Statesmen, Scoundrels, and Eccentrics: A Gallery of Amazing Arkansans

Keller and Marian Breland

Keller and Marian Breland Hot Springs has always been a major tourist attraction—whether for the curative powers of the naturally hot water, the widely accepted gambling and vice, or the beautiful scenery. “Visibly the town lives upon the stranger within its gates,” wrote Alice French, a popular writer who had a home in Lawrence County and who set an  short story in the spa city. The I. Q. Zoo was among the most popular tourist attractions in Hot Springs during the latter half of the twentieth century. The I. Q. Zoo was the work of Keller B. Breland and his wife, Marian, who were pioneering scientists in the field of scientifically validated animal training —what became known as “operant conditioning.” Established in , the zoo quickly became a popular tourist destination. Visitors were amazed to see chickens walk tightropes or dance to jukebox music, rabbits ride miniature fire trucks or spin roulette wheels, or raccoons play basketball. The especially venturesome could play “Bird Brain,” a tic-tac-toe game against a chicken (which the fowl always won or tied). While the zoo animals were noteworthy, the people who trained them were much more so.Marian and Keller Breland took applied animal psychology to new heights of both public and professional interest and acceptance. The Brelands met while both were students at the University of Minnesota. Both studied under B. F. Skinner, the famous behavioral psychologist. During World War II the Brelands worked with Skinner on his “Project Pigeon,” an effort to train pigeons to guide missiles for the U.S.Navy.Gradually the Brelands came to the conclusion that animal training of this nature offered commercial possibilities. In  the Brelands opened their new business, Animal Behavior Enterprises (ABE). Within three years the company was making a profit,which must have validated their decision to leave school without completing their Ph.D. degrees. In the early s the Brelands moved  from Minnesota to a large farm at Lonsdale near Hot Springs, where they opened the I. Q. Zoo. The Brelands’ business soon had customers all over the world. They trained animals for Knott’s Berry Farm, Opryland, and various Six Flags facilities. Marian was the first person to train animals to star in television commercials. At its height, the business employed forty people.The Brelands,along with a cast of animals,were popular guests on many television programs, including the Ed Sullivan Show, as well as shows hosted by Dave Garroway, Jack Paar, and Steve Allen. J. Arthur Gillaspy Jr. and Elson M. Bihm, both of the University of Central Arkansas and author of the entry on Keller Breland in the Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture, wrote, “Today, the animal training programs at most major theme parks and oceanariums, such as Sea World and Busch Gardens, can be traced back to Keller and Marian Breland.” The Brelands were very different individually, but they made an effective team. Gillaspy and Bihm described their different work roles: “He was the idea man; she made it all work.” Animal Behavior, their  textbook, was published to great acclaim. In  Keller Breland died of a heart attack, and his widow became president of ABE. In  she married Bob Bailey, a zoologist and chemist whom the Brelands met when he was in charge of marine mammal training for the U.S. Navy. (The Brelands had trained dolphins to rescue lost sailors, among many other tasks.) In , over three decades after leaving graduate school, Marian completed her doctorate at the University of Arkansas in experimental psychology. Returning to academia in , she became professor of psychology at Henderson State University in Arkadelphia, though she remained president of ABE. She was a popular professor, and she did not retire until  at the age of seventy-eight. She died in . Her widower, Bob Bailey, continued the family’s work. Henderson State University established a scholarship honoring Marian Breland in . The I. Q. Zoo closed in , and periodic attempts to open new ones have failed.But,the professional reputations of Keller and Marian Breland, as well as Bob Bailey, have been enhanced greatly due to the enthusiastic work of Art Gillaspy and Elson Bihm.They have collected  EDUCATION, SCIENCE, AND MEDICINE the papers of the Brelands and created an exhibit at the Archives of the History of American Psychology in Akron, Ohio, and they have published widely on the Brelands. FOR MORE INFORMATION: Breland, K., and M. Breland. Animal...