The “Best” Natural History Exhibit is a Personal Preference

I was recently asked what I thought the best natural history museum exhibit was.  I have visited hundreds of museums, many with awesome natural history exhibits.  I’ve seen The American Museum, The Smithsonian National Museum of History, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Natural History Museum of LA, Denver Museum of Nature and Science and many more.  Yet, the one that immediately pops into my head is The Field Museum.   The word favorite or best is a personal preference.  I’ve visited this museum the most and it holds a special place in my heart.

Going to Chicago to visit The Field is my natural history mecca.  Freeman Tilden speaks of the visitor’s first interest.  “The visitor’s chief interest is in whatever touches his personality, his experiences, and his ideals.   The visitor is unlikely to respond unless what you have to tell, or show, touches his personal experience, thoughts, hopes, way of life, social position, or whatever else.  If you cannot connect to his ego you have lost his interest.  The best exhibit makes him feel a direct connection with what he sees.”

I don’t remember my first visit to The Field.  I imagine it was grade school or high school.  I know on one of my childhood visits to the Chicago museums I snuck out and went to the beach for a brief view of the lake. Even as an adult there have been so many visits I can’t recall any specific one.  I know in the first visits I was awed by the architecture and Stanley Field Hall.  It sometimes seems all the grand architecture is only in foreign lands and far away places.  No matter how many times I walk into Stanley Field Hall I can’t but pause and take in the splendor of that gallery.  The grandeur, the marble columns, the sky lights, the murals, the statues, the elephants, Sue (the T-Rex) and vaulted ceiling make you feel as if you are in a temple and must pause to give it reverence.  Grasp a moment of silent solitude to take it all in and give praise for the wonders of mankind.

Natural History Dioramas tell Stories

Natural history dioramas always draw me in.  At first, it is just a rush seeing animals in a world that is rarely experienced in daily life.  Dang! You don’t realize how big a Walrus is until you stand next to one.  When I had my first glance at the Tsavo Lions years ago, I wasn’t that impressed by their size or even the taxidermy itself, but it was just cool I got to see some lions.  I think on every visit I’ve wandered around the elephants in Stanley Field Hall.

Now after many visits, stories have built upon stories.  I now see the intricacies of the art in each diorama.  As Tilden says, “are we dealing with art or science?  It is art that combines many mediums, whether the material presented is scientific, historical, or architectural. It is an appeal to the emotions, to the hunger for deeper understanding, to the religious spirit of the individual, no less than to the love of beautiful and wonderful objects, or the restoration of physical well being”

I now know the whole story of the Tsavo lions; the man-eaters killed about 135 railroad workers before being killed by Lt. Col. John Henry Patterson.  I’ve learned about Carl Akeley who pioneered the techniques used to create dioramas over 100 years ago.  And Delia “Mickie” Akeley, his wife, shot one of the elephants in Stanley Hall.  You go girl!!  And then there is “Sue, “the largest, best-preserved and most complete T-Rex ever found.  Plus I know the back-story about Sue from my fossil friends on how the original discoverer of her was thrown in jail by our government.  That story just pisses me off, but I still love Sue.  So, where are the best natural history exhibits in the world?  The Field Museum, of course, in my own home state of IL.

What is your favorite natural history exhibit?