The Willamette Meteorite , officially named Willamette and originally known as Tomanowos by the Clackamas Chinook Native American tribe, is an iron-nickel meteorite found in the U.S. state of Oregon . It is the largest meteorite found in the United States and the sixth largest in the world. There was no impact crater at the discovery site; researchers believe the meteorite landed in what is now Canada or Montana , and was transported as a glacial erratic to the Willamette Valley during the Missoula Floods at the end of the last Ice Age (~13,000 years ago). It has long been held sacred by indigenous peoples of the Willamette Valley, including the federally recognized Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon (CTGRC).
124-585: The meteorite is on display at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City , which acquired it in 1906. Having been seen by an estimated 40 million people over the years, and given its striking appearance, it is among the most famous meteorites. In 2005, the CTGRC sued to have the meteorite returned to their control, ultimately reaching an agreement that gave the tribe access to the meteorite while allowing
248-574: A brontosaurus skeleton, which was the centerpiece of the dinosaur hall that opened in February 1905. In the early 1920s, museum president Henry Fairfield Osborn planned a new entrance for the AMNH, which was to contain a memorial to Theodore Roosevelt . Also around that time, the New York state government formed a commission to study the feasibility of a Roosevelt memorial. After a dispute over whether to put
372-774: A $ 325 million, 195,000 sq ft (18,100 m ) annex, the Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation, on the Columbus Avenue side. On October 11, 2016, the Landmarks Preservation Commission unanimously approved the expansion. Construction of the Gilder Center, which was expected to break ground the next year following design development and Environmental Impact Statement stages, would entail demolition of three museum buildings built between 1874 and 1935. The museum filed plans for
496-513: A British tribute to American involvement in World War I. The first Vernay-Faunthorpe expedition took place in 1922, when many of the animals Vernay was seeking, such as the Sumatran rhinoceros and Asiatic lion , were facing the possibility of extinction. Vernay made many appeals to regional authorities to obtain hunting permits; in later museum-related expeditions headed by Vernay, these appeals helped
620-813: A Round Dance. The community has an 11,288-acre (46 km ) Indian reservation , the Grand Ronde Indian Reservation , located in Yamhill and Polk counties of Oregon. In the 2000s, the tribe's population was more than 5,500 members. The Tribes employ around 1,600 people. Since 1996, the tribes have generated most of their income by operating the Spirit Mountain Casino in Grand Ronde, between Lincoln City and Salem . The most successful casino in Oregon, it attracts considerable tourist traffic from
744-437: A contract was awarded two months later. The museum's director Morris K. Jesup also sponsored worldwide expeditions to obtain objects for the collection. By mid-1898, the west wing, the expanded east wing, and a lecture hall at the center of the museum were underway; however, the project encountered delays due to a lack of city funding. The west and east wings, with several exhibit halls, were nearly complete by late 1899, but
868-491: A declaratory judgment against the CTGRC in 2000. An agreement with the Museum was reached later that year in which the meteorite would remain at the museum with tribal members being able to conduct a private ceremony around the meteorite once a year, and that ownership will be transferred to CTGRC should the museum cease to have the meteorite on display. In response to a student's request in 2007, Representative John Lim introduced
992-463: A large collection of spiritual costumes on display in the Forest-Woodland section. Uniting the sections of the hall is a multi-faceted comparison of African societies based on hunting and gathering , cultivation , and animal domestication . Each type of society is presented in a historical, political, spiritual, and ecological context. A small section of African diaspora spread by the slave trade
1116-601: A letter to the Central Park Commission that December, requesting the creation of a natural history museum in Central Park . Central Park commissioner Andrew Haswell Green indicated his support for the project in January 1869. A board of trustees was created for the museum. The next month, Bickmore and Joseph Hodges Choate drafted a charter for the museum, which the board of trustees approved without any changes. It
1240-551: A member of the tribe has an estimated financial benefit of between $ 5500 and $ 7000 per year when such things as housing benefits, student scholarships and per capita payouts from casino revenue are added up; however, that does not include health care or elder pension. Created by the Tribal Constitution, the Grand Ronde Tribal Council was set up to be the tribe's primary governing and legislative body. The council
1364-477: A pair of wolves , a pair of Sonoran jaguars , and dueling bull Alaska moose . The Hall of North American Mammals opened in 1942 with only ten dioramas. Another 16 dioramas were added in 1963. A massive restoration project began in late 2011 following a large donation from Jill and Lewis Bernard. In October 2012 the hall was reopened as the Bernard Hall of North American Mammals. The Hall of Small Mammals
