Disclaimer
Much of the material on this page about the history of the AMNH is based on my work and study at the Museum where I am a guide emeritus, guest lecturer, and special projects editor for the Volunteer Department. This page, however, is the product of my own studies and is not an official site of or for the Museum. This page represents my passion for the subject and my volunteer work at the AMNH.
34 Million Treasures
A Brief Overview of the American Museum of Natural History
Suggested Media
Selected Timeline: 1850s--1890s
1850’s Early investigations into the establishment of an Art Museum, History Museum, Zoo, and NY Historical Society
1869
• Albert Smith Bickmore, one-time student of Harvard zoologist Louis Agassiz, is successful in his proposal to create a natural history museum in New York City, winning the support of William E. Dodge, Jr., Theodore Roosevelt, Sr., Joseph Choate, and J. Pierpont Morgan
• The Governor of New York, John Thompson Hoffman, signs the Act of Incorporation officially creating the American Museum of Natural History on April 6, 1869.
• Boss Tweed (legislation to approve Art Museum Natural History) 1871
• John David Wolfe becomes President of the Museum the same year.
• Andrew Green (Central Park): Public Library, Bronx Zoo, Unites 5 boroughs
• 1872: Art Museum And History Museum in Manhattan Square
• March 1872: Art and History in their current spaces.
1871 A series of exhibits of the Museum's collection goes on view for the first time in the Central Park Arsenal, the Museum's original home on the eastern side of Central Park.
1872 Robert L. Stuart becomes President of the Museum.
The Museum quickly outgrows the Arsenal and secures Manhattan Square, a block of land across the street from Central Park, between West 77th and 81st Streets, to build a bigger facility.
1874 The cornerstone for the Museum's first building at 77th Street is laid by U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant.
1877 The first building opens with U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes presiding at a public ceremony.
1881 New Museum President Morris K. Jesup launches the Museum into a golden age of exploration that lasts from 1880 to 1930. During this time, the Museum is involved with expeditions that discover the North Pole, explore unmapped areas of Siberia, traverse Outer Mongolia and the great Gobi desert, and travel to the Congo, taking Museum representatives to every continent on the globe.
1895 President Jesup hires Franz Boas to be the assistant curator in the Department of Ethnology.
1896 The Hall of Northwest Coast Indians, now called the Northwest Coast Hall, opens on the first floor of the original 1877 building.
1897–1902 Boas organizes the Jesup North Pacific Expedition. In the entire field of anthropology, nothing of comparable ambition or scope has ever before been attempted. The expedition yields an unparalleled record of the life and culture of the peoples of the North Pacific.
1890’s Robert E. Peary York Meteorite
Andrew Haskell Green
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Albert Bickmore
"Boss" William Tweed
Selected Timeline: Early 1900s--1920s
Early 1900’s Barnum Brown expeditions to the West. Dinosaurs.
1902 Hall of North American Birds (renovated 1959--1969)
• Leonard Cutler Sanford 1912--1930 expeditions to South America, Southern Seas. Africa
• 1921 trustee
• Lord Rothschild (230,000 specimens) In 1932, he was forced to sell the vast majority of his bird collection to the American Museum of Natural History after he had been blackmailed by a former mistress.
1906 Boas leaves his position at the Museum and begins teaching at Columbia University. One of his students is Margaret Mead, the scientist, explorer, writer, and teacher who will work in the Department of Anthropology at the American Museum of Natural History from 1926 until her death in 1978. A pioneer, she brings the serious work of anthropology to a broader audience.
1908 Museum President Morris K. Jesup dies. Henry Fairfield Osborn becomes President.
1909--1920’s Carl Akeley. Africa.
1913 Carl Akeley, a pioneer in the creation of life-like mammal dioramas, writes to the Museum offering to devote five years to the creation of an African mammals hall.
1921 The Second International Eugenics Congress is convened at the Museum to advance the pseudo-science of eugenics.
1922 Roy Chapman Andrews leads historic Central Asiatic Expeditions through the Gobi desert of Mongolia, discovering some of the richest dinosaur fossil sites in the world. Andrews and his team work there until the border between China and Outer Mongolia closes in 1930.
1926 The Museum receives an extensive gift of mammals from the Indian subcontinent, the result of an expedition led by Arthur S. Vernay and Colonel J. C. Faunthorpe. Work soon begins on designing a fitting environment for these specimens, which will be mounted according to Akeley’s technique and displayed in dioramas.
1926--1935 Lincoln Ellsworth. North Pole. Antarctica.
Original Version
President Grant laying the cornerstone
The 1877 Building
Selected Timeline: 1930--1967
1930 The first major hall of mammal habitat dioramas, the South Asiatic Hall, opens, displaying Vernay and Faunthorpe’s specimens.
1933 F. Trubee Davison becomes President of the Museum; the Hall of Ocean Life opens on the first floor of the Central Park West building.
1935 Legendary dinosaur explorer Roy Chapman Andrews becomes Director of the Museum; the Hayden Planetarium opens.
1936 Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Hall and Theodore Roosevelt Rotunda open.
1942 The Hall of North American Mammals opens on the first floor with 10 dioramas. More are added through 1963. The gallery showcases what many consider to be the finest habitat dioramas in the world, many set in U.S. National Parks.
The Akeley Hall of African Mammals opens under the direction of James L. Clark, the Museum’s Vice Director. Artists and scientists, led by Carl Akeley, had gone to Africa to sketch, photograph, collect, measure, and make molds of leaves, bark, moss, and other aspects of the terrain to make the dioramas as accurate as possible.
