1921 



40 Yean 



By John R. Millar, 



Then and now. Crowds trekked across a semi-wasteland to reach the Museum on the day the new building opened — May 2, 1921 



May 2, 1961 marks the fortieth anni- 

 versary of the opening to the pub- 

 lic of Chicago Natural History Museum's 

 present building after the Museum had 

 moved the year before from its first home, 

 the Palace of Fine Arts Building in Jack- 

 son Park, erected for the World Colum- 

 bian Exposition of 1893. The moving 

 operation had been both unique and 

 spectacular — when before had anyone 

 ever seen the head of an elephant riding 

 rampant on the deck of a railroad flat 

 car? The vast collections, exhibits, and 

 library had been transferred to a sub- 

 stantial, carefully designed and elegant 

 new home that fully expressed the ideals, 

 dreams, and best judgment of experi- 

 enced museum officers and staff. 



The 8,000 or more people who visited 

 the Museum on May 2, 1921, journeyed 

 over unpaved roads, cinder paths, and 

 board walks to a magnificent white mar- 

 ble building set apart in a kind of no- 

 man's-land. Shedd Aquarium, Soldier 

 Field, and Adler Planetarium came 

 much later. 



Page 6 



On opening day, the exhibits were es- 

 sentially the same in appearance as those 

 in the Jackson Park building. Case in- 

 teriors were black and crowded with 

 specimens; exhibition labels were black 

 with silver gray lettering. There seemed 

 to be a vast amount of space, and some 

 departments fitted rather loosely in the 

 area assigned to them. The large exhi- 

 bition halls were intended for daylight 

 illumination — there was no individual 

 case lighting. On dark days, ceiling fix- 

 tures hardly dispelled the gloom, as the 

 black case interiors absorbed all avail- 

 able light. 



But almost as soon as the spacious 

 building was occupied, a new and vig- 

 orous growth began. A period of un- 

 usually active expeditionary and field 

 work in all departments was made pos- 

 sible by an enlarged scientific staff and 

 the generous financial support of a num- 

 ber of individuals, especially Mr. Stanley 

 Field, President, Mr. Marshall Field III, 

 and other trustees of the Museum. Cen- 

 tral and South America, Africa and Asia, 



as well as various areas of the United 

 States and subarctic Canada, were the 

 locale of numerous expeditions that re- 

 sulted in large scientific collections as 

 well as specimens for exhibition. This 

 accelerated program in all Museum ac- 

 tivities — research, publication of scien- 

 tific reports, exhibitions, and education 

 — has continued to the present. 



Along the way, numerous changes 

 have been made in the physical plant, in 

 storage facilities, and in exhibits. The 

 ground floor, which was largely unfin- 

 ished in 1921, was made into exhibition 

 halls, storage, and work areas. With the 

 exception of Stanley Field Hall, all sky- 

 lights in the exhibition halls were covered 

 and nearly all windows closed. Exhibit 

 cases were then individually lighted. 



The continuing effort of the staff to 

 improve the content, organization, and 

 appearance of exhibits has produced 

 many changes. There is no exhibition 

 hall in the Museum that has not been 

 renovated at least once since opening 

 day; some have been completely revised 