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#17328513905931488-463: A raised basement, three stories of exhibits, Venetian Gothic arches, and an attic with dormers and a slate roof. The rear of the gallery included two towers: one containing a stairwell and the other containing curators' rooms. The original structure still exists but is hidden from view by the many buildings in the complex that today occupy most of Manhattan Square. The museum remains accessible through its 77th Street foyer, which has since been renamed
1612-541: A resolution that would demand that the museum return the meteorite to Oregon. The tribes said they were not consulted, they did not support the resolution, and were content with the current arrangement with the museum. The 28-pound (13 kg) crown section of the meteorite that had been traded to the Macovich Collection for a Martian meteorite in 1997, was planned to be auctioned in October 2007, which led to claims by
1736-407: A semi-monthly publication schedule, and a tabloid newspaper format. The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde has a curriculum specialist who created tribal history lessons funded in part by Oregon Senate Bill 13, which supplies funds for each of the nine federally recognized tribes in Oregon to create curriculum about Native Americans' contributions to Oregon history. A Chinuk Wawa immersion program
1860-531: A small fraction can be displayed at any given time. The museum occupies more than 2,500,000 sq ft (232,258 m ). AMNH has a full-time scientific staff of 225, sponsors over 120 special field expeditions each year, and averages about five million visits annually. The AMNH is a private 501(c)(3) organization . The naturalist Albert S. Bickmore devised the idea for the American Museum of Natural History in 1861, and, after several years of advocacy,
1984-527: A spokesman for the museum, said that work would include restoring 650 black-cherry window frames and stone repairs. The museum's consultant on the latest renovation was Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc. , an architectural and engineering firm with headquarters in Northbrook, Illinois . The museum also restored the mural in Roosevelt Memorial Hall in 2010. In 2014, the museum published plans for
2108-602: A vast array of smaller Asian tribes including the Ainu , Semai , and Yakut . The Hall of African Peoples is behind Akeley Hall of African Mammals and underneath Sanford Hall of North American Birds. It is organized by the four major ecosystems found in Africa: River Valley, Grasslands, Forest- Woodland , and Desert . Each section presents artifacts and exhibits of the peoples native to the ecosystems throughout Africa. The hall contains three dioramas and notable exhibits include
2232-559: A wing extending west on 77th Street. The east wing was still being furnished by August; its ground floor opened that December. The museum's funds and collections continued to grow during this time. A hall of mammals opened within the museum in November 1896. That year, the AMNH received approval to extend the east wing northward along Central Park West, creating an L-shaped structure. Plans for an expanded east wing were approved in June 1897, and
2356-445: Is a coffered granite vestibule, which leads to a bronze, glass, and marble screen. On either side of the arch are niches that contain sculptures of a bison and a bear. It is flanked by two pairs of columns, which are topped by figures of American explorers John James Audubon , Daniel Boone , Meriwether Lewis , and William Clark . These figures were sculpted by James Earle Fraser and are about 30 ft (9.1 m) high. In
2480-702: Is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City . Located in Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park , the museum complex comprises 21 interconnected buildings housing 45 permanent exhibition halls, in addition to a planetarium and a library. The museum collections contain about 32 million specimens of plants, animals, fungi, fossils, minerals, rocks, meteorites, human remains, and human cultural artifacts , as well as specialized collections for frozen tissue and genomic and astrophysical data, of which only
2604-587: Is a two-story hall on the second floor, directly west of the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Hall. It connects to the Hall of African Peoples to the west. The Hall of African Mammals' 28 dioramas depict in meticulous detail the great range of ecosystems found in Africa and the mammals endemic to them. The centerpiece of the hall is a herd of eight African elephants in a characteristic 'alarmed' formation. Though
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#17328513905932728-509: Is also included. Tribes and civilizations featured include: The Hall of Mexico and Central America is a one-story hall on the museum's second floor behind Birds of the World and before the Hall of South American Peoples. It presents archaeological artifacts from a broad range of pre-Columbian civilizations that once existed across Mesoamerica , including the Maya , Olmec , Zapotec , and Aztec . Because
2852-571: Is an offshoot of the Bernard Family Hall of North American Mammals, directly to the west of the latter. There are several small dioramas featuring small mammals found throughout North America, including collared peccaries , Abert's squirrel , and a wolverine . The Sanford Hall of North American birds is a one-story hall on the third floor, between the Hall of Primates and Akeley Hall's second level. There are over 20 dioramas depicting birds from across North America in their native habitats. At