1951 Alexander M. White becomes President of the Museum.
1958 The Hall of North American Forests opens on the first floor.
1960 The Great Canoe is installed near the 77th Street entrance.
1963 The Hall of North American Small Mammals opens on the first floor.
1964 The Hall of Primates opens on the third floor.
1966 The Hall of Eastern Woodlands Indians opens on the third floor.
1967 The Hall of Plains Indians opens on the third floor; the Museum’s exterior is designated an official New York City Landmark.
1935
Hayden Planetarium
Pre-WW2 Aerial View
Selected Timeline: 1968--1989
1968 Gardner D. Stout becomes President of the Museum; the Hall of African Peoples opens on the second floor.
1969 The Hall of Ocean Life is renovated to include a 94-foot-long model of a blue whale suspended from the ceiling.
1970 The Hall of Mexico and Central America opens on the second floor.
1971 The Hall of Pacific Peoples opens on the third floor, reopens as Margaret Mead Hall of Pacific Peoples in 1984.
1972 The Frederick H. Leonhardt People Center opens on the second floor.
1974 The Louis Calder Laboratory and the Alexander M. White Natural Science Center are completed on the second floor.
1975 Robert G. Goelet becomes President of the Museum. The Theodore Roosevelt Rotunda on the Museum’s second floor is designated a New York City interior landmark.
1976 The Morgan Memorial Hall of Gems and the Harry Frank Guggenheim Hall of Minerals open on the first floor.
1977 Gallery 3, a special-exhibition space on the third floor, is completed. The Hall of Reptiles and Amphibians opens on the third floor.
1980 The Gardner D. Stout Hall of Asian Peoples opens on the second floor.
1981 The Arthur Ross Hall of Meteorites opens on the first floor.
1983 The Charles A. Dana Education Wing is completed.
1988 George D. Langdon, Jr., becomes President of the Museum.
1989 The Hall of South American Peoples opens on the second floor. The original South American hall opened in 1907 and closed in the 1960s.
1977 Thanksgiving Parade
Hall of Human Biology and Evolution
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Hall of Mexico and Central America 1937
Selected Timeline: 1991--2005
1991
• The Mongolian Academy of Sciences invites the Museum to take part in a joint paleontological expedition to the Gobi desert, the first such expedition to include Western scientists since the Central Asiatic Expedition in the 1920s. The Museum maintains a close working relationship with the government of Mongolia, processing and eventually returning specimens collected there in modern times--and helps to foster and grow a robust paleontological community within Mongolia. At present there is an effort underway to build a paleontological museum at the Flaming Cliffs, near the place where Andrews discovered the first fossil dinosaur eggs.
• A five-story-high Barosaurus cast is installed in the Theodore Roosevelt Rotunda, becoming the world’s highest freestanding dinosaur display.
1992 The Research Library's new facility opens; The Center for Biodiversity and Conservation is established; The Hall of Human Biology and Evolution opens on the first floor.
1993 Ellen V. Futter becomes President of the Museum.
1996 Major renovations are completed on the fossil halls on the fourth floor of the Museum. Openings during this period include: the Hall of Primitive Mammals, the Paul and Irma Milstein Hall of Advanced Mammals, the Hall of Saurischian Dinosaurs, the Hall of Ornithischian Dinosaurs, the Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Orientation Center, and the Hall of Vertebrate Origins.
1997 The National Center for Science Literacy, Education and Technology is created, in partnership with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
1998 The Hall of Biodiversity opens on the first floor.
1999 The David S. and Ruth L. Gottesman Hall of Planet Earth on the first floor is the first component of the Frederick Phineas and Sandra Priest Rose Center for Earth to open. The customized one-of-a-kind Zeiss Star Projector (Mark IX), the most advanced in the world, is installed in the new Hayden Planetarium. The C. V. Starr Natural Science Building opens.
2000 The Frederick Phineas and Sandra Priest Rose Center for Earth and Space opens to the public. The Arthur Ross Terrace opens adjacent to the Rose Center.
2001 The Judy and Josh Weston Pavilion opens, adding an entrance to the Museum on Columbus Avenue. The Discovery Room opens on the first floor.
2002 The Museum opens the renovated Samuel J. and Ethel LeFrak Theater. The Museum's main auditorium, restored to its late 19th-century design by Josiah Cleaveland Cady, is a venue for scientific lectures, meetings, public programs, and giant-screen films.
2003 The Museum opens the restored and renovated Milstein Hall of Ocean Life, which features high-definition video projections, interactive computer stations, hands-on models, 14 renovated classic dioramas, and eight new ocean ecosystem displays. The centerpiece of the hall remains the 94-foot model of a blue whale, now resculpted and repainted to more accurately reflect the appearance of a blue whale at sea. The Museum opens the reconceptualized and renovated Arthur Ross Hall of Meteorites. New exhibits, rare Moon and Mars rocks, and over 130 scientifically significant meteorites tell the story of the origins of the solar system.
2004 The Museum installs a new Earthquake Monitoring Station in the Gottesman Hall of Planet Earth. The seismograph records and illustrates real-time seismic data for the public via a global network of seismic stations accessible in real-time to the Museum and other similar institutions.
2005 The Museum marks the 70th Anniversary of the opening of the original Hayden Planetarium.
Teddy Roosevelt statue removed 2022
Renovated Hall of the Northwest Coast
The Allison and Roberto Mignone
Hall of Gems and Minerals
Selected Timeline: 2006--2026
2006
• The Museum hosts the premiere of the movie A Night at the Museum, based on the Museum and starring Ben Stiller, Mickey Rooney, and Dick Van Dyke. Afterward, the Museum inaugurates Night at the Museum Sleepovers for families and groups with children ages 6 to 13.
