A 75-year pictorial history of the Cayo Santiago rhesus monkey colony

Abstract

This article presents a pictorial history of the free-ranging colony of rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) on Cayo Santiago, Puerto Rico, in commemoration of the 75th anniversary of its establishment by Clarence R. Carpenter in December 1938. It is based on a presentation made by the authors at the symposium, Cayo Santiago: 75 Years of Leadership in Translational Research, held at the 36th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Primatologists in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on 20 June 2013.

Keywords: Carpenter; Hansel Mieth; Macaca mulatta; Santiago Island; macaque.

The “School of Tropical Medicine of the University of Puerto Rico under the Auspices of Columbia University” in San Juan circa 1938

Gibbon cages built by Bachman at the School of Tropical Medicine, circa 1937

George W. Bachman (left) and Clarence R. Carpenter (right), circa 1938.

Cayo Santiago and Punta Santiago (Roig) pier in background with sugarcane barges from Vieques, circa 1938. Courtesy archives of the Caribbean Primate Research Center (CPRC).

Carpenter in the field, circa 1938. Courtesy of The Pennsylvania State University (PSU) Archives, Special Collections Library, Clarence R. Carpenter papers.

Carpenter on board deck of a Cunard liner en route from India to New York with rhesus monkeys destined for Cayo Santiago, 1938. Courtesy of Ruth Carpenter.

SS Coamo departing New York. Photograph by Jack Delano courtesy of the U.S. Library of Congress.

SS Coamo passing El Morro Fort as it enters San Juan harbor, circa 1938.

Original monkey shipping and holding crates on Cayo Santiago. Courtesy of The Pennsylvania State University Archives, Special Collections Library, Clarence R. Carpenter papers (PSUA 149).

The Roig or Punta Santiago pier on “mainland” Puerto Rico, circa 1938, used to access Cayo Santiago by boat. Courtesy of The Pennsylvania State University Archives, Special Collections Library, Clarence R. Carpenter papers (PSUA 149).

Carpenter (in stern) behind Michael and Eugenie Tomilin being rowed out to Cayo Santiago, circa 1938. Courtesy archives of the Caribbean Primate Research Center.

LIFE Magazine article on establishment of the Cayo Santiago colony with photographs by Hansel Mieth, 2 January 1939. Courtesy of Time & Life Pictures.

Tomilin tattooing monkeys prior to their release onto Cayo Santiago assisted by members of the staff including Ismael Solis hidden behind Tomilin. Photograph by Hansel Mieth courtesy of Time & Life Pictures.

Release of the first rhesus monkey on to Cayo Santiago, 2 December 1938. Photograph by Hansel Mieth courtesy of Time & Life Pictures.

Ismael Solis releasing a monkey on to Cayo Santiago, December 1938. Photograph by Hansel Mieth courtesy of Time & Life Pictures.

Members of the founding stock of rhesus monkeys on Cayo Santiago, 1939. Courtesy archives of the Caribbean Primate Research Center.

Photograph of same location as Figure 16 taken in 2009 showing dense forestration that took place on Cayo Santiago over the years.

Famous “Misogynist” photograph by Hansel Mieth that appeared in the 16 January 1939 issue of LIFE Magazine. Photograph courtesy of Time & Life Pictures.

Distant photograph of the male “misogynist” rhesus monkey in the waters of Cayo Santiago as photographed by Hansel Mieth in 1938 and discovered in the PSU archives by Kessler. Courtesy of Time & Life Pictures.

An animal caregiver is seen here bringing local fruits and vegetables on to Cayo Santiago to feed the monkeys. Photograph by Hansel Mieth courtesy of Time & Life Pictures.

Tomilin feeding Cayo Santiago monkeys corn kernels in order to census them. Photograph by Hansel Mieth courtesy of Time & Life Pictures.

One of the 14 gibbons released on to Cayo Santiago by Carpenter in April 1939. Photograph by Carpenter courtesy of The Pennsylvania State University (PSU) Archives, Special Collections Library, Clarence R. Carpenter papers.

The Cayo Santiago gibbons confined to a protective pen, circa 1939. Photograph by Carpenter courtesy of The Pennsylvania State University (PSU) Archives, Special Collections Library, Clarence R. Carpenter papers.

The Tomilin house on the Big Cay hill of Cayo Santiago, circa 1939. Courtesy archives of the Caribbean Primate Research Center.

Michael and Eugenie with their pet rhesus monkey “Pijita” at their favorite rock adjacent to their house on Cayo Santiago, circa 1939. Punta Santiago can be seen in the background. Courtesy archives of the Caribbean Primate Research Center.

