National Museum of Natural History

The United States National Museum was founded in 1846 as part of the Smithsonian Institution. The museum was initially housed in the Smithsonian Institution Building, which is better known today as the Smithsonian Castle. A formal exhibit hall opened in 1858.D'Angelis, p. 35. The growing collection led to the construction of a new building, the National Museum Building (known today as the Arts and Industries Building). Covering a then-enormous {{convert|2.25|acre|m2}}, it was built in just 15 months at a cost of $310,000. It opened in March 1881.Evelyn, Dickson, and Ackerman, p. 107.

Congress authorized construction of a new building on June 28, 1902."Plans for Museum Building." Washington Post. July 6, 1902."New Building for Museum." Washington Post. January 30, 1903. On January 29, 1903, a special committee composed of members of Congress and representatives from the Smithsonian's board of regents published a report asking Congress to fund a much larger structure than originally planned. The regents began considering sites for the new building in March, and by April 12 settled on a site on the north side of B Street NW between 9th and 12th Streets."Site of New National Museum." Washington Post. March 7, 1903."New Museum Plans." Washington Post. April 13, 1903. The D.C. architectural firm of Hornblower & Marshall was chosen to design the structure. Testing of the soil for the foundations was set for July 1903, with construction expected to take three years."Museum Building Design." Washington Post. May 24, 1903.

File:Smithsonian Natural History Museum circa 1926.jpg parked in front of the National Museum in 1926]]

The Natural History Building (as the National Museum of Natural History was originally known) opened its doors to the public on March 17, 1910, in order to provide the Smithsonian Institution with more space for collections and research.{{Cite web |url=http://www.siarchives.si.edu/history/exhibits/thisday/march.htm |title=This Day in Smithsonian History - March |publisher=Siarchives.si.edu |access-date=2010-04-18 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100608035035/http://siarchives.si.edu/history/exhibits/thisday/march.htm |archive-date=2010-06-08 }} The building was not fully completed until June 1911.{{Cite news | url=http://www.mnh.si.edu/about/history.htm | title=Museum History | publisher=National Museum of Natural History | year=2008 | access-date=2009-11-15 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090726053347/https://www.mnh.si.edu/about/history.htm | archive-date=2009-07-26 }} The structure cost $3.5 million (about $85 million in inflation-adjusted 2012) dollars.Bache, Rene. "America's $3,500,000 National Museum, Just Completed, Most Remarkable Structure of Its Kind in the World." Washington Post. March 6, 1910. The Neoclassical style building was the first structure constructed on the north side of the National Mall as part of the 1901 McMillan Commission plan. In addition to the Smithsonian's natural history collection, it also housed the American history, art, and cultural collections.

Between 1981 and 2003, the National Museum of Natural History had 11 permanent and acting directors.Trescott, Jacqueline. "Smithsonian Taps Biologist For Natural History Museum." Washington Post. January 30, 2003. The directors included: Richard S. Fiske (1980-1985); James C. Tyler (acting, 1985 and 1988); and Robert S. Hoffmann (1985-1988).{{cite web |title=National Museum of Natural History, Office of the Director |publisher=Smithsonian Institution |date=31 August 2002 |url=https://siarchives.si.edu/oldsite/siarchives-old/research/ah00203nmnhod.html |access-date=11 November 2024}}

Frank Talbot, ichthyologist and former director of the Australian Museum and California Academy of Sciences, served as director from 1989 until 1994. He was the first (and as of 2024 the only) Australian to ever be appointed to this role.{{cite web |title=Talbot, Frank Hamilton (1930-)| website=Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation |publisher=Swinburne University of Technology, Centre for Transformative Innovation |date=20 June 2022 |url=https://www.eoas.info/biogs/P007015b.htm |access-date=10 November 2024| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241110045202/https://www.eoas.info/biogs/P007015b.htm| archive-date=10 Nov 2024| url-status=live}}{{cite web |title=Vale Professor Frank Talbot AM |website=The Australian Museum |date=16 October 2024 |url=https://australian.museum/blog/at-the-museum/vale-frank-talbot/ |access-date=11 November 2024}}

Two acting directors (Donald J. Ortner, 1994-1996, and David L. Pawson in 1996) served before Robert W. Fri was named the museum's director in 1996."Smithsonian Selects Fri for Natural History Post." Orlando Sentinel. March 21, 1996. One of the largest donations in Smithsonian history was made during Fri's tenure. Kenneth E. Behring donated $20 million in 1997 to modernize the museum. Fri resigned in 2001 after disagreeing with Smithsonian leadership over the reorganization of the museum's scientific research programs.Olson, Elizabeth. "A Biologist Will Lead Smithsonian Museum." New York Times. January 30, 2003.

J. Dennis O'Connor, provost of the Smithsonian Institution (where he oversaw all science and research programs) was named acting director of the museum on July 25, 2001."Washington: New Museum Director." New York Times. July 26, 2001. Eight months later, O'Conner resigned to become the vice president of research and dean of the graduate school at the University of Maryland.Wiltz, Teresa. "Smithsonian Losing a Sixth Key Director." Washington Post. April 4, 2002. Douglas Erwin, a paleontologist at the National Museum of Natural History, was appointed interim director in June 2002."Interim Chief Named At Natural History." Washington Post. June 6, 2002.