• The Richard Gilder Graduate School at the Museum is established, authorized by the State of New York to grant the M.Phil, Ph.D., and Honorary degrees and marking the first time an American museum was granted the authority to award its own Ph.D. degree.
2007 The Museum opens the Anne and Bernard Spitzer Hall of Human Origins, which presents comprehensive evidence of human evolution. The new hall explores the most profound mysteries of humankind: who we are, where we came from, and what is in store for the future of the human species.
2008 The first cohort of Ph.D. students in the new Comparative Biology program begins graduate studies at the Museum's Richard Gilder Graduate School.
2009 The Museum completes a major renovation and restoration project of the landmark 77th Street "castle" facade.
2011 The Master of Arts in Teaching Earth science, a unique residency program based at the Museum, is authorized as a pilot program by the New York State Department of Education.
2012 The restored Theodore Roosevelt Memorial and Bernard Family Hall of North American Mammals reopen to the public. The first cohort of students begins in the Master of Arts in Teaching Earth science residency program.
2015 Countdown to Zero: Defeating Disease, an exhibition developed with The Carter Center to highlight global efforts to fight infections including Guinea worm disease, opens at the Museum. President Jimmy Carter speaks at the exhibition opening.
2016 The Titanosaur, a 122-foot-long cast of a newly discovered dinosaur (later formally named Patagotitan mayorum) goes on permanent display on the Museum's fourth floor.
2018 An updated exhibit about climate change opens in the Gottesman Hall of Planet Earth.
2019 The Museum's 150th celebration opens with T. Rex: The Ultimate Predator, a blockbuster exhibition about the tyrannosaur family. The Museum breaks ground on the Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation.
2020 The Museum closes its campus to visitors from March through September due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
2021 The Museum opens a mass New York City vaccination site under the blue whale, which sports a post-vaccination bandage on her fin in support of the COVID-19 vaccination program. The Allison and Roberto Mignone Halls of Gems and Minerals open to the public.
2022 The revitalized Northwest Coast Hall reopens to the public. The Teddy Roosevelt statue removed from front entrance January 19th.
2023 The Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation opens. Sean M. Decatur becomes President (the institution's first Black president).
2024 Updated Hall of Human Origins; Closure of Hall of Plains Indians and Hall of Eastern Woodland Indians for cultural re-evaluation and cultural authenticity.
The Climate Wall in the Hall of Planet Earth
The Blue Whale gets her Covid shot!
Selected Web Resources
The purpose of the following is to provide a starting point for anyone interested in doing a deeper dive into the people, exhibits, and expeditions that have helped to make the American Museum of Natural History what it is today. This list of weblinks is not exhaustive, but it provides a launching point for those wanting to learn more about the Museum’s history. The order of the links corresponds to the generally chronological presentation of topics in the PowerPoint slides in the 2-part presentation called THIRTY-FOUR MILLION TREASURES.
• AMNH Digital Library: https://data.library.amnh.org/archives-authorities/
• AMNH Digital Collections: https://digitalcollections.amnh.org/
• AMNH Science News Videos: https://www.amnh.org/explore/videos
• AMNH Permanent Exhibitions: https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent
• GOOGLE ARTS AND CULTURE: https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/american-museum-of-natural-history
Part One Web Resources: 1
1. P. T. Barnum: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._T._Barnum
2. P. T. Barnum (Smithsonian article): https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/true-story-pt-barnum-greatest-humbug-them-all-180967634/
3. Confederate Army of Manhattan: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confederate_Army_of_Manhattan#
4. Boss William Tweed: https://billofrightsinstitute.org/essays/william-boss-tweed-and-political-machines
5. Boss Tweed: https://www.thoughtco.com/boss-tweed-biography-1773517
6. Albert Bickmore: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_S._Bickmore
7. Albert Bickmore (1869 Travel Book): https://books.google.com/books id=A0zUZAFe2AwC&printsec=copyright#v=onepage&q&f=false
