{{Otheruses}}{{pp-semi-protected|small=yes}}{{Otheruses}}{{pp-semi-protected|small=yes}}
The Field Museum of Natural History is located in Chicago,
IllinoisIllinois , the 21st state admitted to the United States of America, is the most populous and demographically diverse Midwestern state and the fifth most populous state in the nation...
, USA. It sits on
Lake Shore DriveLake Shore Drive is a mostly freeway-standard expressway running parallel with and alongside the shoreline of Lake Michigan through Chicago, Illinois, USA. Except for the portion north of Foster Avenue , Lake Shore Drive is designated as part of U.S...
next to
Lake MichiganLake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America, and the only one located entirely within the United States. The second largest of the Great Lakes by volume The third largest of the Great Lakes by surface area , it is bounded, from west to east, by the U.S. states of Wisconsin,...
, part of a scenic complex known as the
Museum Campus ChicagoMuseum Campus Chicago is a 57-acre lakefront park in Chicago that surrounds three of the city's most notable museums, all dedicated to the natural sciences: the Adler Planetarium, the Shedd Aquarium, and the Field Museum of Natural History....
. The museum collections contain over 21 million specimens, of which only a small portion are ever on display.
Some prized exhibits in The Field Museum include:
- Sue
"Sue" is the nickname given to FMNH PR 2081, which is the largest, most complete and best preserved Tyrannosaurus rex specimen ever found. It was discovered in the summer of 1990 by Sue Hendrickson, a paleontologist, and was named after her. It is not known if the dinosaur was male or female...
, the largest and most complete TyrannosaurusTyrannosaurus was a genus of theropod dinosaur. The species Tyrannosaurus rex , commonly abbreviated to T. rex, is a fixture in popular culture. It lived throughout what is now western North America, with a much wider range than other tyrannosaurids...
currently known.
- A comprehensive set of human cultural anthropology exhibits, including artifacts from ancient Egypt, the Pacific Northwest and Tibet.
- A large and diverse taxidermy
Taxidermy is the act of mounting or reproducing dead animals for display or for other sources of study. Taxidermy can be done on all species of animals including mammals, birds, nematodes, reptiles and amphibians...
collection, featuring many large animals, including two prized African elephants and the infamous Lions of Tsavo, featured in the 1996 movie "The Ghost and the DarknessThe Ghost and the Darkness is a 1996 thriller about the Tsavo maneaters, two lions who attacked the builders of the Uganda-Mombasa Railway in 1898, killing about 135 of them, and the subsequent hunt to kill them...
".
- A large collection of dinosaur
{{Otheruses}}{{pp-semi-protected|small=yes}}{{Otheruses}}{{pp-semi-protected|small=yes}}{{Taxobox|name = Dinosaurs|fossil_range = {{Fossil range|230|65|earliest=230|latest=0|PS=
Descendant taxon Aves survives to present.}}|image = field_dinos_2.jpg...
s in the Evolving Planet exhibit (formerly Life Over Time).
- A large collection of Native American
Native Americans in the United States is the phrase that describes indigenous peoples from North America now encompassed by the continental United States, including parts of Alaska and the island state of Hawaii. They comprise a large number of distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of...
artifacts. The main exhibit with these artifacts reopened as Ancient Americas in March 2007.
History
The Field Museum was incorporated in the State of Illinois on September 16, 1893 as the Columbian Museum of Chicago with its purpose the "accumulation and dissemination of knowledge, and the preservation and exhibition of artifacts illustrating art, archaeology, science and history." The museum was originally housed in the
World's Columbian ExpositionThe World's Columbian Exposition — also known as The Chicago World's Fair — was a World's Fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World. Chicago bested New York City, Washington, D.C. and St. Louis, Missouri, for the honor of...
's Palace of Fine Arts, which was rebuilt to house the
Museum of Science and IndustryThe Museum of Science and Industry is located in Chicago, Illinois, USA in Jackson Park, in the Hyde Park neighborhood adjacent to Lake Michigan. It is housed in the former Palace of Fine Arts from the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition...
