Those who do not know the past are doomed to repeat it.
natural history museums
Posted inArt
How a Smithsonian Naturalist’s Skeleton Ended Up on View at the Museum
The skeleton of 19th-century collector Robert Kennicott is on view in the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History’s Objects of Wonder. The bones recently solved the long mystery of his death.
Posted inBooks
Photographs of the Birds and Bones in US National Park Collections
When a wayward tufted titmouse slammed against photographer Leah Sobsey’s window, the bird’s tiny corpse suddenly recalled all the natural specimens that had captivated her as a child at Chicago’s Field Museum.
Posted inArt
Robert Doisneau’s Photographs of the Paris Natural History Museum During the Nazi Occupation
From 1942 to 1943, while Paris was occupied by Nazi Germany, photographer Robert Doisneau documented the ongoing work of the scientists in the city’s natural history museum.
Posted inArt
Praising the Scientific Contributions of Clergy Naturalists
Among the 18 million specimens in the oldest natural history museum in the United States are contributions from missionaries and ministers who practiced science alongside their faith.
Posted inIn Brief
35 Questions for a Would-Be Natural History Curator, in 1910
“Explain the principles of proper labeling, giving an outline of a suitable label for Amphelis cedrorum, Cedar Waxwing; for an army field writing desk used by General Grant during the civil war; for a fossil plant; for a mineral.”