The “Tomilin rock” landmark on Cayo Santiago as of 2013.

Carpenter and his first wife, Mariana, arriving at Humacao Airport, circa 1939. Note the movie camera in Carpenter's hand. Courtesy archives of the Caribbean Primate Research Center.

Photograph of the Carpenters feeding monkeys on Cayo Santiago that appeared in the December 1939 issue of National Geographic Magazine. Courtesy of the National Geographic Society.

Early researchers studying strep throat probe the mouth of a rhesus monkey. Note the lack of any personal protective equipment such as masks, gloves and eye protection. Courtesy archives of the Caribbean Primate Research Center.

The SS Coamo is seen here after its conversion into the US Merchant Marine USAT Coamo for World War II.

German submarine (U-boat), U-604, and crew that sank the SS Coamo (USAT Coamo) on 2 December 1942. Photograph courtesy of U-604's radioman, Funkmaat Georg Seitz, through Peter Binnefeld and Christian Prag.

“En las Papas” (to be well off financially), a cartoon by Carmelo Filardi published on 8 December 1949 in El Mundo newspaper announcing Jose Guillermo Frontera's NIH grant to support the Cayo Santiago colony. Courtesy of Jose Guillermo Frontera and family.

Cover of brochure for the NINDB Laboratory of Perinatal Physiology in San Juan established in 1956 and closed on 30 June 1970.

The Laboratory of Perinatal Physiology's beach front laboratory and office building in Punta Santiago. Photograph by Richard Rawlins.

Photograph of Stuart Altmann arriving on Cayo Santiago in June, 1956. Courtesy of Jose Guillermo Frontera and family.

Altmann tattooing a rhesus monkey on Cayo Santiago in 1956. Photograph courtesy of Jose Guillermo Frontera and family.

Altmann (left) and Frontera (right) collecting anthropometric data on a Cayo Santiago rhesus macaque. Photograph courtesy of Jose Guillermo Frontera and family.

Animal caregivers dispensing Purina Monkey Chow directly to monkeys on Cayo Santiago prior to the construction of feeding corrals. Courtesy archives of Caribbean Primate Research Center.

Carl Koford (left) and others on Cayo Santiago, circa 1960. Courtesy archives of the Caribbean Primate Research Center.

Charles Southwick in 2009 displaying his seminal little 1963 paperback “Primate Social Behavior.” This edited volume was the leading primatology textbook of its time and is now a classic. Photograph by Kessler.

Aerial photograph of El Guayacan (left) and La Cueva (right) islands of the LPP's and CPRC's La Parguera Primate Facility. Note the Sierra Bermeja mountain chain in the background. Courtesy archives of the Caribbean Primate Research Center.

In the 1960s, Desecheo Island, off the west coast of Puerto Rico in the Mona Passage, was the site of a unique NIH-sponsored experiment in the adaption of Cayo Santiago-derived rhesus monkeys to an arid tropical environment. Photograph from the NINDB Laboratory of Perinatal Physiology (LPP) in San Juan brochure.

Photograph of the original site for the CPRC's Sabana Seca Field Station, circa 1965, on which the LPP later was starting to build large outdoor corrals. Courtesy archives of the Caribbean Primate Research Center.

A map of Puerto Rico indicating all of the primate facilities under the domain of the LPP in the late 1960s (LPP in San Juan, Cayo Santiago, La Parguera Primate Facility, Desecheo Island and Sabana Seca Field Station).

Aerial photograph of the new Puerto Rico Medical Center “Centro Medico” on which was located the UPR Medical Sciences Campus. The new NINDB LPP was supposed to be located on this site.

Part of a frontispiece by Joel Ito from W. Richard Dukelow's book, “The Alpha Males: An Early History of the Regional Primate Research Centers” attempting to depict the political complexities among NIH, UPR and Congress. Courtesy of Joel Ito and W.R. Dukelow.

English and Spanish language brochures for the Caribbean Primate Research Center.

Angel “Guelo” Figueroa, Cayo Santiago's Chief Census Taker from 1973 - 1983, shown capturing monkeys during an annual winter roundup. Photograph by Rawlins.

Edgar Davila, Cayo Santiago Chief Census Taker (1984 - present), preparing skeletons for the CPRC Skeletal Collection.

2011 promotional announcement and web links for the CPRC Skeletal Collection (aka Laboratory of Primate Morphology and Genetics) featuring Kathy Reichs. Courtesy of Kathy Reichs.

Typical boxed disarticulated complete skeleton of a Cayo Santiago rhesus macaque curated at the CPRC Skeletal Collection. Note that all bones are labeled with tattoo and accession numbers.