8. Louis Agassiz: https://eps.harvard.edu/louis-agassiz
9. William Dodge: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_E._Dodge_Jr.
10. J. Pierpont Morgan: https://www.history.com/topics/19th-century/john-pierpont-morgan
11. Joseph Choate: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Hodges_Choate
12. Theodore Roosevelt, Sr.: https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/Learn-About-TR/TR-Encyclopedia/Family-and-Friends/Theodore-Roosevelt-Sr
13. John Thompson Hoffman: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_T._Hoffman
14. John David Wolfe: http://famousamericans.net/johndavidwolfe/
15. Andrew Haswell Green: https://www.nypap.org/preservation-history/andrew-haswell-green/
16. Andrew Haswell Green: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Haswell_Green
17. Central Park Arsenal: https://www.centralparknyc.org/locations/arsenal
18. Central Park Arsenal: https://www.nycgovparks.org/about/history/the-arsenal
19. Robert L. Stuart: https://emuseum.nyhistory.org/objects/17787/robert-l-stuart-18061882
20. Robert L. Stuart: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_L._Stuart
21. Calvert Vaux: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvert_Vaux
22. Calvert Vaux (mysterious death): https://www.boweryboyshistory.com/2022/04/the-mysterious-death-of-calvert-vaux-120-years-ago-today.html
23. Jacob Mould: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_Wrey_Mould
24. Ulysses S. Grant: https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/presidents/ulysses-s-grant/
25. Rutherford B. Hayes: https://www.whitehousehistory.org/bios/rutherford-b-hayes
Roy Chapman Andrews
Morris K. Jesup
Henry Fairfield Osborn
Part One Web Resources: 2
26. Morris K. Jesup: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morris_Ketchum_Jesup
27. The Hudson River School (painters): https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/hurs/hd_hurs.htm
28. The Dakota: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dakota
29. Sabbatarianism: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabbatarianism
30. Robert E. Peary and Cape York Meteorite: https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent/meteorites/meteorites/fragments-of-cape-york
35. Maria DeWitt Jesup: https://www.jesuplibrary.org/maria-dewitt-jesup
36. Josephine Diebitsch Peary: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josephine_Diebitsch_Peary
37. Franz Boas: https://www.thoughtco.com/franz-boas-4582034
38. Franz Boas: https://magazine.columbia.edu/article/genius-work-how-franz-boas-created-field-cultural-anthropology
39. Northwest Coast Hall (history): https://data.library.amnh.org/archives-authorities/id/amnhc_4000042
40. Jesup North Pacific Expedition: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesup_North_Pacific_Expedition
41. Barnum Brown (AMNH video): https://www.amnh.org/explore/news-blogs/news-posts/barnum-brown-the-man-who-discovered-tyrannosaurus-rex
42. Barnum Brown: https://www.strangescience.net/brown.htm
43. AMNH Tyrannosaurus rex (with video links): https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent/saurischian-dinosaurs/tyrannosaurus-rex
44. Lowell Dingus (an older reference): https://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Lowell-Dingus/172269445
45. Mark Norrell: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Norell
46. Roland T. Bird: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roland_T._Bird
47. Roland T. Bird: https://data.library.amnh.org/archives/agents/people/4389
48. Hall of North American Birds (history): https://data.library.amnh.org/archives-authorities/id/amnhc_4000067
49. Hall of North American Birds: https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent/north-american-birds
50. Leonard Cutler Sanford: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Cutler_Sanford
Franz Boas
Hall of Northwest Coast Indians, early 20th century
Side Bar: The Jesup North Pacific Expedition (1897-1902)
Sources:
AMNH: https://www.amnh.org/research/research-library/virtual-resources/jesup
WIKIPEDIA: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesup_North_Pacific_Expedition
JOURNAL OF NORTHWEST ANTHROPOLOGY: https://www.northwestanthropology.com/jesup-expedition
The Jesup North Pacific Expedition (1897-1902) was sponsored by the American Museum of Natural History in New York City to investigate the links between the people and the cultures of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America and the Eastern Coast of Siberia. Ostensibly the goal of the expedition was to prove the Bering Strait Migration theory which postulated that the North American continemated by disease and were under pressure to assimilate to Russian or North American society, members of the Expedition also believed that they were making a final record of vanishing cultures. With a sense of urgency, they observed social practices, made wax-cylinder recordings of folktales and oral literature for linguistic analysis, collected artifacts, amassed data on physical "types," and made numerous photographs, producing a detailed record of life in the Greater North Pacific Region one hundred years ago. Although the expedition did not yield a precise ethno-history of the first Americans, it provided a wealth of data on variations and connections between populations on both sides of Pacific that scholars still draw on today. This record is an equally valuable resource for northern peoples today. Expedition scientists systematically studied the cultural, physical, and linguistic attributes of peoples living in the Greater North Pacific Region. This huge area which extends like a giant arc from the Northwest Coast of North America to the Bering Strait and along the Pacific Coast of Siberia to the cultural borderlands of China, Korea, and Japan. Morris K. Jesup, then president of the Museum, financed the expedition. On the North American Side, Boas, with Livingston Farrand and James Teit, studied the Lillooet, Shuswap, and Chilcotin of British Columbia. Teit would also work with the Nlaka'pamux. At the village of Bella Coola, Boas joined his principal assistant and collaborator, George Hunt, to work with Nuxalk informants and Kwakwaka'wakw (Kwakiutal) texts. In the expedition's second year, he visited Alert Bay to continue his life-long research with Hunt on Kwakwala'wakw culture. John R. Swanton researched the Haida of the Queen Charlotte Islands. The Siberian team covered a far larger area under much more difficult conditions. Berthold Laufer studied the Nivkh, Evenk, and Ainu of Sakhalin Island. He then crossed over to the Siberian mainland to study the Nanai and related peoples of the Amur River region. Waldemar Bogoras began his research on Chukotka at the mouth of the Anadyr River, spending four months with the Chukchi who made their summer camps along the seacoast. Leaving his wife behind to continue expedition work in Marinsky Post, Bogoras spent the next year journeying through a territory ranging from Indian Point and Saint Lawrence Island in the northeast to Kamchatka in the southwest. Traveling mostly by dogsled, he continued his research in communities of Chukchi, Even, and Asiatic Eskimo. Waldemar Jochelson and Dina Jochelson-Brodskaya worked with the Maritime Koryak of Kamchatka and the Yukagir in the vicinity of the Kolyma River, traveling by sled, river raft, or on foot when a navigable river unexpectedly froze. On their westward journey home, the Jochelsons traveled through Yakutia, where they researched and collected from the Sakha. Correspondence from the field gives a vivid picture of the conditions under which these several scientists worked.
