In January 1950, the New York Zoological Society celebrated to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Beebe's work for them. He was by this point the only remaining member of the zoo's original staff, and had produced more scholarly papers and publicity than any other employee. Letters and testimonials poured in from other scientists with whom Beebe had worked, attesting to their admiration of him and his influence on them. One letter from the Harvard biologist Ernst Mayr wrote that Beebe's work had been an inspiration to his own, particularly "A Monograph of the Pheasants" and Beebe's books about jungle wildlife.