American Museum of Natural History

The American Museum of Natural History is without context, one of the largest Natural History Museum in the world.
Whether you are alone or with your family, it will allow you to see the fauna of all the countries of the world, through permanent or temporary exhibitions. These exhibitions are treated thoroughly, well documented, to teach you everything on the subject they concern.

The museum includes 25 interconnected buildings and 46 permanent exhibition spaces, research laboratories and its famous library. Its collections include more than 32 million items, of which only a small percentage may be on display at any given time.

The museum has a large group of stuffed animals, including marine mammals from Africa, Asia and North America. A stuffed blue whale is also on display. A Haida war canoe is also on display. These people live in the Queen Charlotte Islands of British Columbia. The museum also has a huge 31-ton piece of meteorite, and the Star of India, the largest sapphire in the world.

Among the permanent exhibitions, one of them holds particular attention of the public, it is the “Dinosaur Halls”, because the Museum possesses the largest collection of fossil dinosaurs in the world.

Other Permanent Exhibitions cover a variety of topics: African Peoples, South American Peoples, Seabirds, African Mammals, North American Peoples, Eskimos, Northwest Coast Indians, Stones and Minerals, Meteorites, Environment in New York etc …

History of the American Museum of Natural History

The museum was opened in 1869. It was founded in 1869 by Albert Bickmore. Theodore Roosevelt Sr. is one of the founders of the museum.The museum was founded in 1869. Prior to the construction of the current complex, the museum was housed in the old Arsenal building in Central Park. Theodore Roosevelt, Sr. and father of the 26th President of the United States, was one of the founders.

The creation of the museum fulfilled the dream of naturalist Albert S. Bickmore. Bickmore, once a student of Harvard zoologist Louis Agassiz, pushed tirelessly for years for the creation of a natural history museum in New York City. His proposal, backed by powerful donors, won the support of New York Governor John Thompson Hoffman, who signed the official legislation creating the American Museum of Natural History on April 6, 1869.

In 1874, the cornerstone was laid for the museum’s first building, which is no longer visible because it is covered by the many buildings of the complex that now occupies most of Manhattan Square. The original Victorian Gothic building, which opened in 1877, was designed by Calvert Vaux and J. Wrey Mould, who were closely associated with the architecture of Central Park. It was quickly eclipsed by the museum’s southern development, designed by J. Cleaveland Cady, a Romanesque Revival sandstone application influenced by H.H. Richardson.

The museum’s president, Morris Jesup, who was looking for ways to get out of a difficult financial situation, did an incredible job: in 25 years of operation, with a number of donations amounted to about one million dollars. This money has been used for expeditions in all parts of the world that are bearing fruit.

In 1964, the Star of India as well as the Eagle Diamond and the Long Star Ruby were stolen. After their arrest, DeLong Star Ruby and the Star of India were found in a locker at a train station. The Eagle Diamond, however, was never recovered.

The Library

The library contains more than 550,000 volumes of monographs, serials, pamphlets, reprints, microfilm, and original illustrations, as well as films, photographs, archives, manuscripts, art, memorabilia, and rare book collections. The library brings together materials covering such subjects as zoology, earth and planetary sciences, astronomy and astrophysics, anthropology, entomology, herpetology, ichthyology, paleontology and ethology, ornithology, mineralogy, invertebrates, systematics, ecology, oceanography, exploration and travel, history of science, museology, bibliography, genomics, and peripheral biological sciences. The collection is rich in retrospective material – some dating back to the 15th century – that is difficult to find elsewhere.

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How to visit

Open from 10 am to 5:30 pm, Wednesday to Sunday. Adult $28 / child (3-12) $16 / student $22

https://www.amnh.org/

Central Park West 79th Street New York, NY 10024
(Located in Manhattan, West 79th Street, west of Central Park)

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