File:National Museum of Natural History.jpg]]

In January 2003, the Smithsonian announced that Cristián Samper, a Colombian with an M.Sc. and Ph.D. from Harvard University, would become the museum's permanent director on March 31, 2003."Biologist Named to Head Smithsonian Natural History Museum." Associated Press. January 29, 2003. Samper (who holds dual citizenship with Colombia and the United States) founded the Alexander von Humboldt Biological Resources Research Institute and ran the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute after 2001. Smithsonian officials said Samper's administrative experience proved critical in his appointment. Under Samper's direction, the museum opened the $100 million Behring Hall of Mammals in November 2003,Epstein, Edward. "East Bay Developer Pumps Millions Into Smithsonian Project." San Francisco Chronicle. November 15, 2003. received $60 million in 2004 for the Sant Hall of Oceans,Trescott, Jacqueline. "Museum to Get $60 Million Exhibit." Washington Post. September 16, 2004. and received a $1 million gift from Tiffany & Co. for the purchase of precious gems for the National Gem Collection."Tiffany Makes $1.1 Million Gift to Smithsonian Museum." Associated Press. June 7, 2006.

File:National Museum of Natural History, Washington.jpg

On March 25, 2007, Lawrence M. Small, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution and the organization's highest-ranking appointed official, resigned abruptly after public reports of lavish spending.Zongker, Brett. "Smithsonian's Top Official Resigns." Associated Press. March 26, 2007.

On March 27, 2007, Samper was appointed Acting Secretary of the Smithsonian.Pogrebin, Robin. "Smithsonian Scrambles to Regain Its Footing." New York Times. April 4, 2007. Paul G. Risser, former chancellor of the University of Oklahoma, was named acting director of the Museum of Natural History on March 29."Acting Director Named at Smithsonian's Natural History Museum." Associated Press. March 30, 2007.

In May 2007, Robert Sullivan, the former associate director in charge of exhibitions at the National Museum of Natural History, charged that Samper and Smithsonian Undersecretary for Science David Evans (Samper's supervisor) ordered "last minute"Grimaldi, James V. and Trescott, Jacqueline. "Scientists Fault Climate Exhibit Changes." Washington Post. November 16, 2007. changes in the exhibit "Arctic: A Friend Acting Strangely" to tone down the role of human beings in the discussion of global warming, and to make global warming seem more uncertain than originally depicted. Samper denied that he knew of any scientific objections to the changes, and said that no political pressure had been applied to the Smithsonian to make the changes.Zongker, Brett. "Smithsonian Toned Down Exhibit on Arctic." Associated Press. May 21, 2007. In November 2007, The Washington Post reported that an interagency group of scientists from the Department of the Interior, NASA, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and National Science Foundation believed that, despite Samper's denial, the museum "acted to avoid criticism from congressional appropriators and global-warming skeptics in the Bush administration". The changes were discussed as early as mid-August 2005, and Dr. Waleed Abdalati, manager of NASA's Cryospheric Sciences Program, noted at the time that "There was some discussion of the political sensitivities of the exhibit."

Although the exhibit was due to open in October 2005, the Post reported that Samper ordered a six-month delay to allow for even further changes. The newspaper also reported that it had obtained a memo drafted by Samper shortly after October 15, 2005, in which Samper said the museum should not "replicate" work by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. A few weeks later, a NOAA climate researcher advised a superior that the delay was due to "the debate within the administration and the science community over the existence and cause of global warming". During the delay, Samper asked high-level officials in other government agencies and departments to review the script for the exhibit, ordered his museum staff to make additional changes, and rearranged the sequence of the exhibit panels so that the discussion of climate change was not immediately encountered by museum visitors. Shortly before the exhibit opened in April 2006, officials at NOAA and the United States Department of Commerce expressed to their superiors their opinion that the exhibit had been changed to accommodate political concerns. In an interview with The Washington Post in November 2007, Samper said he felt the exhibit displayed a scientific certainty that did not exist, and expressed his belief that the museum should present evidence on both sides and let the public make up its own mind.

File:National Museum of Natural History Rotunda pano.jpg

The issue became more heated after the press reported that Samper gave permission for the museum to accept a $5 million donation from American Petroleum Institute that would support the museum's soon-to-be-opened Hall of Oceans. Two members of the Smithsonian Institution's Board of Regents (which had final say on accepting the donation) questioned whether the donation was a conflict of interest. Before the board could consider the donation, the donor withdrew the offer.Pogrebin, Robin. "Gift to Smithsonian Is Rescinded." New York Times. November 17, 2007.

Risser resigned as acting director of the museum on January 22, 2008, in order to return to his position at the University of Oklahoma."Head of Smithsonian's Natural History Museum Returning to OU." Associated Press. January 23, 2008. No new acting director was named at that time. Six weeks later, the Smithsonian regents chose Georgia Tech president G. Wayne Clough as the new Secretary. Samper stepped down to return to his position as Director of the National Museum of Natural History."GIT President to Head Smithsonian." United Press International. March 15, 2008.

