Springfield Science Museum

The Springfield Science Museum was founded in December 1859 at Springfield's City Hall,{{Cite web |title=Springfield Science Museum |url=https://springfieldmuseums.org/about/springfield-science-museum/ |access-date=2023-08-29 |website=Springfield Museums |language=en-US}}{{Cite news |date=February 26, 1899 |title=In and About Springfield - The Museum in Its Three Homes |pages=10 |work=Springfield Sunday Republican}} originally as a natural history museum and curiosities collection.{{Cite web |last=Tuthill |first=Paul |date=2019-05-06 |title=Plans Announced To Update, Refurbish Springfield Science Museum |url=https://www.wamc.org/new-england-news/2019-05-06/plans-announced-to-update-refurbish-springfield-science-museum |access-date=2023-08-29 |website=WAMC |language=en}} It was moved to the City Library in 1871, when the library gained its own building separate from City Hall. Early exhibits included geological displays of rocks and minerals, and Revolutionary War relics.{{Cite news |date=September 12, 1895 |title=Local Notices |pages=8 |work=Springfield Daily Republican |url=}} In the early 1890s the museum was moved once again, this time to the Art museum. The museum's collections began being moved to its own building in February 1899, and it opened as the Springfield Ethnological and Natural History Museum on October 16, 1899.{{Cite news |date=October 15, 1899 |title=Opening of Science Building. Exhibits All Ready and to be Shown To-Morrow |pages=11 |work=Springfield Sunday Republican}}

In 1928, the museum received Miss Oita, one of 58 Japanese friendship dolls, which has remained in the museum's collection up to the present day.{{Cite web |title=Miss Oita |url=https://springfieldmuseums.org/collections/item/miss-oita/ |access-date=2023-11-01 |website=Springfield Museums |language=en-US}}

Exhibits present in the 1930s, which are still present in the current building, include the Native American Hall, with a diorama of two Native American men and one woman engaged in tool-making and cooking,{{Cite web |date=2022-11-25 |title=Issues of tribal membership and curator experience in complaint over Springfield museum exhibit |url=https://www.mainepublic.org/2022-11-25/issues-of-tribal-membership-and-curator-experience-in-complaint-over-springfield-museum-exhibit |access-date=2023-08-29 |website=Maine Public |language=en}} and Habitat Hall, which features dioramas of taxidermied animals in their natural habitats. A Bird Hall also existed, with various local specimens and a case of extinct species (including the passenger pigeon, heath hen, and Carolina parakeet). Another since-removed area was the Hall of Ethnology, which showcased Native American baskets and tools, traditional Greenlandic clothing, musical instruments from around the world, and dolls from around the world.

Although not ready at the time of the museum's 1934 re-opening, the building did leave space for a planetarium, which would ultimately open in November 1937.{{Cite web |last=Conway |first=Matt |date=2023-05-02 |title=Science Museum unveils remodeled Seymour Planetarium |url=https://www.thereminder.com/dining/features/science-museum-unveils-remodeled-seymour-planetari/ |access-date=2023-08-29 |website=Reminder Publications |language=en}} The museum turned to Chicopee locals Frank and Stanley Korkosz to create the planetarium's "star ball", as they were unable to afford equipment from Zeiss.

In 1979 or 1980, the museum received a taxidermied polar bear, Snowball, who had lived at the Forest Park Zoo for 29 years.{{Cite web |title=Polar Bear |url=https://springfieldmuseums.org/collections/item/polar-bear/ |access-date=2023-11-01 |website=Springfield Museums |language=en-US}}

In 1986, a Massachusetts man stole "Indian artifacts" from the museum, as well as from five other Massachusetts museums; the artifacts were recovered in February 1987.{{Cite news |date=May 17, 1988 |title=Man confesses to museum theft |pages=13 |work=Record-Journal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8R5IAAAAIBAJ&dq=%22springfield+science+museum%22&pg=PA7&article_id=4050,5011491}}

