Delia Akeley Books

Delia Julia Akeley (1875 - 1970) was Carl Akeley's first wife. Delia accompanied Carl on expeditions to hunt and retrieve specimens central to the most important displays in the African sections of both the New York and Chicago natural history museums. In fact Delia Akeley shot a record-breaking bull elephant for the American Museum of Natural History. Delia Akeley became increasingly occupied with a pet monkey called JT who was an extremely bright and jealous primate and she and Carl were divorced in 1923. Delia continued to travel widely in Africa leading her own expeditions and concentrating more on the ethnography of the more reclusive tribes such as the pygmies.

Jungle Portraits by Delia Akeley (1930) recounts her numerous adventures with her husband hunting elephant in Uganda, crocodiles on the Tana River and her tortuous experience rescuing Carl after he was pinned by an elephant. Free eBook

J T Jr. The Biography Of An African Monkey by Delia Akeley (1936) is a rather scarce book with many photos of J T with his African friends.