Part One Web Resources: 3
51. Brewster-Sanford Expedition: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brewster%E2%80%93Sanford_expedition
52. Whitney South Sea Expedition: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitney_South_Sea_Expedition
53. Lord Walter Rothschild: https://family.rothschildarchive.org/people/102-lionel-walter-walter-rothschild-1868-1937
54. Lord Walter Rothschild: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Rothschild,_2nd_Baron_Rothschild
55. Hermon C. Bumpus: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermon_Carey_Bumpus
56. Margaret Mead (Boas student): https://www.biography.com/scholars-educators/margaret-mead
57. Henry Fairfield Osborn: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Fairfield_Osborn
58. Eugenics: https://www.genome.gov/about-genomics/fact-sheets/Eugenics-and-Scientific-Racism
59. Frederic A. Lucas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederic_Augustus_Lucas
60. Charles R. Knight: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_R._Knight
61. Paleoart: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleoart
62. Carl Akeley: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Akeley
63. Carl Akeley (NPR): https://www.npr.org/2010/12/04/131107085/wrestling-leopards-felling-apes-a-life-in-taxidermy
64. Carl Akeley: https://www.fieldmuseum.org/about/history/carl-akeley
65. Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. (conservation): https://www.doi.gov/blog/conservation-legacy-theodore-roosevelt#
66. Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (Environment): https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/tr-environment/
67. Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (Native Americans): https://www.history.com/news/theodore-roosevelt-conservation-national-parks-native-americans
68. Kermit Roosevelt: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kermit_Roosevelt
69. Eugenics Conferences at AMNH: https://library.missouri.edu/specialcollections/exhibits/show/controlling-heredity/america/congresses#
70. Madison Grant: https://embryo.asu.edu/pages/madison-grant-1865-1937
71. The Passing of the Great Race: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Passing_of_the_Great_Race
72. Roy Chapman Andrews: https://www.strangescience.net/andrews.htm
73. Roy Chapman Andrews (AMNH): https://www.amnh.org/explore/news-blogs/news-posts/happy-birthday-roy-chapman-andrews
74. Roy Chapman Andrews: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Chapman_Andrews
75. Central Asiatic Expeditions (1921--1930): https://data.library.amnh.org/archives-authorities/id/amnhc_2000167
York Meteorite being transported to New York
T-rex in its original "Godzilla" pose
Part One Web Resources: 4
76. Central Asiatic Expeditions (44 minutes of silent “home movies” documenting the expeditions): https://futureoftruth.uconn.edu/seeing-truth/instigator-objects/central-asiatic-expedition-1925/
77. George H. Sherwood (NY Times obituary): https://www.nytimes.com/1937/03/19/archives/dr-g-h-sherwood-museum-director-honorary-head-of-the-natural.html
78. Arthur S. Vernay: https://data.library.amnh.org/archives-authorities/id/amnhp_1002155
79. Colonel J. C. Faunthorpe: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Faunthorpe#
80. Lincoln Ellsworth: https://frammuseum.no/polar-history/explorers/lincoln-ellsworth-1880-1951/
81. Lincoln Ellsworth Memorial AMNH: https://data.library.amnh.org/archives-authorities/id/amnhc_4000079
82. The Norge (airship): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norge_(airship)
83. Transantarctic crossings: https://www.south-pole.com/p0000110.htm
84. Theodore Roosevelt Memorial (with links): https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent/theodore-roosevelt-memorial/hall
85. Theodore Roosevelt Rotunda: https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent/theodore-roosevelt-memorial/roosevelt-rotunda
86. President Roosevelt and the AMNH: https://nypost.com/2016/04/17/how-teddy-roosevelt-started-the-museum-of-natural-history-in-his-living-room/
87. Teddy Roosevelt Timeline (AMNH website): https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/addressing-the-statue/timeline
88. Charles Hayden: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Hayden_(banker)
89. Hayden Planetarium (with video): https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent/hayden-planetarium
90. Hayden Planetarium: https://data.library.amnh.org/archives-authorities/id/amnhc_3000045
91. Hayden Planetarium (archive photos): https://digitalcollections.amnh.org/CS.aspx?VP3=DamView&VBID=2URMLBDMCI_3&SMLS=1&RW=1173&RH=527&FR_=1&W=1229&H=532#/DamView&VBID=2URMLB9BVBG5E&PN=1&WS=SearchResults
92. Zeiss Projector: https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent/hayden-planetarium/zeiss-projector
93. Harry Raven: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Cushier_Raven
94. Meshie Mungkut (1932 article by Raven): https://www.naturalhistorymag.com/picks-from-the-past/161678/meshie-the-child-of-a-chimpanzee?page=2
95. Hall of Asian Mammals: https://data.library.amnh.org/archives-authorities/id/amnhc_4000055
96. Frederick Trubee Davison: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F._Trubee_Davison
97. Hall of Ocean Life: https://data.library.amnh.org/archives-authorities/id/amnhc_4000062
98. 1933 Hall of Ocean Life (archival photos): https://digitalcollections.amnh.org/CS.aspx?VP3=DamView&VBID=2URMLB9BET3HZ&SMLS=1&q=Hall+of+Ocean+Life+archive+photos&RW=1229&RH=532
99. Hall of the Fishes of the World: https://data.library.amnh.org/archives-authorities/id/amnhc_4000029
100. Hall of Fishes of the World (archival photos): https://digitalcollections.amnh.org/CS.aspx?VP3=DamView&VBID=2URMLBDMC4_V&SMLS=1&RW=1173&RH=527#/DamView&VBID=2URMLB9BET7XL&PN=1&WS=SearchResults
