Charles Victor Noback

Some Salient Events in the Life of DR. CHARLES VICTOR NOBACK DVM and PhD; Veterinarian of the Wildlife Conservation Society's Bronx Zoo (1926-1937)

Charles V. Noback was born in Manhattan on March 3,1888 just a few days prior to the historic “Blizzard of '88: The Storm that Changed America” (cited below*) on March 12, 1888. During the 1890's Charlie grew up in the Czech neighborhood of Upper Eastside Yorkville. Then, with rapid transportation between Manhattan and the “countryside” Bronx available by the 3rd Avenue El, the Noback family moved at the decade's end to an apartment on Crotona Parkway in the West Farms neighborhood. Charlie was now living within walking distance of the Crotona Entrance of Bronx Zoo that had its gala opening in 1899. At that time he was unaware that the magnetic attraction of this nascent Bronx Zoo was soon to have a consequential role in nurturing and guiding Charlie in his selection of a career in biology and Veterinary Medicine. This occurred because in 1895 that the New York Zoological Society authorized the Bronx Zoo's creative, energetic and determined First Director Dr.. William T. Hornaday to commence the planning and initial Building phase converting a portion of rural Bronx Park into the was to be today's Wildlife Conservation Society's Bronx Zoo. . .

Growing up as a eager teenager in the environs of the Bronx Zoo during the first decade of the 20th century Charlie was able to energize his natural interests and curiosity about living animals. This was intensified over these years by the on-site experiences during the many summers and weekends spent combining visits to and with part-time employment in the zoo. He was determined to take advantage of this latter opportunity while he was assigned to such chores as feeding animals, cleaning cages and stalls of birds and mammals. Real excitement occurred when he was asked to assist working in the corral that housed a small herd of American bison from the Western Plains. This bison herd was associated with the conservation program of the American Bison Society (founded by the Bronx Zoo in the Lion House) for the “possible resuscitation” of these creatures of the Plains, which, at that time, were literally among the remnants of this vanishing species. This totality of these and other experiences motivated Charlie to his decision to become a biologist and a veterinarian. During these teen years. he was also involved in other activities as, for example, when he dug trenches and then mixed and carted concrete during the construction of the Elephant House. He made some friendships. Years later, I, his son, as a teenager, reminisced with the longtime bear keeper Mr. Romanoff, who attested to me the validity of a few Dad's early experiences at the zoo.

On Sundays he attended the Beck Memorial Presbyterian Church on 180th Street near the West Farms Civil War Memorial Cemetery Often, he and his brother Gustav, pumped air into the organ for the Sunday services. Following his graduation from Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine 1911 Dr. Noback joined the New York City Department of Public Health. Eager to learn and to advance Charlie commenced to reach his professional goals by enrolling in postgraduate courses (e.g. bacteriology) in the evening at Columbia University. These studies culminated to the assignment to a position in the Health Department Laboratory Facility in Otisville, Orange County. New York where his graduate training skills were utilized. Concurrently he was arranging plans with the Graduate School at Cornell University, which included members of the Veterinary College and the Ithaca Branch of College of Medicine. Several scenarios for matriculating in the Graduate School were developed.

In 1919, a representative of the South American country of Colombia came to the Otisville Facility in a search for a Veterinarian to join them in expanding the scope of their Public Health Laboratory in an Andean town near The Colombian Capital of Bogota. An agreement was reached with a two-year contract so Charlie, his mother Beatrice. my brother Joseph and I, as a four year old left to spend the years of 1920-1921 in the Andes. I later learned that Dad had discussed and arranged with the Graduate School at Cornell to make a start on a research project leading tn his PhD thesis while in South America. Thus following the family's return from South America in late 1921, we went to Ithaca where, in 1924 Dad completed his studies for his PhD and celebrated the birth of his daughter Beatrice. In addition, Charlie was able to participate in theongoing laboratory phase of a research project with Dr. James B. Sumner, Professor of Biochemistry at the Cornell College of Medicine (Ithaca Campus). This chemical research project resulted in the first paper published by Dr. Sumner in 1924 (with two collaborators V. Graham and C.V. Noback) which stated “To the best of our knowledge it, the enzyme urease is an individual protein”(cited below). Years later, with further evidence from more sophisticated methodologies that countered many contentious criticisms Dr. Sumner was able to obtain urease crystals. and thus demonstrated that enzymes were proteins. For this he was awarded the Noble Prize in 1947. In his many trips to Cornell Charlie always visited with his mentor Dr. Sumner. (Unfortunately my father didn't live to know that Dr. Sumner was awarded the Nobel Prize). In late 1924 Dr. Noback joined the New York State Department of Public Health in Albany, New York. In 1926, a vacancy occurred in the position of Veterinarian at the Bronx Zoo with the appointment of its Veterinarian Dr. W. Reid Blair as the second Director of the Bronx Zoo to succeed the legendary* first Director Dr. William T. Hornaday.

In his search for a Veterinarian, Dr. Blair sought candidates by contacting a number of Deans at several Colleges of Veterinary Medicine. The varied experiences gained from postgraduate academic training and from both domestic and tropical Public Health experiences resulted in Charlie's appointment as Veterinarian of the Bronx Zoo. Thus Dad's Odyssey, as native New Yorker, (1) commenced with his birth in New York City, (2) followed by his teenage years gaining inspiration from working and roaming in the evolving Bronx Zoo and by his West Farms days at the Beck Memorial Presbyterian Church and finally (3) consummated the voyage by his return in1926 as the Veterinarian of the Bronx Zoo.

Vi A. Graham and Charles V. Noback Proceedings of the Society of Experimental Biology and Medicine Vol. XXI pages 351-352, 1924

Addendum; As a mentor Dr. James B Sumner profoundly influenced my father during his graduate studies at Cornell University. This was accomplished by the scholarly quality of Dr. Sumner's scientific acumen coupled with his determination in coping with his physical handicap. Following an accident as a teenager, the left handed Dr. Sumner lost, by amputation his left forearm and hand. By vigorous exercises, he struggled to become a dexterous right hander. In addition. he persisted against the advise of many to fulfill all the requirements for a PhD in biochemistry at Harvard University.. This was followed by combining teaching and bench laboratory research careers in the Dept. of Physiology and Biochemistry. of the Cornell University, College of Medicine (Ithaca Campus). . In a real sense, the hands-on experience working in the laboratory phase of Dr. Sumner's research project augmented my father's zeal for biologic research. The explains, in part, why Dr. Noback supplemented his ardent interest in the veterinary care of the animals at the zoo by engaging in some basic non-veterinary research.publications (i.e. The Deciduous Horns of the Pronghorn Antelope. Bul. New York Zool. Soc. 35 (6): 195-207, 1932) during his Bronx Zoo tenure.

* editor's note: among the episodes of Hornaday's time is the stody or Ota Benga, an African Pgymy tribesman 'exhibited' at the 1904 World's Fair in St. louis and at the zoo later.

Other pages of interest:
A Brief History of the Bronz Zoo