In June 2008, the Victoria and Roger Sant family donated $15 million to endow the new Ocean Hall at the museum."Couple Gives $15M for Smithsonian Ocean Hall." Associated Press. June 26, 2008. The museum celebrated the 50th anniversary of its acquisition of the Hope Diamond in August 2009 by giving the gemstone its own exhibit and a new setting.Schmid, Randolph E. "Hope Diamond to Get New Setting for Anniversary." Associated Press. August 19, 2009. In March 2010, the museum opened its $21 million human evolution hall.Zongker, Brett. "Smithsonian Opens $21M Human Evolution Hall." Associated Press. March 17, 2010; Brotherton, Elizabeth. "Natural History Details Origin of Our Species." Roll Call. March 22, 2010.

In January 2012, Samper said he was stepping down from the National Museum of Natural History to become president and chief executive officer of the Wildlife Conservation Society.Zongker, Brett. "Head of Smithsonian Natural History Museum Resigns." Associated Press. January 23, 2012. Two months later, the museum announced it had received a $35 million gift to renovate its dinosaur hall,Trescott, Jacqueline. "Natural History Museum Gets $35 Million Gift." Washington Post. May 4, 2012; "Koch Gives Smithsonian $35M for New Dinosaur Hall." Associated Press. May 3, 2012. and a month later the Sant family donated another $10 million to endow the director's position.Trescott, Jaqcqueline. "Sants Give $10 Million to Natural History Museum." Washington Post. June 27, 2012. On July 25, 2012, Kirk Johnson, vice president of research and collections at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, was named Samper's successor effective October 29, 2012.Parker, Lonnae O'Neal. "Smithsonian Names New Director of Natural History Museum." Washington Post. July 26, 2012; Zongker, Brett. "Smithsonian Picks Paleontologist to Lead DC Museum." Associated Press. July 26, 2012. By 2013, as Sant Director, Johnson oversaw a museum with 460 employees and a $68 million budget.[https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/meet-the-smithsonians-fossil-guy/2013/08/20/e67603ea-09c6-11e3-b87c-476db8ac34cd_story.html Kamen, Al. "Meet the Smithsonian's Fossil Guy." Washington Post. August 20, 2013.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170719175533/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/meet-the-smithsonians-fossil-guy/2013/08/20/e67603ea-09c6-11e3-b87c-476db8ac34cd_story.html |date=July 19, 2017 }} Accessed 2013-08-20. A four-year [https://naturalhistory.si.edu/sites/default/files/media/file/nmnh2021-25strategicplanaccessible_0.pdf strategic plan] was released in 2021. The museum's Mall building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2023.{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalregister/weekly-list-2023-03-31.htm|title=WEEKLY LIST OF ACTIONS TAKEN ON PROPERTIES: 3/24/2023 THROUGH 3/31/2023|publisher=National Park Service|accessdate=2023-04-05}}

Research in the museum is divided into seven departments: anthropology, botany, entomology, invertebrate zoology, mineral sciences, paleobiology, vertebrate zoology.

The NMNH represents 90% of the Smithsonian Institution's collections and forms one of the largest, most comprehensive natural history collection in the world.{{Cite web |title=Collections at the National Museum of Natural History {{!}} Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History |url=http://naturalhistory.si.edu/research/collections-national-museum-natural-history |access-date=2022-04-13 |website=naturalhistory.si.edu |language=en}} The Smithsonian gives an approximate number for artifacts and specimens of 146 million.{{cite web|title=NMNH Fact Sheet|url=http://newsdesk.si.edu/factsheets/national-museum-natural-history|publisher=Smithsonian Institution|access-date=26 February 2020|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191019163033/https://www.si.edu/newsdesk/factsheets/national-museum-natural-history|archive-date=19 October 2019}} More specifically, the collections include 30 million insects, 4.5 million plants preserved in the Museum's herbarium, and 7 million fish stored in liquid-filled jars.{{cite web|title=About the Museum|url=https://naturalhistory.si.edu/about|publisher=National Museum of Natural History|access-date=31 July 2012|url-status=deviated|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120815145916/http://www.mnh.si.edu/about.html|archive-date=15 August 2012}} The National Collection of Amphibians and Reptiles has more than tripled from 190,000 specimen records 1970 to over 580,000 specimen records in 2020.{{Cite news | url=http://vertebrates.si.edu/herps/herps_collections.html | title=Vertebrate Zoology: Division of Amphibians & Reptiles | publisher=National Museum of Natural History | year=2008 | access-date=2008-09-17 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081021075003/http://vertebrates.si.edu/herps/herps_collections.html | archive-date=2008-10-21 }}{{Cite news | url=http://vertebrates.si.edu/herps/herps_collections.html | title=Division of Amphibians & Reptiles | publisher=National Museum of Natural History | year=2020 | access-date=26 February 2020 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191216134245/https://naturalhistory.si.edu/research/vertebrate-zoology/amphibians-reptiles | archive-date=16 December 2019 }} Of the 2 million cultural artifacts, 400,000 are photographs housed in the National Anthropological Archives. Through off-site active loan and exchange programs, the museum's collections can be accessed.{{cite web|title=Loan Program|url=https://naturalhistory.si.edu/loan-program|publisher=National Museum of Natural History|access-date=26 February 2020|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190206171923/https://naturalhistory.si.edu/loan-program|archive-date=6 February 2019}} As a result, 3.5 million specimens are out on loan every year. The rest of the collections not on display are stored in the non-public research areas of the museum and at the Museum Support Center, located in Suitland, Maryland.{{cite web|title=Museum Support Center Library|url=http://library.si.edu/libraries/museum-support-center|publisher=Smithsonian Libraries|access-date=2 August 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120702094717/http://library.si.edu/libraries/museum-support-center|archive-date=2 July 2012}} Other facilities include a marine science center in Ft. Pierce, Florida and field stations in Belize, Alaska, and Kenya.

