Learning through glass: the Blaschka marine models in North American post secondary education

The use of the Blaschka marine models in North American educational institutions from 1870-1890 is detailed. Historical records of purchase from the Henry Augustus Ward papers and Leopold Blaschka's business notebooks and correspondence were examined to show how the models were received by curators and educators in North America, the significance of the models in marine biology education for secondary school teachers, and the role that Ward's Natural History Establishment played in the distribution of the models. A historical perspective of the business relationship between Henry Ward and Leopold Blaschka is presented. The taxa of the models ordered in North America are documented, as is the use of models demonstrating ontogeny of the organism. Educational practices of the period are explicated and the uses of the models to support contemporary biological concepts of the organism are elucidated through examination of Model 191a, a male colony of the hydroid, Tubularia.