101. Andros Coral Reef Diorama: https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent/ocean-life/andros-coral-reef-diorama
102. James L. Clark: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_L._Clark
103. Akeley Hall of African Mammals (with links): https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent/african-mammals
104. Akeley Hall of African Mammals (archival photos): https://digitalcollections.amnh.org/CS.aspx?VP3=DamView&VBID=2URMLB9BEKD0A&PN=1&WS=SearchResults
105. Whitney Memorial Hall of Oceanic Birds: https://data.library.amnh.org/archives-authorities/id/amnhc_4000088#
106. Whitney Memorial Hall of Oceanic Birds (archive photos): https://digitalcollections.amnh.org/CS.aspx?VP3=DamView&VBID=2URMLB9BEK9HJ&PN=1&WS=SearchResults
Margaret Mead
.jpg)
Class for disabled students (1929)
Carl Akeley
Student in Hall of Ocean Life (1930)
Children enjoying the Fossil Hall (1927)
Part Two Web Resources: 1
1. Albert E. Parr: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Eide_Parr2. Hall of North American Mammals (with links): https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent/north-american-mammals3. Allen Hall of North American Mammals (archive photos): https://digitalcollections.amnh.org/CS.aspx?VP3=DamView&VBID=2URMLB9BEKAXS&PN=1&WS=SearchResults&FR_=1&W=1229&H=5324. Allen Hall of North American Mammals: https://data.library.amnh.org/archives-authorities/id/amnhc_40001065. Bernard Family Hall of North American Mammals: https://data.library.amnh.org/archives-authorities/id/amnhc_40000076. Joel Asaph Allen: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joel_Asaph_Allen7. James Perry Wilson: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Perry_Wilson8. Belmore Browne: https://americanart.si.edu/artist/belmore-browne-6209. Francis Lee Jaques: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Lee_Jaques10. Robert H. Rockwell: http://taxidermyhalloffame.org/robert-h-rockwell/11. Raymond DeLucia: https://jamesperrywilson.wordpress.com/2009/12/23/ray-delucia/12. Hall of North American Mammals (educator resources): https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent/north-american-mammals/educator-resources13. Education from 1910s to 1950s: https://www.boweryboyshistory.com/2015/11/photographs-of-wonder-from-the-american-museum-of-natural-history.html14. Alexander M. White (NY Times article): https://www.nytimes.com/1956/11/20/archives/museum-reports-big-gains-in-year-natural-history-head-warns-of.html15. Alexander M. White (obituary): https://www.nytimes.com/1968/11/29/archives/alexander-white-banker-dies-led-natural-history-museum-president-17.html16. The Hall of North American Forests: https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent/north-american-forests#17. Jesup Collection of North American Woods: https://arboretum.harvard.edu/stories/such-a-fine-assemblage-the-jesup-collection-of-north-american-woods/18. Hall of North American Woods (archival photos): https://digitalcollections.amnh.org/CS.aspx?VP3=DamView&VBID=2URMLB9BHSZNV&PN=1&WS=SearchResults19. The Great Canoe (archival photos): https://digitalcollections.amnh.org/CS.aspx?VP3=DamView&VBID=2URMLBDMB6PY&SMLS=1&RW=1173&RH=527#/DamView&VBID=2URMLB9BHS0YZ&PN=1&WS=SearchResults20. The Great Canoe: https://www.amnh.org/explore/news-blogs/news-posts/great-canoe-relocates21. The Hall of Human Biology: https://data.library.amnh.org/archives-authorities/id/amnhc_400003122. Biology of Man/Human Biology (archival photos): https://digitalcollections.amnh.org/CS.aspx?VP3=DamView&VBID=2URMLB9BHSYC3&PN=1&WS=SearchResults23. Hall of North American Small Mammals (which is part of Bernard Family Hall): https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent/north-american-mammals#24. Hall of Primates: https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent/primates25. Hall of Primates (archival photos): https://digitalcollections.amnh.org/CS.aspx?VP3=DamView&VBID=2URMLB9BHS7BJ&PN=1&WS=SearchResults
Hall of Ocean Life (1933)
Hall of Ocean Life (1933)
Part Two Web Resources: 2
26. Hall of Primates (Meshie video): https://digitalcollections.amnh.org/CS.aspx?VP3=DamView&VBID=2URMLBDMBGRA&SMLS=1&RW=1173&RH=527
27. Hall of Eastern Woodlands (archival photos): https://digitalcollections.amnh.org/CS.aspx?VP3=DamView&VBID=2URMLBDMBGRA&SMLS=1&RW=1173&RH=527#/DamView&VBID=2URMLB9BHZ8KM&PN=1&WS=SearchResults
28. Hall of Eastern Woodlands: https://data.library.amnh.org/archives-authorities/id/amnhc_4000028
29. Hall of Eastern Woodlands (2024 Statement): https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent/eastern-woodlands/educator-resources
30. Hall of the Plains: https://data.library.amnh.org/archives-authorities/id/amnhc_4000046
31. Hall of the Plains Indians (archival photos): https://digitalcollections.amnh.org/CS.aspx?VP3=DamView&VBID=2URMLB9BHSYC3&PN=1&WS=SearchResults#/DamView&VBID=2URMLB9BHZ0MZ&PN=1&WS=SearchResults
32. North American Ethnology: https://www.amnh.org/research/anthropology/collections/collections-history/north-american-ethnography
33. James A. Oliver: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Arthur_Oliver
34. Minerals and Gems (overview, including 1964 theft): https://www.amnh.org/research/physical-sciences/earth-and-planetary-sciences/geology-collections/minerals-gems
35. Murph the Surf: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Roland_Murphy
36. The Star of India: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_of_India_(gem)
37. DeLong Star Ruby: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DeLong_Star_Ruby
38. Topkapi: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topkapi_(film)
39. King Leopold II of Belgium: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_II_of_Belgium
