SPECIAL EXHIBITS 



Of the nine special exhibits displayed during the year several were 

 of unusual interest and beauty. One of these was the first public 

 showing of objects from the famed Fuller Collection of ethnological 

 material from the South Seas under the title "Panorama of the 

 Pacific" (see page 51). The exhibit was planned especially for Mem- 

 bers' Night, May 8 (see page 34), so that Members would be informed 

 about one of the Museum's greatest acquisitions. After its initial 

 display in Stanley Field Hall until the middle of July, the exhibit 

 was moved to Hall 18 until the middle of October. 



Similarly the exhibit "Indian Art of the Americas," designed to 

 celebrate the Festival of the Americas in connection with the Third 

 Pan American Games, far surpassed in excellence and beauty what 

 one would expect to find in a temporary display (see pages 21, 23, 

 and 51). It brought together for the first time outstanding examples 

 of the major Indian art styles of the past 2,500 years, and popular 

 interest inspired its showing until October 28 (from July 30). 



"The Music Makers," an exhibit of exotic musical instruments 

 prepared as an attraction for July and August (when the Museum 

 was open on evenings of Grant Park concerts, see page 21), seems 

 to have filled a long-felt and continuing need and so will be kept on 

 view as long as suitable space remains to display it. "Peoples and 

 Places in India," an exhibit of photographs and miniature sculp- 

 tures collected by John Moyer while on leave from the Museum to 

 serve as Consul of the United States at Calcutta, was placed on dis- 

 play on October 1 to add interest to the fall illustrated-lecture series, 

 especially the program on India that was presented by Mr. Moyer. 



The Museum observed the centennial of the publication of Charles 

 Darwin's On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection by 

 a special exhibit in Stanley Field Hall explaining the meaning of 

 natural selection and some of the evidence for it (see page 76). The 

 concept of evolution is dominant in the thinking of present-day 

 naturalists; hence the utility of the exhibit outlives the occasion that 

 brought it to being. The exhibit is being continued through the early 

 spring months of 1960 especially for use by the Raymond Founda- 

 tion staff and those young people who are candidates for the Mu- 

 seum Discoverers' Club (see page 31). An exhibit on the genetics of 

 of the domestic fowl was lent by the De Kalb (Illinois) Agricultural 

 Association and exhibited in Hall 18 during the Darwin exhibit. 



The annual exhibits of nature photography, of amateur hand- 

 crafted gems and jewelry, and of drawings by students in the School 

 of the Art Institute of Chicago added variety and interest. 



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