Former CPRC Director William T. Kerber, Richard Rawlins, Cayo Santiago Scientist-in-Charge, and boatman, Hector Vazquez, boating back from the island, February 1977. Photograph by Kessler.

CPRC veterinarian and future director, Matthew J. Kessler, on Cayo Santiago.

“The Cayo Santiago Macaques: History, Behavior and Biology”, published in 1986, was an edited volume by Rawlins and Kessler based on the Cayo Santiago 45th anniversary symposium held at the 6th annual ASP meeting at Michigan State University in 1983.

John Berard, Cayo Santiago Scientist-in-Charge (1986-1999) with Susan Schwartz, Bernadette Marriott and Fred Bercovitch in 1989.

From left to right, CPRC Director Kessler with members of the Chancellor's External Advisory Committee on the CPRC: Richard G. Rawlins, W. Richard Dukelow, Leo A. Whitehair, Louis S. Harris, Kenneth P.H. Pritzker, John G Vandenbergh (Chair), Chris R. Abee, William J. Goodwin and Charles H. Southwick.

President Emeritus of the University of Puerto Rico and founder of the UPR School of Medicine, Jaime Benitez, presenting his recollections at the Cayo Santiago 50th anniversary meeting in Old San Juan, December 1988.

Leo A. Whitehair, Director of the former NIH Animal Resources Branch, discussing NIH's support for Cayo Santiago and the CPRC at the Cayo Santiago 50th anniversary meeting in December 1988.

Group photograph of attendees at the Cayo Santiago 50th anniversary meeting in San Juan who visited Cayo Santiago on 7 December 1988, the 47th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. See Fig. 60 for identification key.

Key to individuals appearing in Fig. 59.

US Postal Service special stamp cancellation day on Cayo Santiago, 7 December 1988, to celebrate the colony's 50th anniversary. From left to right, US Postmaster San Juan, Kessler, Berard, Rawlins, Carlos Torres, US Postmaster Punta Santiago.

CPRC Cayo Santiago postcard with special USPS cancellation for the 50th anniversary of the colony. Photograph by Rawlins.

Professor Emeritus of Anatomy, UPR School of Medicine, Jose Guillermo Frontera, being honored by CPRC Director Kessler at the 50th anniversary of Cayo Santiago banquet.

Adalberto Roig, patriarch of the Roig family, being honored by CPRC Director Kessler at the Cayo Santiago 50th anniversary luncheon at Daniel's Restaurant in Punta Santiago on 7 December 1988.

Angel “Guelo” Figueroa receiving the first ASP Senior Biology and Conservation Award from Rawlins and UPR Medical Sciences Campus Chancellor Dr. Jose M. Saldana at the Cayo Santiago 50th anniversary banquet in December 1988.

Satellite image of the eye of Hurricane Hugo approaching Cayo Santiago the night of 17 September 1989. Courtesy of the National Hurricane Center.

Program and abstracts for the 10th Annual Symposium on Nonhuman Primate Models for AIDS, one of three held in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Cover artwork by Nancy Hong, CPRC Assistant Curator and Medical Illustrator.

The Jean Baulu Collection of Antique Primate Prints was exhibited for the first time in the Americas at the 10th Annual Symposium. It was later exhibited at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and the American Museum of Natural History in New York.

Signing ceremony and press conference for the establishment of the Dr. Louis S. Harris Endowment and other donations to UPR for the CPRC. From left to right, Antonio Gomez, Luis Cajiga, UPR President Norman Maldonado, Louis Harris, Ruth Harris, Anne Howard Humphrey de Tristani (standing).

San Juan Star newspaper article on the $300,000 in donations, including the Louis Harris endowment, received by UPR for the CPRC to partially mark the 60th anniversary of Cayo Santiago. Courtesy of The San Juan Star and CPRC archives.

Louis Harris and Adaris Mas Rivera, recipient of a Harris scholarship, on the Punta Santiago dock.

Satellite photograph of Hurricane Georges passing directly over Cayo Santiago on 21 September 1998. Courtesy of the National Hurricane Center.

US Postal Service (USPS) one-day “Cayo Santiago Station” special cancellation envelope to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Cayo Santiago colony, 11 December 1998. The postage stamp is one of four in a set of tropical birds released by the USPS in Puerto Rico in July 1998.

From left to right, Anne Howard Humphrey de Tristani, Jeffrey Farrow, Matthew Kessler, Janis Gonzalez-Martinez and Carlos Luciano at The White House, July 1999 (see text for details).