The museum is estimated to hold more than 5000 Native American remains that have not been repatriated. Some of these may belong to the Seminole Tribe of Florida.{{Cite news |last=Devarajan |first=Kumari |date=October 13, 2021 |title=Skeletons in the Closet |url=https://www.npr.org/2021/10/12/1045518876/skeletons-in-the-closet |work=NPR News}}

One collection of nearly a million specimens of birds, reptiles, and mammals kept at the museum has been maintained by the Biological Survey unit of the U.S. Geological Survey. This division had started in 1885 as an economic ornithology unit of the Agriculture Department. Clarence Birdseye and Clinton Hart Merriam had worked in this organization. As of February 2018, the unit's funding is planned to be cut, and it is not clear what would happen to the collection.Juliet Eilperin. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-has-long-vowed-to-slash-government-now-the-knives-are-finally-coming-out/2018/02/26/b2d8c5ac-10f3-11e8-9570-29c9830535e5_story.html Trump has long vowed to slash government] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180311021302/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-has-long-vowed-to-slash-government-now-the-knives-are-finally-coming-out/2018/02/26/b2d8c5ac-10f3-11e8-9570-29c9830535e5_story.html |date=2018-03-11 }}. Washington Post. 26 Feb 2018

File:Natural History Museum - Star of Asia Sapphire (close crop).jpg, a large, 330-carat cabochon-cut star sapphire in the U.S. National Gem and Mineral Collection]]

File:Hope_Diamond.jpg]]

The National Gem and Mineral Collection is one of the most significant collections of its kind in the world. There are currently over 15,000 individual gems in the collection, as well as 350,000 minerals and 300,000 samples of rock and ore specimens.{{Cite news|first=Dennis|last=Hevesi|title=George Switzer, 92, Dies; Started a Gem Treasury|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/06/us/06SWITZER.html?ref=us|work=New York Times|date=2008-04-06|access-date=2008-04-09|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131220052538/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/06/us/06SWITZER.html?ref=us|archive-date=2013-12-20}} Additionally, the Smithsonian's National Gem and Mineral Collection houses approximately 45,000 meteorite specimens, including examples of every known type of meteorite,{{cite web|url=https://naturalhistory.si.edu/research/mineral-sciences/collections-overview|title=Department of Mineral Sciences Collections Overview|publisher=Smithsonian Institution|access-date=26 February 2020|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190803151823/https://naturalhistory.si.edu/research/mineral-sciences/collections-overview|archive-date=3 August 2019}} and is considered to be one of the most comprehensive collections of its kind in the world. The collection includes some of the most famous pieces of gems and minerals, including the Hope Diamond and the Star of Asia (one of the largest sapphires in the world), and the Carmen Lúcia Ruby, one of the largest and most valuable Burmese rubies in the world.{{Cite web|url=https://naturalhistory.si.edu/explore/collections/geogallery/10002734|title=Carmen Lúcia Ruby - Smithsonian Institution|website=naturalhistory.si.edu}}

The collection is displayed in the Janet Annenberg Hooker Hall of Geology, Gems and Minerals, one of the many galleries in the Museum of Natural History. Some of the most important donors, besides Hooker, are Washington Roebling, the man who built the Brooklyn Bridge, who gave 16,000 specimens to the collection; Frederick A. Canfield, who donated 9,000 specimens to the collection; and Isaac Lea, who donated the basis of the museum's collection of 1312 gems and minerals.

File:Rick Potts of the Smithsonian in his office.jpg

The David H. Koch Hall of Human Origins opened on March 17, 2010, marking the museum's 100th anniversary. The hall is named for David H. Koch, who contributed $15 million to the $20.7 million exhibit.{{cite news|last1=Klein|first1=Julia M.|title=Our Species Rediscovers Its Cousin|url=https://online.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704446704575206081151018608|work=Wall Street Journal|date=May 11, 2010}}{{cite news|title=Smithsonian Opens Human Evolution Hall|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/smithsonian-opens-human-evolution-hall/|access-date=17 October 2014|work=CBS News|date=March 17, 2010|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141022150616/http://www.cbsnews.com/news/smithsonian-opens-human-evolution-hall/|archive-date=22 October 2014}}

The Hall is "dedicated to the discovery and understanding of human origins," and occupies {{convert|15000|sqft|m2}} of exhibit space. This exhibit includes 76 humans skulls, each of a different species, eons apart. Each of these species is a human, signified by the "Homo" genus name. One species that can be found in this gallery is the Homo heidelbergensis, which lived 200,000–700,000 years ago. In addition, there is a female skull from Homo floresiensis, a human species that possibly only went extinct just 17,000 years ago. The exhibit includes an interactive human family tree that follows six million years of evolution,{{cite news|last1=O'Sullivan|first1=Michael|title=Smithsonian's Natural History Museum opens its Hall of Human Origins|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/18/AR2010031800820.html|access-date=17 October 2014|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=March 19, 2010|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141025143512/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/18/AR2010031800820.html|archive-date=25 October 2014}} and a "Changing the World" gallery that focuses on issues surrounding climate change and humans' impact on the world.