2976-473: Is available for kindergarteners and first graders. The tribe published Chinuk Wawa: As our elders teach us to Speak It , a Chinuk Wawa dictionary, in 2012. In 2010, the tribe built a plank house on the reservation. In 2011, Grand Ronde Canoe Journey , an exhibit about the tribe's canoe traditions, was installed at the Willamette Heritage Center . Every year the reservation hosts powwows and
3100-555: Is directly south of the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Hall. It contains 8 complete dioramas, 4 partial dioramas, and 6 habitat groups of mammals and locations from India , Nepal , Burma , and Malaysia . The hall opened in 1930 and, similar to the Akeley Hall of African Mammals, is centered around 2 Asian elephants . At one point, a giant panda and Siberian tiger were also part of the Hall's collection, originally intended to be part of an adjoining Hall of North Asian Mammals (planned in
3224-532: Is made up of nine standing members. Each member is meant to serve a three-year term with three council seats up for re-election every year and no restrictions for how many terms a council member can serve. To qualify for a position as a council member, a person simply needs to be 18 years or older and be an enrolled member of the Tribe according to the Tribal Constitution. To vote for council members, confirmed tribal members mail in ballots with verified signatures on file with
3348-500: Is on the first floor, directly west of the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Hall. features 43 dioramas of various mammals of the American continent, north of tropical Mexico. Each diorama places focus on a particular species, ranging from the largest megafauna to the smaller rodents and carnivorans. Notable dioramas include the Alaskan brown bears looking at a salmon after they scared off an otter,
3472-517: Is on this level that the famous "Squid and the Whale" diorama sits, depicting a hypothetical fight between the two creatures. Other notable exhibits in this hall include the two-level Andros Coral Reef Diorama. In 1910, museum president Henry F. Osborn proposed the construction of a large building in the museum's southeast courtyard to house a new Hall of Ocean Life in which "models and skeletons of whales" would be exhibited. The hall opened in 1924 and
3596-603: The Columbia River and the Willamette Valley at the end of the last Ice Age (~13,000 years ago). Some of these ice rafts included boulders (known as 'glacial erratic' by geologists) like the Willamette meteorite, which eventually sank in the flood waters and settled where they were found by humans. The deep crevasses of the meteorite resulted from both its high-speed atmospheric entry and its subsequent weathering. Exposed to
3720-403: The Grand Ronde Indian Reservation . Established in 1856, the reservation occupies parts of Yamhill and Polk counties. Because the tribes had lived near each other, and often spoke more than one language for use in trading, after they were grouped in the 19th century on the reservation, they refined a creole language that became known as Chinook Wawa . Although long forced to speak English ,
3844-463: The Metropolitan Museum of Art to the east, but the promenade was never completed. The memorial hall has a pink-granite facade, which is modeled after Roman arches. In front of the hall on Central Park West is a terrace measuring 350 ft (110 m) long, as well as a series of steps. The main entrance consists of an arch measuring 60 ft (18 m) high. The underside of the arch
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3968-688: The Silk Road . Like many of the museum's exhibition halls, the artifacts in Stout Hall are presented in a variety of ways including exhibits, miniature dioramas, and five full-scale dioramas. Notable exhibits in the Ancient Eurasian section include reproductions from the archaeological sites of Teshik-Tash and Çatalhöyük , as well as a full size replica of a Hammurabi Stele . The Traditional Asia section contains areas devoted to major Asian countries, such as Japan, China, Tibet, and India , while also including
4092-742: The 1970s, Grand Ronde elders began teaching Chinook Jargon language classes in the community. In 1983, the Confederated tribes of Grand Ronde regained federal recognition as a sovereign tribe. As part of restoration, they established a formal language program for children, which they could support through revenues generated from gaming. They renamed Chinook Jargon as Chinuk Wawa (Talking Chinuk). The Grand Ronde tribe's immersion language program has produced native speakers, joining another half-dozen Native language immersion programs in such success. This program begins in preschool classes (Lilu) and continues into Kindergarten. The language program officials plan to expand
4216-479: The AMNH held an estimated 1,900 Native American remains that had not been repatriated. After the act was revised in January 2024, the AMNH's Eastern Woodlands and Great Plains halls were closed because the museum would have needed permission to display all of the artifacts in the halls. The museum agreed to repatriate the remains that July. The original Victorian Gothic building was designed by Calvert Vaux and J. Wrey Mould , both already closely identified with
4340-414: The AMNH in early 1887; thousands of teachers endorsed the legislation. City parks engineer Montgomery A. Kellogg was directed to prepare plans for landscaping the site. In March 1888, the trustees approved an entrance pavilion at the center of the 77th Street elevation. The New York City Board of Estimate began soliciting bids from general contractors in late 1889. Many of the objects and specimens in