CPRC External Advisory Committee dinner at El Zipperle Restaurant, December 1999. Standing left to right: Leo Whitehair, Chancellor Pedro Santiago Borrero, Edmundo Kraiselburd, Ronald Desrosiers, Louis Harris, Keith Mansfield, Matthew Kessler, Sarah Williams-Blangero, Richard Rawlins. Seated from left to right: Mrs. Whitehair, Manfield, Desrosiers and Dukelow, and W. Richard Dukelow (Chair)

The first of 15 annual calendars (1999-2014) produced by Richard Rawlins and Zvi Binor for the CPRC. The 2013 version was distributed to all attendees at the 36th annual meeting of the ASP in San Juan.

Former CPRC Director Kessler receiving a distinguished service plaque from External Advisory Committee Chair, Dukelow; Chancellor Santiago Borrero and incoming CPRC Director Kraiselburd, December 2000.

CPRC Director Kraiselburd and Associate Director, Gonzalez-Martinez at work.

CPRC Director Kraiselburd at the reception for the 26th Annual Symposium on Nonhuman Primate Models of AIDS with Cayo Santiago 70th anniversary cake, December 2008. Photograph by Kessler.

CPRC Director Kraiselburd and Associate Director Gonzalez-Martinez presenting Francoise Barre-Sinousi with a Cayo Santiago lithograph by Luis Cajiga after her AIDS lecture at the UPR School of Medicine in December 2011. Photograph by Kessler.

“Cayo Santiago Macaques - Images” published by Rawlins to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the colony contains photographs taken by him from 1972 through 2008.

Qian Wang, right, with presenters at the Cayo Santiago 70th symposium he organized at the 78th annual meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists held in Chicago on 2 April 2009. The papers were published in a 2012 volume Wang edited. See text for details.

Program and abstracts for the 36th annual meeting of the ASP held in June 2013 in San Juan to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Cayo Santiago colony. AJP cover photograph by Rawlins.

Current satellite or aerial photograph of Cayo Santiago. Courtesy of Google Earth.

CPRC staff, visiting scientists, students and others who helped attendees of the 36th annual ASP meeting tour Cayo Santiago on 18 June 2013. Photograph by Noel Rowe.

One of many groups of ASP meeting attendees who toured Cayo Santiago on 18 June 2013.

Former CPRC Director Kessler (left) and former Cayo Santiago Scientist-in-Charge Rawlins, both members of the CPRC External Advisory Committee at the time, meeting with former Cayo Santiago boatman and animal caregiver from the late 1930s and early 1940s, Ismael Solis Arroyo. in September 2007. He was given a copy of their book and a Cayo Santiago lithograph.

Typical cage used to capture Cayo Santiago monkeys for tuberculosis testing and other purposes during the early days of the colony. Courtesy archives of the Caribbean Primate Research Center.

Ismael Solis standing in front of the “Tomilin Rock” on Cayo Santiago during his nostalgic tour of the island in September 2007 after about a 70 year absence. Photograph by Kessler.

Carol Berman observing mother-infant behavior on Cayo Santiago as part of her multi-generational studies.

William W. Dawson studying the macula of the retina of a Cayo Santiago-derived rhesus monkey at the CPRC's Sabana Seca Field Station.

Jean E. Turnquist, UPR School of Medicine Professor of Anatomy and former Curator of the CPRC Skeletal Collection, demonstrating bones from a Cayo Santiago rhesus macaque.

Stuart Altmann (left) and Edward O. Wilson (right) on Cayo Santiago in 2008 to film a portion of “Lord of the Ants” for the Public Broadcasting Service NOVA program.

Rudi Kovanic, right, the famous wildlife cinematographer for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, filming on Cayo Santiago assisted his wife Gillian Darling-Kovanic, a well-known producer and director of documentaries.

Aerial view of the CPRC's Sabana Seca Field Station, circa 1999. Compare with Figure 96 of same facility in 2013.

Aerial or satellite view of the CPRC's Sabana Seca Field Station in 2013. Compare with Figure 95 and note increase in pens and other facilities mostly for specific pathogen-free Cayo Santiago-derived rhesus monkeys. Courtesy of Google Earth.

Collage showing some of the physical improvements in Punta and Cayo Santiago: new office building, reinforced concrete dock at Cayo Santiago, interior of veterinary clinic and new workshop housing generator on Cayo Santiago.

CPRC Director Melween Martinez (second from the left) with the Cayo Santiago staff and head CPRC veterinarian, Armando Burgos (squatting, far right), March 2013.

Sunrise over Cayo Santiago. Photograph by Rawlins.

The authors, Matthew J. Kessler (left) and Richard G. Rawlins (right) on the Cayo Santiago dock, July 2012.