On display at the Harvard Museum of Natural History were colorful sulfide minerals from countries around the world. Photo and caption by Beverly Duan.
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — The Harvard Museum of Natural History was one of 46 Massachusetts’ museums to participate in the Smithsonian magazine’s Museum Day Live!, a nationwide event offering free admission on Sept. 24 to participating museums. Organizers say it’s an annual celebration of curiosity.
“There’s probably a few hundred more visitors today than usual,” said Allison Gruber who sells tickets for the museum. “I think it’s really good that people are taking the opportunity to come and explore.”
The Harvard Museum of Natural History at 26 Oxford Street is a member of the Harvard Museums of Science & Culture. It was established in 1998 to be the public face of three Harvard research museums: the Museum of Comparative Zoology, the Harvard University Herbaria, and the Mineralogical & Geological Museum.
Each year, more than 230,000 people visit the Harvard Museum of Natural History which, according to the museum website, is Harvard’s most popular museum attraction. Visitors have included school age children and adults from all fifty states of the United States, as well as tourists from other countries.
Many visitors traveled to Boston just for the Museum Day Live! festival.
New Hampshire resident and recent Dartmouth College graduate Tien King said she saw the advertisement for Museum Day Live! on her social media.
“My friend and I came from New Hampshire because we really like natural history,” King said.
Weighing 1,600 pounds and measuring a yard across, this amethyst geode rested on a pedestal in the middle of the Earth & Planetary Sciences Gallery at the Harvard Museum of Natural History. Photo and caption by Beverly Duan.
After seeing the museum, she said, she wished she could change her college major from geography to geology.
“The rocks were the best,” she said of the Earth & Planetary Sciences Gallery, which displays thousands of rare minerals and sparkling gemstones, including a 1,600-pound amethyst geode from Brazil.
For some, it was a family affair. Strollers lined the entranceway to the museum as parents carried their babies and toddlers up three flights of stairs to the exhibitions. Tyler Sydin, a Cambridge resident and father-of-two, took a picture with his cell phone of his children standing in awe next to a display of ancient helmets.
“Normally, I don’t come to this museum,” he said. “But I’m happy that I came here with my family today.” “My kids learned a lot about ancient warfare tools, and I think it’s important for people today to learn about things that happened in the past, to put the present into context.”
On display in the Arts of War Gallery at the Harvard Museum of Natural History was a steel helmet made in Milan, Italy around the 1550s. The decorative gold elements on this piece of armor would have made it suitable for use in tournaments or parades. Photo and caption by Beverly Duan.
No comments
Post a Comment