On November 5, 1895, Andrew Carnegie presented the people of Pittsburgh with a cultural center housing a library, a music hall, and art gallery, and a museum of natural history. Carnegie Institute was born. During the dedication ceremonies for this multi-purpose complex located in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh, Carnegie noted that the blossoming museum was already outgrowing its three exhibition rooms. With this in mind, he announced plans to begin construction of a substantial addition that would help to ease the "growing pains." In 1907, the plans were fulfilled; a building three times larger than the original structure stood along Forbes Avenue. A substantial portion of this new building became the permanent home of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. During the ceremonies dedicating the museum, Director W. J. Holland commented: "The Museum, which began ten years ago in a modest way to address itself to important tasks, has come to be recognized as one of the foremost institutions of its kind now in existence."
Today, the more than thirteen acres comprising Carnegie Institute includes the Museum of Art, Carnegie Music Hall and Carnegie Museum of Natural History. The library of Carnegie's original cultural center, also still a part of the Oakland complex, has expanded to include eighteen branch libraries throughout Pittsburgh and is administratively independent of the Institute.
Since Carnegie's time, Carnegie Museum of Natural History has also grown. It now ranks among the six largest natural history museums in the nation, housing approximately 14 million biological, geological, anthropological, and archaeological specimens. Of these, over ten thousand objects and specimens are on display, including rare fossils, Egyptian mummies, life-like dioramas of animals in their natural habitats, exhibits depicting the lifestyles of various American Indian tribes, and the world-famous collection of dinosaurs. Each year, hundreds of thousands of visitors of all ages and backgrounds view the exhibits of man and cultures, mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, insects, shells, plants, and minerals.
These ten thousand or so objects and specimens on exhibit represent less than one percent of the accumulated collections of Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Behind the scenes, museum scientists and preparators conduct research with additional specimens and artifacts in order to expand our knowledge of the life sciences, earth sciences, and man. Their collecting and scholarship has firmly established Carnegie Museum of Natural History as a major center for scientific research.
In addition to being known for its research and exhibitions, Carnegie Museum of Natural History is also a major educational institution. Through public programs, the museum interprets the natural world and communicates the wonder, excitement, and importance of the natural sciences.
Happening This Week