Temporary exhibits hosted by the museum have covered a variety of topics, from natural gas (1993),{{Cite news |date=September 19, 1993 |title=Natural gas |pages=H-6 |work=The Telegraph |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o45KAAAAIBAJ&dq=%22springfield+science+museum%22&pg=PA31&article_id=3438,4194158}} to extinction (1998),{{Cite news |date=April 26, 1998 |title=Story of Extinction |pages=C7 |work=The Day |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fchGAAAAIBAJ&dq=%22springfield+science+museum%22&pg=PA13&article_id=6584,5329256}} to the history of bicycles (2002).{{Cite news |date=April 24, 2002 |title=Rolling out History |pages=7C |work=The Robesonian |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XohFAAAAIBAJ&dq=%22springfield+science+museum%22&pg=PA12&article_id=5155,6687585}}

File:African display - Springfield Science Museum - Springfield, MA - DSC03344.JPG

The African Hall features multiple taxidermied Savanna species, including a chimpanzee who lived at the Forest Park Zoo until 1967, and a giraffe, acquired in 1985, that died at a park in Oklahoma.{{Cite news |date=October 3, 1985 |title=Stuffed Giraffe Taken to Museum |pages=25 |work=The Lewiston Journal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oMJGAAAAIBAJ&dq=%22springfield+science+museum%22&pg=PA13&article_id=1802,392035}}

The Dinosaur Hall includes a lifesize Tyrannosaurus rex model, which was installed in April 1975.{{Cite web |last=Kelly |first=Ray |date=2015-03-18 |title=T. rex celebrates 40th at Springfield Science Museum |url=https://www.masslive.com/entertainment/2015/03/t_rex_celebrates_40th_at_sprin.html |access-date=2023-08-29 |website=masslive |language=en}} The hall also includes a cast of Stegosaurus, and both a legbone of Alamosaurus and fragment of a tyrannosaurid believed to represent a new species, both collected in a 1920s Amherst College expedition led by Fred Brewster Loomis.{{Cite book |last1=Sullivan |first1=Robert M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bMJQDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA61 |title=Fossil Record 5: Bulletin 74 |last2=Lucas |first2=Spencer G. |date=2016-01-01 |publisher=New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science |pages=61–66 |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2014-12-10 |title=Possible New Tyrannosaur Species Uncovered |url=https://springfieldmuseums.org/press-release/possible-new-tyrannosaur-species-uncovered/ |access-date=2022-02-19 |website=Springfield Museums |language=en-US}}{{Cite news |last=Roman |first=Elizabeth |date=December 4, 2014 |title=Move over T. rex; Springfield Science Museum displays bone belonging to new dinosaur species |work=Masslive |url=https://www.masslive.com/news/2014/12/new_dinasour_speciesm_discover.html |access-date=February 19, 2022}}

The museum's planetarium, Seymour Planetarium, which opened in November 1937, was one of a few of the era not built by Zeiss.{{cite web |title=Science » The Museums |url=http://www.springfieldmuseums.org/the_museums/science/ |access-date=20 December 2014 |publisher=Springfield Museums}} It was remodeled and officially reopened in April 2023.

The museum has its own observatory with a {{convert|20|in|cm|adj=on}} telescope that is periodically open to the public.[http://www.reflector.org/observatory.php The Springfield Stars Club]. Reflector.org. Retrieved on 2013-08-21.

In 1985, a Southington council member requested that the museum return the Luman Andrews collection, a collection of Native American objects collected by a Southington resident, to the Connecticut town from which he originated. The collection had originally been donated to the museum in 1921.{{Cite news |last=Galayda |first=Laureen |date=June 13, 1985 |title=Effort started to return Indian object collection |pages=45 |work=Record-Journal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QP9HAAAAIBAJ&dq=%22springfield+science+museum%22&pg=PA23&article_id=1926,2720852 |access-date=August 29, 2023}} The collection was loaned to Southington for a year and opened there in September 1985.{{Cite news |date=September 27, 1985 |title=Indian artifacts returning to town |pages=31 |work=Record-Journal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pwdIAAAAIBAJ&dq=%22springfield+science+museum%22&pg=PA16&article_id=5489,5541524 |access-date=August 29, 2023}}