. In 1905, the museum's name was changed to Field Museum of Natural History to honor the museum's first major benefactor,
Marshall FieldMarshall Field was founder of Marshall Field and Company, the Chicago-based department stores.-Biography:...
, and to better reflect its focus on the natural sciences. In 1921, the museum moved from its original location to its present site on Chicago Park District property near downtown, where it is part of the lakefront Museum Campus that includes the John G. Shedd Aquarium and the
Adler PlanetariumThe Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum in Chicago, Illinois was the first planetarium built in the Western Hemisphere and is the oldest in existence today. The Adler was founded and built in 1930 by the philanthropist Max Adler, with the assistance of the first director of the planetarium,...
. In 2006, the Field Museum was the number one cultural attraction in Chicago but surrendered the title in 2007 to the Shedd Aquarium.
Library
The Library at The Field Museum was organized in 1893 to meet the research needs of the museum's scientific staff, visiting researchers, students and members of the general public interested in natural history. The Library’s collections are an essential resource for the Museum’s research, exhibition development and educational programs. The 275,000 volumes of the Main Research Collections concentrate on biological systematics, environmental and evolutionary biology, anthropology, botany, geology, archaelogy, museology and related subjects. Three special collections are an indispensable part of these holdings: The Mary W. Runnells Rare Book Room, the
Photo Archives and the Institutional Archives. These collections document and preserve the development of the Museum and its collections, and the history of its expedition, exhibition and educational programs.
Some highlights at The Field Museum Library include:
- "Ayer Collection" – private collection of Edward E. Ayer
Edward Everett Ayer was an American business magnate, best remembered for the endowments of his substantial collections of books and original manuscripts from Native American and colonial-era history and ethnology, which were donated to the Newberry Library and Field Museum of Natural History in...
, first President of the Museum, chiefly ornithological. Collection contains virtually all the important works in history of ornithologyOrnithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and the aesthetic appeal of birds...
and is especially rich in color-illustrated works.
- "Laufer Collection" – working collection of Dr. Berthold Laufer
Berthold Laufer was a German-American anthropologist, orientalist.Born in Cologne to a Jewish family, Laufer attended the Friedrich Wilhelms Gymnasium from 1884-1893. He continued his studies in Berlin and completed his doctorate degree at the University of Leipzig in 1897...
, America’s first sinologist and Curator of Anthropology until his death in 1934. The Library houses approximately 7,000 volumes in ChineseChinese or the Sinitic language is a language family consisting of languages mutually unintelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the two branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
, Japaneseis a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family. There are a number of proposed relationships with other languages, but none have gained general acceptance...
, TibetanTibetan can refer to:*Of or relating to Tibet*Tibetan people, an ethnic group*Standard Tibetan language*Tibetan script, a writing system*Tibetan art*Music of Tibet*Tibetan culture*Tibetan food*Tibetan Spaniel dog breed*Tibetan Mastiff dog breed...
and numerous western languages, covering the subjects of: anthropologyAnthropology is the study of human beings, everywhere and throughout time....
, archaeologyArchaeology or archeology is the science that studies human cultures through the recovery, documentation, analysis, and interpretation of material culture and environmental data, including architecture, artifacts, biofacts, and landscapes...
, religion, science and travel.
- "Photo Archives" - comprises over 250,000 images in the areas of Anthropology, Botany, Geology, and Zoology. The collection also documents the history and architecture of the Museum, its exhibitions, staff and scientific expeditions. Two important collections from the Photo Archives are now available via the Illinois Digital Archives (IDA): World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 from The Field Museum and Urban Landscapes from The Field Museum. In April 2009, the Photo Archives became part of the Flickr Commons http://www.flickr.com/photos/field_museum_library/.
Sue the Tyrannosaurus rex
On May 17, 2000 The Field Museum unveiled
Sue"Sue" is the nickname given to FMNH PR 2081, which is the largest, most complete and best preserved Tyrannosaurus rex specimen ever found. It was discovered in the summer of 1990 by Sue Hendrickson, a paleontologist, and was named after her. It is not known if the dinosaur was male or female...