4464-547: The AMNH was accessed by a temporary bridge that crossed a ditch, and it was closed during Sundays. The museum's trustees voted in May 1881 to complete the approaches from Central Park, and work began later that year. The landscape changes were nearly complete by mid-1882, and a bridge over Central Park West opened that November. At this point, the AMNH's Manhattan Square building and the Arsenal could not physically fit any more objects, and
4588-415: The AMNH's directors had identified Manhattan Square (bounded by Eighth Avenue/Central Park West , 81st Street, Ninth Avenue/Columbus Avenue , and 77th Street) as a site for a permanent structure. Several prominent New Yorkers had raised $ 500,000 to fund the construction of the new building. The city's park commissioners then reserved Manhattan Square as the site of the permanent museum, and another $ 200,000
4712-427: The American Museum of Natural History had to be signed by John Thompson Hoffman , the governor of New York, who was associated with Tweed. Hoffman signed the legislation creating the museum on April 6, 1869, with John David Wolfe as its first president. Subsequently, the chairman of the AMNH's executive committee asked Green if the museum could use the top two stories of Central Park's Arsenal , and Green approved
4836-498: The American Museum of Natural History website stated both "15.5 tons" and "14 tons". There are differences between the metric ton (1,000 kilograms, 2,204.6 lb), short ton (2,000 pounds, 907.18 kg), and long ton (2,240 pounds, 1,016.0 kg), each of which may simply be called a "ton". In 1906, the American Museum of Natural History stated that the weight of the meteorite was "at least 31,200 pounds, or about 15.6 tons", consistent with American usage of "ton" usually meaning
4960-608: The CTGRC of insensitivity. Bidders dropped out when an editorial in the Portland Oregonian newspaper asserted the CTGRC would file a lawsuit against the new owner, but the CTGRC disavowed the editorial and said they had no such intent, and that they could not stop the sale. While the newspaper printed an apology, the specimen was withdrawn. A lawsuit was filed against the newspaper in Oregon Circuit Court and failed. A 4.5-ounce (130 g), 7.5-inch (19 cm) piece of
5084-802: The Chachalu Museum at the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde (CTGR) in Grand Ronde, Oregon . The aluminum replica was CNC-milled from a 3D model produced through photogrammetry by artist Garrick Imatani, working in conjunction with the CTGR. Imatani also created an interpretation of this meteorite that is on permanent display at the University of Oregon in Straub Hall. American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History ( AMNH )
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5208-473: The Grand Gallery. The full plan called for twelve pavilions similar in design to the original building. Eight pavilions would have been arranged as the sides of a square, while the remaining four would be perpendicular to each other in the interior of the square. There were to be eight towers along the perimeter of the square, as well as a 120 ft-wide (37 m) dome in the center, at the intersection of
5332-450: The Grand Ronde reservation, established by this treaty. "The Chief Tumulth descendants were classified as "provisionally dis-enrolled" Grand Ronde members in July 2014, which stripped them of almost all their tribal rights, including voting rights in the Grand Ronde elections. A three-judge Tribal Court of Appeals panel restored the 66 descendants as full tribal members." But, based on tribal law,
5456-423: The Hall of Asian Mammals and Birds of the World. It is named for Gardner D. Stout, a former president of the museum, and was primarily organized by Walter A. Fairservis, a longtime museum archaeologist. Opened in 1980, Stout Hall is the museum's largest anthropological hall and contains artifacts acquired by the museum between 1869 and the mid-1970s. Many famous expeditions sponsored by the museum are associated with
5580-603: The Hall of North American Forests and the Grand Hall. Based on the town of Pine Plains in Dutchess County, New York , the hall gives a multi-faceted presentation of the eco-systems typical of New York. Aspects covered include soil types, seasonal changes, and the impact of both humans and nonhuman animals on the environment. It is named for the German-American philanthropist Felix M. Warburg and opened on May 14, 1951, as
5704-524: The Hall of Oceanic Birds, it was completed and dedicated in 1953. It was founded by Frank Chapman and Leonard C. Sanford, originally museum volunteers, who had gone forward with creation of a hall to feature birds of the Pacific islands. The hall was designed as a completely immersive collection of dioramas, including a circular display featuring birds-of-paradise . In 1998, the Butterfly Conservatory
5828-579: The Komodo Dragon for the museum. Burden's chapter "The Komodo Dragon", in Look to the Wilderness , describes the expedition, the habitat, and the behavior of the dragon. The hall opened in 1927 and was rebuilt from 1969 to 1977 at a cost of $ 1.3 million. The Hall of Biodiversity is underneath the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Hall. It opened in May 1998. The hall primarily contains exhibits and objects highlighting
5952-485: The Memorial Hall is an entrance to the 81st Street–Museum of Natural History station . Today, the hall connects to the Akeley Hall of African Mammals and the Hall of Asian Mammals. The Memorial Hall contains four exhibits that describe Theodore Roosevelt's conservation activities in his youth, early adulthood, U.S. presidency, and post-presidency. Named after taxidermist Carl Akeley , the Akeley Hall of African Mammals