The museum announced their intentions to repatriate two Seneca masks in 1997,{{Cite journal |last=McManamon |first=Francis P. |date=September 3, 1997 |title=Notice of Intent to Repatriate Cultural Items from New York in the Possession of the Springfield Science Museum, Springfield, MA |url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-1997-09-03/html/97-23366.htm |journal=Federal Register |volume=62 |issue=170 |access-date=2023-11-01}} and Klamath jewelry{{Cite journal |date=July 11, 2002 |title=Notice of Intent to Repatriate Cultural Items in the Possession of the Springfield Science Museum, Springfield, MA |url=https://casetext.com/federal-register/notice-of-intent-to-repatriate-cultural-items-in-the-possession-of-the-springfield-science-museum-springfield-ma-1 |journal=Federal Register |via=Casetext}} and a Navajo pouch In 2002.{{Cite journal |last=Stearns |first=Robert |date=June 18, 2002 |title=Notice of Intent to Repatriate a Cultural Item in the Possession of the Springfield Science Museum, Springfield, MA |url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2002-06-18/pdf/02-15292.pdf |journal=Federal Register |volume=67 |issue=117}} The museum repatriated one set of human remains to Hawaii in 1997.{{Cite web |last=Ayau |first=Edward Halealoha |date=2021-05-01 |title=Sailing to the Edge of the Hawaiian Universe |url=https://kawaiola.news/i-mana-i-ka-oiwi/sailing-to-the-edge-of-the-hawaiian-universe/ |access-date=2023-11-01 |website=Ka Wai Ola |language=en-US}}

In 2013, the museum's curator found a mid-19th century Tlingit war helmet in the museum's collection, making it one of fewer than a hundred known examples.{{Cite news |last=Wallis |first=David |date=2014-03-19 |title=Golden Age of Discovery ... Down in the Basements |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/20/arts/artsspecial/golden-age-of-discovery-down-in-the-basements.html |access-date=2023-08-29 |issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite web |last=Tuthill |first=Paul |date=2013-12-18 |title=Rare Artifact, Misidentified, Found In Museum Storage |url=https://www.wamc.org/new-england-news/2013-12-18/rare-artifact-misidentified-found-in-museum-storage |access-date=2023-08-29 |publisher=WAMC |language=en}} The helmet had been given to the museum sometime in 1899, but was miscatalogued as an "Aleution hat". The Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska announced at the time they intended to request repatriation of the helmet.

According to NAGPRA, the museum had 148 Native American remains in the 1990s. A 2004 report from the museum reported that 84 remains were made available for return.{{Cite web |last=Hutt |first=Sherry |date=August 12, 2004 |title=Notice of Inventory Completion: Springfield Science Museum, Springfield, MA; Correction |url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2004-09-14/pdf/04-20652.pdf |website=Federal Register}} 2007 marked the most recent year of repatriation, at which point 78% of all reported remains had been made available for return to tribes.{{Cite web |last1=Suozzo |first1=Andrea |last2=Ngu |first2=Ash |date=2023-01-11 |title=Springfield Science Museum — The Repatriation Project |url=https://projects.propublica.org/repatriation-nagpra-database/institution/springfield-science-museum/ |access-date=2023-08-29 |publisher=ProPublica |language=en}} In 2023, the museum reported having repatriated 25 additional remains, although these are not documented by NAGPRA.{{Cite web |date=2023-05-24 |title=Dozens of Native remains from western Mass. still in museums, despite decades-old repatriation law |url=https://www.nepm.org/regional-news/2023-05-24/dozens-of-native-remains-from-western-mass-still-in-museums-despite-decades-old-repatriation-law |access-date=2023-08-29 |publisher=New England Public Media |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Jochem |first=Greta |date=2023-10-22 |title=Why are thousands of Native American human remains still held in Mass. collections? |url=https://www.masslive.com/springfield/2023/10/why-are-thousands-of-native-american-human-remains-still-held-in-mass-collections.html |access-date=2023-11-01 |website=masslive.com |language=en}} At one point, the museum had more than 600 objects associated with funerals; as of January 2023, 562 had been made available for return. As of October 2023, the museum self-reported having 31 human remains and 109 associated funerary objects.

• Quadrangle (Springfield, Massachusetts)

Category:1859 establishments in Massachusetts

Category:1890s architecture in the United States

Category:1899 establishments in Massachusetts

Category:19th century in Springfield, Massachusetts

Category:Buildings and structures completed in 1899

Category:Museums established in 1859

Category:Museums in Springfield, Massachusetts

Category:Science museums in Massachusetts