Ralph Morrill, museum artist and the taxidermist responsible for the construction of the lifelike habitat groups at the Peabody Museum of Natural History, died on Nov. 7 at his home in Hamden, Connecticut. He was 94 years old.
Mr. Morrill came to the Peabody Museum in 1924, when the museum was first moving into its current Whitney Avenue location and its halls were empty. During the next 40 years as the museum's chief preparator in vertebrate zoology, Mr. Morrill had a hand in creating virtually every exhibit hall in the museum.
"The Museum Man," a film produced by the Peabody Museum, shows Mr. Morrill at work on the fabrication of one of the museum's dioramas. The film follows Mr. Morrill into the field as he collects specimens, into the taxidermy studio as he mounts the animals and into the workshop as he constructs the artificial foreground. Evidence of Mr. Morrill's painstaking attention to detail can be seen in the Coastal Region diorama at the Peabody, where he cut out and painted hundreds of individual dandelion petals to produce each of the rosettes that comprise a flower.
Even after retiring in 1966, Mr. Morrill continued to work in his taxidermy studio and wrote a book titled "Museum Quality Fish Taxidermy." He also trained several generations of museum exhibit preparators to carry on his tradition. In addition, he was an avid golfer.
"Mr. Morrill leaves behind a legacy in museum exhibits that will continue to enthrall museum visitors for years to come," says Michael Anderson, the current museum preparator at the Peabody. "In all of his habitat groups, the taxidermied animals are so lifelike that children often ask if they are real."
Mr. Morrill is survived by his wife, Ruth Morrill; and his brother, Jim Morrill of Brunswick, Maine. A memorial service will be held in the spring. Donations in his memory can be sent to the Ralph C. Morrill Memorial Fund for the furthering of golf etiquette among junior golfers at the Yale Golf Course, P.O. Box 208216, New Haven, CT 06520-8216.