6076-461: The Museum, by the Grand Ronde for religious, historical, and cultural purposes while maintaining its continued presence at the Museum for scientific and educational purposes. The agreement recognizes the Museum's tradition of displaying and studying the Meteorite for almost a century, while also enabling the Grand Ronde to re-establish its relationship with the Meteorite with an annual ceremonial visit to
6200-584: The Northwest Plateau . They consist of at least 27 Native American tribes with long historical ties to present-day western Oregon between the western boundary of the Oregon Coast and the eastern boundary of the Cascade Range , and the northern boundary of southwestern Washington and the southern boundary of northern California . The community has an 11,288-acre (45.7 km ) Indian reservation ,
6324-708: The Tribal Election Board, and the forty-five days preceding the September General Council meeting is when the elections are officially held. As a result of political conflict, in 2014 the tribal council voted to disenroll en masse 66 living descendants and six deceased descendants of the 19th-century Chief Tumulth. Chief Tumulth of the Cascade Band of Chinuk had signed the 1855 treaty with the United States that ceded tribal land and agreed to relocation to
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#17328513905936448-412: The U.S. government. In 1954, US Congress "terminated" the tribe. The land of terminated tribes was no longer tax-exempt. Faced with the increased cost of land ownership, many lost their property. In addition, people from terminated tribes could no longer attend Chemawa School and had to pay for medical services. In 1956 the reservation was closed and the tribal council disbanded. In 1975, the tribal council
6572-465: The Warburg Hall of New York State Environments. It contains ten dioramas depicting a range of forest types from across North America as well as several displays on forest conservation and tree health. The hall was constructed under the guidance of botanist Henry K. Svenson and opened in 1958. Each diorama specifically lists both the location and exact time of year depicted. Trees and plants featured in
6696-491: The Warburg Memorial Hall of General Ecology. It has changed little since and is now frequently regarded for its retro-modern styling. The Milstein Hall of Ocean Life is in the southeastern quadrant of the first floor, west of the Hall of Biodiversity. It focuses on marine biology , botany and marine conservation . The center of the hall contains a 94 ft (29 m)-long blue whale model. The upper level of
6820-477: The architecture of Central Park. Vaux and Mould's original plan was intended to complement the Metropolitan Museum of Art on the opposite side of Central Park. The original building, as constructed, was at the center of the 77th Street frontage and measured 199 by 66 feet (61 by 20 m) across; it featured a gallery measuring 112 feet (34 m) long200 ft (61 m) tall. This gallery contained
6944-737: The artifacts in the hall, including the Roy Chapman Andrews expeditions in Central Asia and the Vernay-Hopwood Chindwin expedition. Stout Hall has two sections: Ancient Eurasia, a small section devoted to the evolution of human civilization in Eurasia , and Traditional Asia, a much larger section containing cultural artifacts from across the Asian continent. The latter section is organized to geographically correspond with two major trade routes of
7068-573: The attic above the main archway, there is an inscription describing Roosevelt's accomplishments. The words "Truth", "Knowledge", and "Vision" are carved into the entablature under this inscription. Fraser also designed an equestrian statue of Theodore Roosevelt , flanked by a Native American and an African American, which originally stood outside the memorial hall. In the 21st century, the statue generated controversy due to its subordinate depiction of these figures behind Roosevelt. This prompted AMNH officials to announce in 2020 that they would remove
7192-695: The coastal beaches and resorts. Six percent of the casino's profits goes to the Tribes' Spirit Mountain Community Fund, which supports and funds various organizations in the following 11 western Oregon area counties: Benton, Clackamas, Lane, Lincoln, Linn, Marion, Multnomah, Polk, Tillamook, Washington, and Yamhill. By 2017, the Spirit Mountain Community Fund had given more than $ 75 million to non-profit organizations, making it Oregon's eighth largest charitable foundation. They also earn revenue from
7316-511: The concept of biodiversity , the interactions between living organisms, and the negative impacts of extinction on biodiversity. The hall includes a 2,500 sq ft (230 m ) diorama depicting the Dzanga-Sangha Special Reserve rainforest with over 160 animal and plant species. The diorama shows the rainforest in three states: pristine, altered by human activity, and destroyed by human activity. Another attraction in
7440-511: The construction of the Panama Canal on the north wall, African exploration on the west wall, and the Treaty of Portsmouth on the south wall. The east and west walls, contain four quotes from Roosevelt under the headings "Nature", "Manhood", "Youth", and "The State". The Memorial Hall originally connected to various classrooms, exhibition rooms, and a 600-person auditorium. Directly underneath