The Hall's core concept idea is "What Does It Mean To Be Human", and focuses on milestones of human evolution such as walking upright, bigger brains, and symbolic thought.

Also covered is the Smithsonian's significant research on the geological and climate changes which occurred in East Africa during significant periods of Human Evolution.

The exhibit highlights an actual fossil Neanderthal and replicas created by famed paleoartist, John Gurche.{{cite news|last1=Rothstein|first1=Edward|title=Searching the Bones of Our Shared Past|work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/19/arts/design/19museum.html?adxnnl=1&pagewanted=all&adxnnlx=1413428683-J/Yn2gwIp4zka6D+BPkxdQ&_r=0|access-date=17 October 2014|date=March 18, 2010|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141027084345/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/19/arts/design/19museum.html?adxnnl=1&pagewanted=all&adxnnlx=1413428683-J%2FYn2gwIp4zka6D+BPkxdQ&_r=0|archive-date=27 October 2014}}

The exhibit has been criticized for downplaying the significance of human-caused global warming.{{cite web|title=Polluter-Funded Evolution & Climate Exhibit at the Smithsonian|url=http://blog.nwf.org/2010/09/polluter-funded-climate-exhibit-at-the-smithsonian/|publisher=National Wildlife Federation|url-status=live|archive-url=http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20140506151618/http://blog.nwf.org/2010/09/polluter-funded-climate-exhibit-at-the-smithsonian/|archive-date=2014-05-06|date=2010-09-10}}{{cite magazine |url=https://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/08/30/100830fa_fact_mayer |author-link=Jane Mayer |first=Jane |last=Mayer |title=Covert Operations: The billionaire brothers who are waging a war against Obama |magazine=The New Yorker |date=August 30, 2010 |access-date=March 20, 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121007183130/http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/08/30/100830fa_fact_mayer |archive-date=October 7, 2012 }}

The exhibit also provides a complementary web site, which provides diaries and podcasts directly from related fields of research.

The companion book, What Does It Mean To Be Human, was written by Richard (Rick) Potts, the curator, and Christopher Sloan. The exhibit was designed by Reich + Petch.{{Cite web |title=New Exhibition Hall Devoted to Human Origins Opens at National Museum of Natural History |url=https://www.si.edu/newsdesk/releases/new-exhibition-hall-devoted-human-origins-opens-national-museum-natural-history |access-date=2025-01-05 |website=www.si.edu}}

File:Deep Time exhibit at the Smithsonian NMNH.jpg]]File:Tyrannosaurus rex at the Smithsonian NMNH.jpg in the Deep Time exhibit, depicted preying on Triceratops]]

File:FossiLab video.webm

The Hall of Dinosaurs has fossilized skeletons and cast models, including a Tyrannosaurus rex cast facing a Triceratops cast. This Triceratops exhibit shows the first accurate dinosaur skeleton in virtual motion, achieved through the use of scanning and digital technology."{{cite magazine | url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/premium/0286/0286-6431593.html | title=New and Improved | magazine=National Geographic | date=December 1, 2000 | access-date=2008-09-17 | archive-date=2019-09-02 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190902204559/https://www.nelsonbrain.com/shop | url-status=dead }}{{Cite news| url=http://www.mnh.si.edu/specialevents/dinosaurs.html| title=Dinosaur Hall| publisher=National Museum of Natural History| year=2008| access-date=2008-09-17| url-status=live| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080913034926/http://www.mnh.si.edu/specialevents/dinosaurs.html| archive-date=2008-09-13}} The collection consists of 46 "complete and important specimens" of dinosaurs.{{Cite news | url=http://paleobiology.si.edu/dinosaurs/ | title=Dinosaur Collections | publisher=National Museum of Natural History | year=2008 | access-date=2008-09-17 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080913035500/http://paleobiology.si.edu/dinosaurs/ | archive-date=2008-09-13 }}

In May 2012, billionaire David H. Koch donated $35 million toward the cost of a $45 million upgrade to the 30-year-old, {{convert|25000|sqft|m2}} dinosaur hall. The hall closed in April 2014 and reopened in June 2019.[https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/david-koch-donates-35-million-to-national-museum-of-natural-history-for-dinosaur-hall/2012/05/03/gIQAIjT3yT_story.html Trescott, Jacqueline. "David Koch Donates $35 Million to National Museum of Natural History for Dinosaur Hall." Washington Post. May 3, 2012.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170719171853/https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/david-koch-donates-35-million-to-national-museum-of-natural-history-for-dinosaur-hall/2012/05/03/gIQAIjT3yT_story.html |date=July 19, 2017 }} Accessed 2012-05-28.

