DEVELOPMENT OF THE PLANETARIUM — CHAMBERLAIN 269 



100 exhibits demonstrating some of the most notable achievements in 

 modern science. There is a Foucault Pendulum to demonstrate the 

 rotation of the earth, an excellent model of the moon, and astronomi- 

 cal paintings and murals in abundance. 



Situated on a hill overlooking the Los Angeles area, the Griffith 

 Observatory and Planetarium has an enviable location. 



AMERICAN MUSEUM-HAYDEN PLANETARIUM 



The American Museum-Hayden Planetarium in New York is the 

 Department of Astronomy of the American Museum of Natural His- 

 tory. It lays claim to the consistently highest attendance of any 

 planetarium in the United States, and to the most extensive edu- 

 cational program. When it was opened to the public in October 

 1935, the program that was offered was a change in direction and 

 intensity, but was actually an extension of the astronomical functions 

 of the American Museum, which dated back to the nineteenth cen- 

 tury. Dr. Clyde Fisher, long-time curator of astronomy, had visions 

 in the early 1920's of an "ideal astronomic hall" that he had hoped 

 would be built in the Museum. The plans, never brought to fruition, 

 show a building, octagonally shaped, with a diameter of 126 feet and 

 a height of 5 stories, surmounted by a dome. The Zeiss projector was 

 to have been mounted at the center of the dome as a continuously op- 

 erating exhibition — not a show or a lecture. There is a complete 

 description of the plan in Natural History Magazine for July-Au- 

 gust 1926. One can only regret that the ambitious, $3,000,000 (in 

 1926 ! ) dream never came into being. 



In the spring of 1933, the trustees of the American Museum of 

 Natural History formed a separate corporation, known as The 

 American Museum of Natural History Planetarium Authority, 

 thereby becoming eligible to apply to the Reconstruction Finance 

 Corporation for a loan on a self-liquidating basis to construct and 

 equip a planetarium. Charles Hay den donated the Zeiss projection 

 instrument and the Copernican orrery devised for installation on 

 the first floor. 



Satisfied that the Museum's proposition was financially sound and 

 that anticipated revenue from admission fees would be sufficient 

 to offset operating expenses and also amortize the investment, the 

 RFC granted a $650,000 loan to construct the Planetarium building. 

 In appreciation for Mr. Hayden's generous gift, the building was 

 officially designated by the trustees as the Hayden Planetarium. 

 The name was changed to American Museum-Hayden Planetarium 

 in 1952 to more clearly establish the relationship to the parent 

 organization. 