40. Hall of African Ethnology (archival photos): https://digitalcollections.amnh.org/CS.aspx?VP3=DamView&VBID=2URMLBDM58TH&PN=1&WS=SearchResults#/DamView&VBID=2URMLB9BHZ36S&PN=1&WS=SearchResults
41. Hall of African Ethnology: https://data.library.amnh.org/archives-authorities/id/amnhc_4000122
42. Hall of African Peoples: https://data.library.amnh.org/archives-authorities/id/amnhc_4000022
43. Hall of African Peoples: https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent/african-peoples
44. African Ethnology: https://www.amnh.org/research/anthropology/collections/collections-history/african-ethnography
45. The Hall of Ocean Life (history of Hall): https://data.library.amnh.org/archives-authorities/id/amnhc_4000062
46. The Blue Whale Model (with video): https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent/ocean-life/blue-whale-model
47. The Blue Whale Model: https://www.amnh.org/explore/news-blogs/on-exhibit-posts/blue-whale-model-renovated
48. The Hall of Mexico and Central America: https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent/mexico-central-america
49. The Hall of Mexico and Central America (educator’s guide): https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent/mexico-central-america/educator-resources
50. The Hall of Mexico and Central America (archival photos): https://digitalcollections.amnh.org/CS.aspx?VP3=DamView&VBID=2URMLBDME7KS&SMLS=1&RW=1173&RH=527#/DamView&VBID=2URMLB9BHZXUM&PN=1&WS=SearchResults
Part Two Web Resources: 3
51. Margaret Mead Hall of Pacific Peoples: https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent/pacific-peoples52. Margaret Mead Hall of Pacific Peoples: https://data.library.amnh.org/archives-authorities/id/amnhc_400006953. Margaret Mead: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Mead54. Robert G. Goelet: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Guestier_Goelet55. Thomas Nicholson (NY Times obituary): https://www.nytimes.com/1991/07/12/obituaries/thomas-d-nicholson-dies-at-68-led-museum-of-natural-history.html56. Morgan Memorial Hall of Gems/Guggenheim Hall of Minerals: https://data.library.amnh.org/archives-authorities/id/amnhc_4000074#57. Morgan Memorial Hall of Gems (archival photos): https://digitalcollections.amnh.org/CS.aspx?VP3=DamView&VBID=2URMLB9BHVGCN&PN=1&WS=SearchResults58. Guggenheim Hall of Minerals (archival photos): https://digitalcollections.amnh.org/CS.aspx?VP3=DamView&VBID=2URMLB9BHVFGS&PN=1&WS=SearchResults59. Gallery 3: https://data.library.amnh.org/archives-authorities/id/amnhc_400001860. Hall of Reptiles and Amphibians (includes educator’s guide): https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent/reptiles-amphibians61. Hall of Reptiles and Amphibians (archival photos): https://digitalcollections.amnh.org/CS.aspx?VP3=DamView&VBID=2URMLB9BHVW4G&PN=1&WS=SearchResults62. Hall of Asian Peoples (including educator’s guide): https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent/asian-peoples63. Hall of Asian Peoples (Christian Science Monitor article 1980): https://www.csmonitor.com/1980/1113/111357.html64. Ross Hall of Meteorites (including educator’s guide): https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent/meteorites65. Ross Hall of Meteorites (archival photos; York meteorite): https://digitalcollections.amnh.org/CS.aspx?VP3=DamView&VBID=2URMLB9BHVIRA&PN=1&WS=SearchResults66. Charles A. Dana: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_A._Dana_(philanthropist)67. George D. Langdon, Jr.: https://www.colgate.edu/news/stories/colgates-12th-president-george-langdon-dies-7868. Hall of South American Peoples (archival photos): https://digitalcollections.amnh.org/CS.aspx?VP3=DamView&VBID=2URMLB9BHVZHV&PN=1&WS=SearchResults69. Hall of South American Peoples: https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent/south-american-peoples70. Mongolian Academy of Sciences: https://council.science/member/mongolia-mongolian-academy-of-sciences/71. Current Gobi Desert Expeditions: https://www.amnh.org/explore/videos/shelf-life/fossil-hunting-gobi-360/gobi-next-generation72. Michael Novacek: https://www.amnh.org/research/staff-directory/michael-j-novacek73. Michael Novacek: https://www.amacad.org/person/michael-john-novacek74. Mark Norrell (obituary): https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/13/science/earth/mark-norell-dead.html75. Mark Norrell (pre-2020 interview): https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/dinosaurs-ancient-fossils/meet-the-curator
Lefrak Auditorium
Part Two Web Resources: 4
76. Barosaurus (2010 blog about “makeover”): https://blog.everythingdinosaur.com/blog/_archives/2010/08/04/4597196.html
77. Sinclair Oil Dino Balloon: https://www.sinclairoil.com/dino-history
78. Sinclair Oil Dino Balloon (archival photos): https://digitalcollections.amnh.org/CS.aspx?VP3=DamView&VBID=2URMLB9B8XMHX&PN=1&WS=SearchResults
79. Research Library: https://www.amnh.org/research/research-library
80. Center for Biodiversity and Conservation: https://www.amnh.org/research/center-for-biodiversity-conservation
81. Hall of Human Biology: https://data.library.amnh.org/archives/agents/corporate_entities/2441
82. Ellen V. Futter: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellen_V._Futter
83. Ellen V. Futter (Columbia University Law School 2022 overview): https://www.law.columbia.edu/news/archive/ellen-futter-74-shining-star-new-yorks-cultural-firmament
84. Wallach Orientation Center: https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent/orientation-center
85. Hall of Vertebrate Origins: https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent/vertebrate-origins
86. Hall of Saurischian Dinosaurs: https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent/saurischian-dinosaurs
87. Hall of Ornithischian Dinosaurs: https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent/ornithischian-dinosaurs