In June 2013, the Smithsonian obtained a 50-year lease on a T. rex fossil skeleton owned by the United States Army Corps of Engineers. It is the first T. rex skeleton to be displayed at the museum, which until now has only had the cast of a skull. The specimen, known as the "Wankel" or "Devil" rex,The specimen was found in sediments known as the Hell Creek Formation, hence the name "Devil rex". was found on Corps-owned land in the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge in Montana in 1988. It has since been on display at the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, Montana (which helped excavate the fossil). The "Wankel rex" (whose skeleton is 85 percent complete)[http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/montana_state_university/article_b15faf46-df9e-11e2-acf9-001a4bcf887a.html Schontzler, Gail. "Montana T. rex Heading to Smithsonian." Bozeman Daily Chronicle. June 28, 2013.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130707073409/http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/montana_state_university/article_b15faf46-df9e-11e2-acf9-001a4bcf887a.html |date=July 7, 2013 }} Accessed 2013-06-28. was to be unveiled at the Museum of Natural History on National Fossil Day, October 16, 2013, and was supposed to be on display until the dinosaur hall exhibit closed for renovation in the spring of 2014. The {{convert|35|ft|m|adj=on}} long skeleton is the centerpiece of the dinosaur hall since it re-opened in 2019.[https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/tyrannosaurus-rex-gets-long-term-lease-at-smithsonians-natural-history-museum/2013/06/27/0ac970c8-de76-11e2-b797-cbd4cb13f9c6_story.html du Lac, J. Freedom "Tyrannosaurus rex Gets Long-Term Lease at Smithsonian's Natural History Museum." Washington Post. June 27, 2013.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170720124114/https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/tyrannosaurus-rex-gets-long-term-lease-at-smithsonians-natural-history-museum/2013/06/27/0ac970c8-de76-11e2-b797-cbd4cb13f9c6_story.html |date=July 20, 2017 }} Accessed 2013-06-28. The Museum of the Rockies (which did not own the skeleton but was the repository for it) has about a dozen T. rex specimens, including one which is eighty percent complete. Only about six museums in the United States have a T. rex skeleton. The Museum of the Rockies is a Smithsonian affiliate museum, and had long promised to find a T. rex for the Smithsonian to display.

Due to the 2013 federal government shutdown, the fossil did not arrive in Washington, D.C. Smithsonian officials said it remained in storage in Montana, and would not arrive at the Smithsonian until late spring 2014. Packed up in 16 crates, the T. rex, named "Nation's T. rex" by the Smithsonian, traveled from the Museum of the Rockies and arrived at the National Museum of Natural History on April 15, 2014.{{cite web|url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/04/140415-tyrannosaurus-rex-arrival-wankel-smithsonian-paleontology-science/|title=The Nation's T. Rex Invades the Smithsonian|date=17 April 2014|website=nationalgeographic.com|access-date=2 May 2018|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170701152047/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/04/140415-tyrannosaurus-rex-arrival-wankel-smithsonian-paleontology-science/|archive-date=1 July 2017}} The T. rex was displayed in the Rex Room, while specialists performed a conservation assessment and the Smithsonian Digitization Program scanned each bone, to create a 3-D model for research.{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/print-dinosaur/|title=How to 3-D print a dinosaur|website=PBS NewsHour|access-date=2 May 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170715053311/http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/print-dinosaur/|archive-date=15 July 2017|date=2014-06-25}} The Nation's T. rex is the centerpiece of the new fossil hall, which opened in 2019.{{cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/t-rex-fossils-to-arrive-at-smithsonian-museum-today/2014/04/14/1a8c39aa-c412-11e3-b195-dd0c1174052c_story.html|title=T. rex fossils arrive at Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History|first=J. Freedom du|last=Lac|date=15 April 2014|access-date=2 May 2018|via=www.washingtonpost.com|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170719110834/https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/t-rex-fossils-to-arrive-at-smithsonian-museum-today/2014/04/14/1a8c39aa-c412-11e3-b195-dd0c1174052c_story.html|archive-date=19 July 2017}}

File:Hall of Mammals at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.jpg

The Behring Hall of Mammals was designed by Reich + Petch. The mammal specimens are presented as works of modern art within minimal environmentals. Visitors discover mammal's evolutionary adaptions to hugely diverse contexts.

The museum has the largest collection of vertebrate specimens in the world, nearly twice the size of the next largest mammal collections, including historically important collections from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.{{Cite news | url=http://vertebrates.si.edu/ | title=Department of Vertebrate Zoology | publisher=National Museum of Natural History | year=2008 | access-date=2008-09-17 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080917055940/http://vertebrates.si.edu/ | archive-date=2008-09-17 }} Its collection was initiated by C. Hart Merriam and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (later the Department of the Interior), which expanded it in the 1890s-1930s.{{Cite news | url=http://vertebrates.si.edu/mammals/mammals_collections.html | title=Vertebrate Zoology: Division of Mammals | publisher=National Museum of Natural History | year=2008 | access-date=2008-09-17 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080802185552/http://vertebrates.si.edu/mammals/mammals_collections.html | archive-date=2008-08-02 }}

The O. Orkin Insect Zoo features live insects and exhibits about insects and entomologists. Different habitats have been created to show the type of insects that live in different environments and how they have adapted to a freshwater pond, house, mangrove swamp, desert, and rain forest. The zoo is sponsored by Orkin, a pest control company.{{Cite web |title=O. Orkin Insect Zoo {{!}} Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History |url=https://naturalhistory.si.edu/exhibits/o-orkin-insect-zoo |access-date=2025-03-13 |website=naturalhistory.si.edu |language=en}}

File: Ocean Hall Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.jpg

The Sant Ocean Hall opened on September 27, 2008, and is the largest renovation of the museum since it opened in 1910. The hall includes 674 marine specimens and models drawn from the over 80 million specimens in the museum's total collection, the largest in the world. The hall is named for the Roger Sant family, who donated $15 million to endow the new hall and other related programs.