7564-557: The court could not restore membership to six members, who were posthumously dis-enrolled in 2014. The law prohibits heirs and descendants from challenging such action. Attorney Gabriel Galanda defended the Tumulth descendants and has strongly opposed such "politically motivated" dis-enrollment. Russell Wilkinson, a spokesperson for the descendants, said that such dis-enrollment was a self-destructive practice of tribes. Tribal council elections were scheduled for September 10, 2016. In August 2016
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#17328513905937688-413: The current location of Stout Hall of Asian Peoples). These specimens can currently be seen in the Hall of Biodiversity. Specimens for the Hall of Asian Mammals were collected over six expeditions led by British-born antiques dealer Arthur S. Vernay and Col. John Faunthorpe (as noted by stylized plaques at both entrances). The expeditions were funded entirely by Vernay, who characterized the expense as
7812-400: The differentiated core of planetesimals or asteroids that collided with another object. Willamette has a recrystallized structure with only traces of a medium Widmanstätten pattern ; the result of a significant impact-heating event on the parent body. The Willamette Meteorite contains higher concentrations of various metals that are quite rare in Earth's crust. For example, iridium , one of
7936-418: The dioramas are constructed of a combination of art supplies and actual bark and other specimens collected in the field. The entrance to the hall features a cross section from the Mark Twain Tree , 1,400-year-old sequoia taken from the King's River grove on the west flank of the Sierra Mountains in 1891. Warburg Hall of New York State Environments is a one-story hall on the museum's ground floor in between
8060-401: The dramatic scenes that Akeley created for the African Hall, Chapman wanted his dioramas to evoke a scientific realism, ultimately serving as a historical record of habitats and species facing a high probability of extinction. Each of Chapman's dioramas depicted a species, their nests, and 4 ft (1.2 m) of the surrounding habitat in each direction. The Hall of Birds of the World is on
8184-408: The eight-story AMNH Library in 1992. The museum's Rose Center for Earth and Space was completed in 2000. The museum's lecture hall was renamed the Samuel J. and Ethel LeFrak Theater in 2001 after Samuel J. LeFrak donated $ 8 million to the AMNH. The museum's south facade, spanning 77th Street from Central Park West to Columbus Avenue , was cleaned, repaired, and re-emerged in 2009. Steven Reichl,
8308-408: The elements for thousands of years, rainwater interacted with the mineral troilite , resulting in a form of sulfuric acid which slowly dissolved portions of the meteorite. This resulted in the gradual development of the hollows that are visible today. The Willamette Meteorite has been venerated by the Clackamas people since long before it was removed from its location in the Willamette Valley near
8432-437: The ends of either wings are rounded turret -like towers. The main entrance hall on Central Park West is formally known as the New York State Memorial to Theodore Roosevelt . Completed by John Russell Pope in 1936, it is an over-scaled Beaux-Arts monument to former U.S. president Theodore Roosevelt . The hall was originally supposed to have formed one end of an "Intermuseum Promenade" through Central Park, connecting with
8556-524: The establishment of a natural history museum in New York. Upon the end of the American Civil War , Bickmore asked numerous prominent New Yorkers, such as William E. Dodge Jr. , to sponsor his museum. Although Dodge himself could not fund the museum at the time, he introduced the naturalist to Theodore Roosevelt Sr. , the father of future U.S. president Theodore Roosevelt . Calls for a natural history museum increased after Barnum's American Museum burned down in 1868. Eighteen prominent New Yorkers wrote
8680-407: The existing facilities, such as the 100-seat lecture hall, were insufficient to accommodate demand. The trustees began discussing the possibility of opening the museum on Sundays in May 1885, and the state legislature approved a bill permitting Sunday operations the next year. Despite advocacy from the working class, the trustees opposed Sunday operations because it would be expensive to do so. At
8804-441: The expansion in August 2017, but due to community opposition, construction did not start until June 2019. The Gilder Center opened on May 4, 2023, and the museum saw 1.5 million visitors over the next three months. In late 2023, the museum announced that it would stop displaying human remains from its collection. Despite the 1990 passage of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), as late as 2023,
8928-436: The far end of the hall are two large murals by ornithologist and artist Louis Agassiz Fuertes . The hall also has display cases devoted to large collections of warblers , owls , and raptors . Conceived by museum ornithologist Frank Chapman , the Hall is named for Chapman's friend and amateur ornithologist Leonard C. Sanford , who partially funded the hall and also donated the entirety of his own bird specimen collection to
9052-411: The four interior pavilions. In each pavilion, there was to be a ground floor; the second floor was to contain a gallery; the third floor was to exhibit specimens; and the fourth floor was to be used for research. Upon the intended completion of the master plan, the museum would measure 850 ft (260 m) from north to south and 650 ft (200 m) from west to east, including projections from
9176-539: The great majority of the written records of these civilizations did not survive the Spanish conquest , the overarching aim of the hall is to piece together what it is possible to know about them from the artifacts alone. Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon The Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon (CTGR) is a federally recognized tribe of Indigenous peoples of
