natural History Museum who wish to support scientific research and curatorial work.
Long-time supporters of KU, the Halls have also provided continuing support for the Department of Geology. They are members of the Hill Society for donors of $100,000 or more in the Chancellors Club, KU's major-donor organization.
Their gifts are administered by the KU Endowment Association, an independent, nonprofit organization serving as the official fund-raising and fund-management foundation for the University of Kansas. Founded in 1891, the association is the oldest foundation of its type and one of the largest at a public, U.S. university.
Story by Judith Galas