88. Hall of Primitive Mammals: https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent/primitive-mammals
89. Hall of Advanced Mammals: https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent/advanced-mammals
90. Fossil Halls (archival photos): https://digitalcollections.amnh.org/CS.aspx?VP3=DamView&VBID=2URMLB9B8XTG9&PN=1&WS=SearchResults
91. National Center for Science Literacy (Rosamond Kinzler, Director): https://www.amnh.org/research/staff-directory/rosamond-kinzler
92. Hall of Living Invertebrates (archive photos): https://digitalcollections.amnh.org/CS.aspx?VP3=DamView&VBID=2URMLB9B8UMZX&PN=1&WS=SearchResults
93. Hall of Living Invertebrates: https://data.library.amnh.org/archives-authorities/id/amnhc_4000034
94. Hall of Biodiversity: https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent/biodiversity
95. Hall of Planet Earth: https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent/planet-earth
96. Hall of Planet Earth (educator’s guide): https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent/planet-earth/educator-resources
97. Rose Center: https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent/rose-center
98. Rose Center (resources about Earth and Space): https://www.amnh.org/plan-your-visit/self-guided-tours/earth-space
99. The Discovery Room: https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent/discovery-room
100. LeFrak Theater (history): https://cinematreasures.org/theaters/11020
George Langdon
Allosaurus, 1907
Ellen Futter
Allosaurus, 1911
Sean Decatur
Part Two Web Resources: 5
101. Hall of Ocean Life (includes educator’s guide): https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent/ocean-life
102. Hall of Meteorites (video tour with Denton Ebel): https://www.amnh.org/explore/videos/exhibits/explore-meteorite-hall-with-curator-denton-ebel
103. A Night at the Museum (2006 film): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_at_the_Museum
104. Night at the Museum Sleepovers (kids): https://www.amnh.org/plan-your-visit/sleepovers
105. Night at the Museum Sleepovers: https://news.artnet.com/art-world/amnh-relaunches-sleepovers-kids-2714383
106. Richard Gilder (NY Times obituary): https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/14/nyregion/richard-gilder-dead.html
107. Richard Gilder Graduate School: https://www.amnh.org/research/richard-gilder-graduate-school
108. Hall of Human Origins (with video): https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent/human-origins
109. Louis and Mary Leakey: https://leakeyfoundation.org/about/the-leakey-family/
110. Richard Leakey: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Leakey
111. Maeve Leakey: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meave_Leakey
112. Louise Leakey: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_Leakey
113. Donald Johanson: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Johanson
114. Donald Johanson and Lucy: https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/40-years-after-lucy-the-fossil-that-revolutionized-the-search-for-human-origins/
115. Viktor Deak (paleoartist): https://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/02/science/02prof.html
116. Patagotitan mayorum [Titanosaur] (with video): https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent/orientation-center/the-titanosaur
117. Patagotitan: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patagotitan
118. Climate Change (HoPE @ AMNH): https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent/planet-earth/what-causes-climate-and-climate-change
119. COVID Vaccination Site: https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/coronavirus/2022/03/31/mass-vaccination-site-at-american-museum-of-natural-history-closes-thursday
120. Giant Mosquito Model: https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent/north-american-forests/giant-anopheles-mosquito
Cleaning the Blue Whale
Gilder Center
Part Two Web Resources: 6
121. Mignone Hall of Gems and Minerals: https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent/gems-minerals
122. Mignone Hall of Gem and Minerals (educator’s resources): https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent/gems-minerals/educator-resources
123. Theodore Roosevelt Statue (Addressing the Statue exhibit): https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/addressing-the-statue
124. Theodore Roosevelt Statue (Background; original intent): https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/addressing-the-statue/artist-intent
125. Theodore Roosevelt Statue (removal): https://www.npr.org/2022/01/20/1074394869/roosevelt-statue-removed-natural-history-museum
126. Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library: https://www.trlibrary.com/
127. Northwest Coast Hall (with video): https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent/northwest-coast
128. Northwest Coast Hall: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/05/arts/design/museum-natural-history-indigenous-art.html
129. Gilder Center: https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent/gilder-center?
130. Gilder Center Insectarium: https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent/gilder-center/insectarium
131. Gilder Center Vivarium: https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/butterflies
132. Sean M. Decatur: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sean_M._Decatur
133. Sean M. Decatur: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/06/arts/design/natural-history-museum-sean-decatur.html
134. Closure of Eastern Woodland Indians and Plains Indians Halls (NBC News): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53k3PRyaVbU
Alaskan Brown Bear in the Bernard Family Hall of North American Mammals
Visitors in the Theodore Roosevelt Hall of Biodiversity