9300-412: The hall exhibits the vast array of ecosystems present in the ocean. Dioramas compare and contrast the life in these different settings including kelp forests , mangroves , coral reefs , the bathypelagic , among others. It attempts to show how vast and varied the oceans are while encouraging common themes throughout. The lower half of the hall consists of 15 large dioramas of larger marine organisms. It
9424-415: The hall is "The Spectrum of Habitats", a video wall displaying footage of nine ecosystems. There is a "Transformation Wall", containing information and stories detailing changes to biodiversity, and a "Solutions Wall", containing suggestions on how to increase biodiversity. The Hall of North American Forests is a one-story hall on the museum's first floor in between the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Hall and
9548-443: The hall's completion fell to James L. Clark, who hired architectural artist James Perry Wilson in 1933 to assist Leigh in the painting of backgrounds. Wilson made many improvements on Leigh's techniques, including a range of methods to minimize the distortion caused by the dioramas' curved walls. In 1936, William Durant Campbell , a wealthy board member with a desire to see Africa, offered to fund several dioramas if allowed to obtain
9672-568: The hall's first diorama, Clark remained behind and began scouring the country for artists to create the backgrounds. The eventual appearance of the first habitat groups impacted the design of other diorama halls, including Birds of the World, the Hall of North American Mammals, the Vernay Hall of Southeast Asian Mammals, and the Hall of Oceanic Life. After Akeley's unexpected death during the Eastman-Pommeroy expedition in 1926, responsibility of
9796-526: The idea for the American Museum of Natural History in 1861. At the time, he was studying in Cambridge, Massachusetts , at Louis Agassiz 's Museum of Comparative Zoology. Observing that many European natural history museums were in populous cities, Bickmore wrote in a biography: "Now New York is our city of greatest wealth and therefore probably the best location for the future museum of natural history for our whole land." For several years, Bickmore lobbied for
9920-474: The immersion program to a pre-8 grade program, and offer classes for adults. This will create speakers of the language to help the language survive in perpetuity. The elected tribal council sets the rules for membership. Generally, membership requires direct descent from a person listed on the rolls at particular times and a percentage of Native American ancestry from among the tribes in the Confederation. Being
10044-449: The issue by supporting certain candidates in the 2006 primary races for Governor of Oregon. Historically the tribe had people speaking 27 distinct languages. Numerous members of these tribes could speak more than one language due to their proximity and trading relationships. The Oregon Territory was one of the most linguistically diverse regions in the world. On the reservation, most Native Americans began communicating using Chinook Jargon,
10168-585: The last deglaciation. The meteorite presumably landed on an ice cap in what is now Montana or western Canada , and was dragged by the glacier ice to the vicinity of an ice barrier that formed across the Clark Fork River . This barrier had ponded a huge amount of water at Lake Missoula right at the time when the meteorite reached the area and the ice barrier became unstable and breached. The resulting flood involved up to 10 million cubic meters per second of water discharge, with large blocks of ice rafting down
10292-598: The late 20th century to repatriate the meteorite to Oregon were not successful, but the CTGR (successor to the Clackamas, one of the confederation) reached a historic agreement in June 2000 with the American Museum of Natural History. The tribe can have periodic access to Tomanowos for religious and cultural purposes. They perform rites and ceremonies related to their belief in the Tomanowos' role in their sacred history. The American Museum of Natural History of New York City bought
10416-477: The late 20th century, the tribe attempted to repatriate Tomanowos under NAGPRA, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990. The museum argued in federal district court in 2000 that the law applied to ceremonial objects made by the tribes, not to objects such as the meteorite, which occurred naturally and may be revered by peoples. It sued to be named as official owner of
10540-595: The least abundant elements in Earth's crust, is found in the Willamette Meteorite at a concentration of 4.7 ppm , thousands of times more concentrated than in the crust. The lack of an impact crater at the discovery site was only explained after the 1920s, with the new understanding about the Missoula Floods , one of the largest floods documented. These floods were caused by the collapse of an ice barrier during
10664-670: The lecture hall had been delayed. A hall dedicated to ancient Mexican art opened that December. The museum's 1,350-seat lecture hall opened in October 1900, as did the Native American and Mexican halls in the west wing. During the 1900s, the AMNH sponsored several expeditions to grow its collection, including a trip to Mexico, a trip to collect fauna from the Pacific Northwest , a trip to collect art in China, and an expedition to collect rocks in local caves. One such exhibition yielded