, the most complete and best-preserved
Tyrannosaurus rexTyrannosaurus was a genus of theropod dinosaur. The species Tyrannosaurus rex , commonly abbreviated to T. rex, is a fixture in popular culture. It lived throughout what is now western North America, with a much wider range than other tyrannosaurids...
fossilFossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals, plants, and other organisms from the remote past. The totality of fossils, both discovered and undiscovered, and their placement in fossiliferous rock formations and sedimentary layers is known as the fossil record...
yet discovered. Sue is 42 feet (13 m) long, stands 13 feet (4 m) high at the hips and is 67 million years old. The fossil was named Sue after the paleontologist who found it —
Sue HendricksonSue Hendrickson is an American paleontologist. She was born in Chicago, Illinois, and later moved to Munster, Indiana where she grew up....
. The fossil's actual gender is unknown, although because she was named after Hendrickson, Sue is commonly referred to as female. She is a permanent feature at The Field Museum. Sue's body is located on the main floor in the Stanley Field Hall. Her skull was too heavy to be mounted on the rest of the body and is located in a case on the second floor balcony above her skeleton. A skull replica is mounted on Sue's body. From the rings in the bones, Sue was estimated to be about 29 years of age at the time of her death. Sue and her juvenile counterpart,
JaneJane is the nickname given to a fossil specimen of small tyrannosaurid dinosaur Jane is the nickname given to a fossil specimen of small tyrannosaurid dinosaur Jane is the nickname given to a fossil specimen of small tyrannosaurid dinosaur (Nanotyrannus lancinator or a juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex,...
give Illinois two important
Tyrannosaurus rex fossils.
Research and Education
As an educational institution The Field Museum offers multiple opportunities for both informal and more structured public learning. Exhibits remain the primary means of informal education, but throughout its history the Museum has supplemented this approach with innovative educational programs. The Harris Loan Program, for example, begun in 1912, provides educational outreach to children, offering artifacts, specimens, audiovisual materials, and activity kits to Chicago area schools. The Department of Education, begun in 1922, offers a challenging program of classes, lectures, field trips, museum overnights and special events for families, adults and children. Professional symposia and lectures, such as the annual A. Watson Armour III Spring Symposium, present the latest scientific results to the international scientific community as well as the public at large.
The Museum's curatorial and scientific staff in the departments of
Anthropology,
Botany,
Geology, and
Zoology conducts basic research in the fields of systematic biology and anthropology, and also has responsibility for collections management, and collaboration in public programs with the Departments of Education and Exhibits. Since its founding the Field Museum has been an international leader in evolutionary biology and paleontology, and archaeology and ethnography, and has long maintained close links, including joint teaching, students, seminars, with local universities - particularly the University of Chicago and the University of Illinois at Chicago
Permanent Exhibitions
There are many permanent exhibits located at The Field Museum for the public to enjoy. Many animal specimens are on display in exhibits like
Nature Walk,
Mammals of Asia,
Mammals of Africa, and several other exhibits. Through these exhibits, visitors can get an up-close look at the diverse habitats that animals inhabit.
The
Grainger Hall of Gems features a large collection of diamonds and gems from around the world, and also includes a
Louis Comfort TiffanyLouis Comfort Tiffany was an American artist and designer who worked in the decorative arts and is best known for his work in stained glass. He is the American artist most associated with the Art Nouveau and Aesthetic movements...
stained glass window. The Hall of Jades focuses on Chinese
JadeJade is an ornamental stone.The term jade is applied to two different metamorphic rocks that are made up of different silicate minerals:...
artifacts spanning 8,000 years.
The
Underground Adventure gives visitors a bugs-eye look at the world beneath their feet. They will get to see what insects and
soilSoil is a natural body consisting of layers of mineral constituents of variable thicknesses, which differ from the parent materials in their morphological, physical, chemical, and mineralogical characteristics. It is composed of particles of broken rock that have been altered by chemical and...
look like from that size. Visitors will learn about the soil's biodiversity and the importance of healthy soil. The scale of the exhibit is 100 times larger than normal size.
Inside Ancient Egypt offers a glimpse into what life was like for ancient
EgyptiansEgyptians is the name of the nationality and Mediterranean North African ethnic group native to Egypt....