The collection includes: a North Atlantic right whale, a giant Lion's mane jellyfish model, a {{convert|1500|USgal|L|adj=on}} aquarium containing live marine fish and corals, one female giant squid displayed in the center of the hall and a male displayed off to the side, an adult coelenterate, and a Basilosaurus.{{Cite news | url=http://ocean.si.edu/ocean_hall/press_releases/OceanHallRelease08_341.pdf | title=The New Sant Ocean Hall Opens Sept 27. at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History | publisher=National Museum of Natural History | date=September 24, 2008 | access-date=2009-07-28 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090409030902/http://ocean.si.edu/ocean_hall/press_releases/OceanHallRelease08_341.pdf | archive-date=April 9, 2009 }}

The museum also provides the Smithsonian Ocean Portal, a complementary web site that provides regularly updated, original content from the museum's research, collections, and Sant Ocean Hall as well as content provided by more than 20 collaborating organizations, including Archive, Census of Marine Life, Consortium for Ocean Leadership, Encyclopedia of Life, INDUCT, Monterey Bay Aquarium, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, National Geographic, NOAA, New England Aquarium, Ocean Conservancy, Oceania, Pew Charitable Trusts, Sea Web, Save Our Seas, Scrips Institution of Oceanography, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, World Heritage Marine Programmer.

This exhibit and associated website "examines the diversity, dynamism, and global influence of Africa's peoples and cultures over time in the realms of family, work, community, and the natural environment."{{Cite news|url=http://www.mnh.si.edu/exhibits/current.html|title=Current Exhibitions|publisher=National Museum of Natural History|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090727045319/https://www.mnh.si.edu/exhibits/current.html|archive-date=2009-07-27}}

{{anchor|Butterflies + Plants}}

The Butterflies + Plants is a live butterfly pavilion which allows "visitors to observe the many ways in which butterflies and other animals have evolved, adapted, and diversified together with their plant partners over tens of millions of years." The exhibit was designed by Reich + Petch.

This exhibit displays a "variety of vertebrate skeletons grouped by their evolutionary relationships."File:Hall of Osteology NMNH.jpg and other assorted skeletons in the Bone Hall]]

Opened since 2013, this exhibit is the museum's interactive and educational area. Using microscopes and touch screens, the area hosts various interactive activities and contains a "collection zone" that houses over 6000 different specimens and artifacts visitors are able personally handle. The area also hosts various events such as allowing visitors to meet and discuss with Smithsonian scientists and hosting school groups.

"This hall explores some examples from various cultures in the western world including northern Iraq, ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome and the recent discovery of the Iceman, a Copper Age mummy found in an Italian glacier." This exhibit was closed on September 26, 2010.

The Korea Gallery was a special showcase to celebrate Korean traditions and examine its unique influence and complex role in the world today.

The exhibit expressed the continuity of the past by highlighting enduring features of Korean culture over 2,600 years.{{Cite web |title=Korea Gallery |url=https://www.si.edu/exhibitions/korea-gallery:event-exhib-230 |access-date=2025-01-05 |website=www.si.edu}} The exhibit used the Smithsonian ceramics collection as well as a rich selection of photographs, ritual objects and traditional Korean carpentry to communicate and connect to both the local Korean community and an international audience. Traditional art forms, such as ceramics and calligraphy, along with mythological figures, language, large feature photographs and illustrations spoke to a range of shared historical memories which connected Koreans at home and abroad.

Personal stories of modern Koreans, as told in their own voices, provide a context to discuss some of the many issues that face the divided country today. Korea's incredible transformation from 'The Hermit Kingdom' to a world power is traced through its impact on the arts, the economy and popular culture. The exhibit was designed by Reich + Petch. This exhibit closed in 2017.

In the lower level, there is a bird exhibit, Urban Bird Habitat Garden, with all the migratory and native birds to Washington, D.C.{{cite web|title=Urban Bird Habitat Garden|url=http://www.si.edu/Exhibitions/Details/Urban-Bird-Habitat-Garden-4887|work=Exhibitions|publisher=Smithsonian Institution|access-date=24 October 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121024010114/http://www.si.edu/Exhibitions/Details/Urban-Bird-Habitat-Garden-4887|archive-date=24 October 2012}}

The Global Volcanism Program is housed in the department of Mineral Sciences.

