By one measurement, Robert Preston Taylor goes into history as the first African-American graduate of the old Lincoln College of Law in Springfield. But that would ignore Taylor’s more significant achievement: bringing to life exhibits at the Illinois State Museum.
Despite his degree, earned in 1915, Taylor never practiced law. He went to work at the museum in 1912 and remained there until 1949. Hired as a custodian – his official title for his entire career – Taylor actually wore many hats over his decades at the museum, with roles that ranged from taxidermy to painting to guiding tours. As The Living Museum, the institution’s magazine, put it when Taylor died:
“When Robert came to the Museum in 1912, he was not only the custodian but also the taxidermist, carpenter, preparator, exhibits technician and everything else that the director and his secretary, the only other staff members, could not do. Therefore, many of the exhibits were installed by Robert alone. So it is no wonder that he loved every rock and bone, every life-like animal and wax mushroom in the Museum.”
Taylor grew up in Boonville, Ind. As a young man, he cared for horses in Indiana and then in Paris, Ill. (Taylor’s interest in horses lasted his entire life. Not only was he an avid fan of harness racing, he collected horseshoes worn by champion trotters and pacers.) Taylor married Joanna Whitted of Paris in 1901.
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