. Twenty-three human mummies are on display, as well as many mummified animals. The exhibit features a tomb that visitors can enter, complete with 5,000-year-old
hieroglyphsEgyptian hieroglyphs was a formal writing system used by the ancient Egyptians that contained a combination of logographic and alphabetic elements. Egyptians used cursive hieroglyphs for religious literature on papyrus and wood...
. There are also many interactive displays, for both children and adults, as well as a shrine to the cat Goddess Bastet. A popular feature of the exhibit is the chapel from the original tomb of Unis-Ankh, the son of the Pharaoh Unas, the last Pharaoh of the 5th dynasty. The exhibit is a re-creation of his mastaba which was originally located in Saqqara.
Evolving Planet- Throughout this exhibition, visitors will see both the history and the evolution of life on Earth over a span of 4 billion years, from the first organism to present-day life. Visitors can see how mass extinctions in Earth’s history helped shape all the organisms. There is also an expanded dinosaur hall, with dinosaurs from every era, as well as interactive displays.
The Ancient Americas- Takes visitors on a journey through 13,000 years of human ingenuity and achievement in the Western Hemisphere, where hundreds of diverse societies thrived long before the arrival of Europeans. In this large permanent exhibition visitors can learn the epic story of the peopling of these continents, from the Arctic to the tip of South America.
Dioramas- Visitors can see many animals including everything from tigers to hawks. This area also features the man-eating Lions of Tsavo, featured in the 1996 movie "
The Ghost and the DarknessThe Ghost and the Darkness is a 1996 thriller about the Tsavo maneaters, two lions who attacked the builders of the Uganda-Mombasa Railway in 1898, killing about 135 of them, and the subsequent hunt to kill them...
".
Working Laboratories
DNA Discovery Center- Visitors can watch real scientists extract DNA from a variety of organisms. Museum goers can also speak to a live scientist through the glass everyday and ask them any questions about DNA.
McDonald's Fossil Prep Lab- the public can watch as paleontologists prepare real fossils for study.
The Regenstein Laboratory- {{convert|1600|sqft|m2|adj=on}} conservation and collections facility. Visitors can watch as conservators work to preserve and study anthropological specimens from all over the world.
Other exhibits include sections on
TibetTibet is a plateau region in Asia, north of the Himalayas. It is home to the indigenous Tibetan people, and to some other ethnic groups such as Monpas and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han Chinese people. Tibet is the highest region on earth, with an average...
and
ChinaChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
, where visitors can view traditional clothing. There is also an exhibit on life in
AfricaAfrica is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area. With a billion people in 61 territories, it accounts for about 14.8% of the...
, where visitors can learn about the many different cultures on the continent and an exhibit where visitors may 'visit' several
Pacific IslandsThe Pacific Islands comprise 20,000 to 30,000 islands in the Pacific Ocean. Those islands lying south of the tropic of Cancer are traditionally grouped into three divisions: Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia.-Oceania:...
. The Museum houses an authentic 19th century Māori Meeting House, Ruatepupuke II, from Tokomaru Bay, New Zealand.
Fieldiana
The Museum publishes four peer-reviewed journals under the collective title "Fieldiana", devoted to
anthropologyAnthropology is the study of human beings, everywhere and throughout time....
,
botanyBotany, plant science, phytology, or plant biology is a branch of biology and is the scientific study of plant life and development...
,
geologyGeology is the science and study of the solid and liquid matter that constitutes the Earth. The field of geology encompasses the study of the composition, structure, physical properties, dynamics, and history of Earth materials, and the processes by which they are formed, moved, and changed...
and
zoologyZoology, also spelled zoölogy, is the branch of biology that focuses on the structure, function, behavior, and evolution of animals. The zoologist's pronunciation of "zoology" is , though a common spelling pronunciation is .-Systems of classification:...
. The archives of the journals are now open to the public via the
Internet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a nonprofit organization dedicated to building and maintaining a free and openly accessible online digital library, including an archive of the World Wide Web....
.
External links
{{Commons| Category:Field Museum}}
{{Chicago}}
{{Chicago Landmark performance venues}}