The museum frequently hosts sleepovers through the Smithsonian Associates for children ages 8–12.{{cite web|title=Smithsonian Sleepovers|url=http://smithsoniansleepovers.org/natural-history/activities.shtm|publisher=Smithsonian Institution|access-date=10 July 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160716095629/http://smithsoniansleepovers.org/natural-history/activities.shtm|archive-date=16 July 2016}}

File:Baird Auditorium, SIA 2002-12145, No Rights Restrictions.jpg

Beneath the building's rotunda is the Baird Auditorium, named for the second Secretary of the Smithsonian Spencer Fullerton Baird. The Baird Auditorium was completed in 1909, designed and built by the R. Guastavino Company under the direction of Rafael Guastavino, Jr. using Catalan vault tile ceiling.{{Cite web |date=November 17, 2015 |title=How Do You Support a 5-ton Elephant? |url=https://bookwormhistory.com/2015/11/17/how-do-you-support-a-5-ton-elephant/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220824174121/https://bookwormhistory.com/2015/11/17/how-do-you-support-a-5-ton-elephant/ |archive-date=August 24, 2022 |access-date=August 23, 2022 |website=Bookworm History}} The American Institute of Architects calls the Baird Auditorium the museum's "greatest interior space."{{Cite book |last=Moeller |first=Gerard Martin |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1272882861 |title=AIA guide to the architecture of Washington, DC |date=2022 |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |others=American Institute of Architects |isbn=978-1-4214-4384-3 |edition=6th |location=Baltimore |pages=46 |oclc=1272882861}} According to architectural scholar Dr. John Ochsendorf, the Baird Auditorium's "daring geometry" in tile construction by the Guastavino company "spans 90 feet (27 meters) with a remarkable shallow dome in acoustical tile, and could only have been built by a company with decades of experience in tile vaulting."{{Cite book |last=Ochsendorf |first=John Allen |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/769114424 |title=Guastavino vaulting : the art of structural tile |date=2010 |publisher=Princeton Architectural Press |others=Michael Freeman |isbn=978-1-56898-741-5 |location=New York |pages=211 |oclc=769114424}}

The Baird Auditorium has a long history of performances and events. The Baird was the location of the astronomical 'Great Debate,' also called the 'Shapley–Curtis Debate,' on April 26, 1920 on the topics of spiral nebulae and the size of the universe. Merle Travis gave a country guitar music concert in the Baird Auditorium on October 23, 1976.{{Cite news |date=October 1976 |title=October at the Smithsonian Institution |volume=76-9 |pages=5 |work=The Smithsonian Torch |url=https://siarchives.si.edu/sites/default/files/pdfs/torch/Torch%201976/SIA_000371_1976_10.pdf |access-date=August 23, 2022}} In early February 1977, Muddy Waters performed in the Baird as part of the Smithsonian Institution's blues series presented by the Division of Performing Arts.{{Cite news |last=Harris-Hurd |first=Laura |date=February 5, 1977 |title=Muddy Waters Warms Washington Crowd |pages=D15 |work=New York Amsterdam News}}

File:National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C. (2013) - 16.JPG|Rotunda during the day

File:National Museum of Natural History August 2018 01.jpg|Rotunda at night

File:NMNH Hall of Dinosaurs.jpg|Old Hall of Dinosaurs

File:NMNH Hall of Mammals.jpg|Hall of Mammals

File:Smithsonian Hall of Mammals.jpg|Hall of Mammals

File:National Museum of Natural History August 2018 03 (Ocean Hall).jpg|Hall of Ocean Life

File:Smithsonian FossiLab at the National Museum of Natural History with fossil preparators being observed by museum visitors - IMG 20190728 153249.jpg|Fossil preparation in the FossiLab

• John Varden
• List of most-visited museums in the United States

{{reflist}}

• D'Angelis, Gina. It Happened in Washington, D.C. Guilford, Conn.: TwoDot, 2004.
• Evelyn, Douglas E.; Dickson, Paul; and Ackerman, S.J. On This Spot: Pinpointing the Past in Washington, D.C. Sterling, Va.: Capital Books, 2008.
• Redman, Samuel J. Bone Rooms: From Scientific Racism to Human Prehistory in Museums. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 2016.
• Yochelson, Ellis L. 1985. The National Museum of Natural History : 75 Years in the New National Museum. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press; available at the [https://archive.org/details/nationalmuseumof00yoch Internet Archive].

{{Commons category|National Museum of Natural History, United States}}

• {{osmway|66418787}}
• [https://naturalhistory.si.edu/ National Museum of Natural History official website]
• [https://naturalhistory.si.edu/about/brief-history-nmnh A Brief History of the Museum - from the NMNH website]
• [https://naturalhistory.si.edu/research/mineral-sciences National Museum of Natural History - National Gem and Mineral Collection]
• [http://collections.nmnh.si.edu/ Research collections of the National Museum of Natural History]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20090706003918/http://www.nmnh.si.edu/naa/fa/manuscript_and_pamphlet_file.pdf Finding Aid to the Records of the Department of Anthropology, United States National Museum-National Museum of Natural History, Manuscript and Pamphlet File], National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
• [https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/smithsonian-national-museum-of-natural-history Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History at Google Cultural Institute]

{{Sorbonne University}}{{Smithsonian museums|state=expanded}}

{{Authority control}}

{{portal bar|Biology|Evolutionary biology|Science}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:National Museum Of Natural History}}

Category:1910 establishments in the United States

Category:Dinosaur museums in the United States

Category:Museums with domes

Category:Insect museums

Category:Members of the Cultural Alliance of Greater Washington

Category:Museums established in 1910

Category:National Mall

Category:Natural history museums in Washington, D.C.

Category:Natural history museums in the United States

Category:Rotundas (architecture)

Category:Smithsonian Institution museums

Category:Asian art museums in the United States

Category:Egyptological collections in the United States

Category:Paleontology in Washington, D.C.

Category:Paleontology in the United States

Category:Articles containing video clips

Category:National Register of Historic Places in Washington, D.C.