Ruth Harkness bottle feeding Su-Lin at the Palace Hotel, 1936Ruth Harkness bottle feeding Su-Lin at the Palace Hotel, 1936
Shanghai
Courtesy of Mary Lobisco
“How Ruth Harkness caught Su-Lin” Quaker Oats advertisement, 1937“How Ruth Harkness caught Su-Lin” Quaker Oats advertisement, 1937
Courtesy of Mary Lobisco
Quentin Young and Ruth Harkness with Mei Mei, 1938Quentin Young and Ruth Harkness with Mei Mei, 1938
Hong Kong S.A.R.
Courtesy of Quentin Young, Jack T. Young and Adelaide “Su-Lin” Young Archives
New York socialite and fashion designer Ruth Harkness brought the first live pandas to the United States. She, along with her expedition leader Quentin Young (Yang Dilin) – the younger brother of Jack Young – captured a cub in 1936. Harkness gave the panda, which she named Su-Lin, to the Brookfield Zoo in Illinois in 1937. The next year, Harkness’ second captured cub, Mei Mei, joined Su-Lin.