10788-416: The main focal points, and was renamed after developer Paul Milstein and AMNH board member Irma Milstein. The 2003 renovation included refurbishment of the famous blue whale, suspended high above the 19,000 sq ft (1,800 m ) exhibit floor; updates to the 1930s and 1960s dioramas; and electronic displays. The Stout Hall of Asian Peoples is a one-story hall on the museum's second floor in between
10912-459: The mammals are typically the main feature in the dioramas, birds and flora of the regions are occasionally featured as well. The hall in its current form was completed in 1936. The Hall of African Mammals was first proposed to the museum by Carl Akeley around 1909; he proposed 40 dioramas featuring the rapidly vanishing landscapes and animals of Africa. Daniel Pomeroy, a trustee of the museum and partner at J.P. Morgan & Co. , offered investors
11036-541: The management of their timber resources. They have developed "other tribal enterprises in construction and environmental management, real estate investment and inventory logistics services." In the 21st century, the Grand Ronde tribes have opposed the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs ' plans to build an off-reservation casino in Cascade Locks, Oregon . They spent more than $ 800,000 trying to influence decisions on
11160-540: The memorial in Albany or in New York City, the government of New York City offered a site next to the AMNH for consideration. The commission rejected a "conventional Greek mausoleum" design, instead opting to design a triumphal arch and hall in a Roman style. In 1925, the AMNH's trustees hosted an architectural design competition , selecting John Russell Pope to design the memorial hall. Construction began in 1929, and
11284-575: The meteorite in 1906 from the Oregon Iron and Steel Company, which at the time owned the land on which it was found. This land was historically occupied by the Clackamas prior to European-American immigration. The museum has displayed the meteorite since then, known as the largest found in North America. Since 1999, it has been featured at the new addition known as the Rose Center for Earth and Space . In
11408-623: The meteorite, also with a Macovich Collection provenance, was purchased in a 2006 auction and was displayed at the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville, Oregon , until it was returned to the Confederated Tribes of the Grande Ronde on February 22, 2019. Different sources report different weights of the Willamette Meteorite, ranging from 15,500 kilograms (34,200 lb) to 12,700 kilograms (28,000 lb). Circa 2008, pages of
11532-420: The meteorite, which they call Tomanowos , in ceremonies. In 1999 the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon (CTGRC), a confederation of Native American tribes, demanded that it be returned and filed an action pursuant to the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) against the American Museum of Natural History. In response, the Museum filed a federal lawsuit seeking
11656-399: The meteorite. The museum and CTGR tribe reached an agreement in June 2000 to share custody of the meteorite to preserve it for both religious and scientific purposes. The American Museum of Natural History and the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon today signed a historic agreement that ensures access to the Willamette Meteorite, a world famous scientific specimen at
11780-456: The modern city of West Linn, Oregon . In 1902, Ellis Hughes was the first European settler to recognize the meteorite's significance. At that time the land was owned by the Oregon Iron and Steel Company . Hughes attempted to claim ownership of the meteorite, and secretly moved it to his own land. This involved 90 days of hard work to cover the 3 ⁄ 4 mile (1,200 m) distance. The move
11904-574: The museum gain access to areas previously restricted to foreign visitors. Artist Clarence C. Rosenkranz accompanied the Vernay-Faunthorpe expeditions as field artist and painted the majority of the diorama backgrounds in the hall. These expeditions were also well documented in both photo and video, with enough footage of the first expedition to create a feature-length film, Hunting Tigers in India (1929). The Bernard Family Hall of North American Mammals
12028-497: The museum opened within Central Park's Arsenal on May 22, 1871. The museum's first purpose-built structure in Theodore Roosevelt Park was designed by Calvert Vaux and J. Wrey Mould and opened on December 22, 1877. Numerous wings have been added over the years, including the main entrance pavilion (named for Theodore Roosevelt ) in 1936 and the Rose Center for Earth and Space in 2000. The naturalist Albert S. Bickmore devised
12152-463: The museum to keep it as long as they are exhibiting it. The Willamette Meteorite weighs about 34,200 pounds (15,500 kg). It is classified as a type III iron meteorite , being composed of over 91% iron and 7.62% nickel , with traces of cobalt and phosphorus . The approximate dimensions of the meteorite are 10 feet (3 m) tall by 6.5 feet (2 m) wide by 4.25 feet (1.3 m) deep. Most iron meteorites like Willamette have originated from
12276-485: The museum's collection could not be displayed until the annex was opened. The original building was refurbished during 1890, and the museum's library was transferred to the west wing that year. The AMNH's trustees considered opening the museum on Sundays by February 1892 and stopped charging admission that July. The museum began Sunday operations in August, and the southern entrance pavilion opened that November. Even with
12400-430: The museum. Construction began on the hall's dioramas as early as 1902, and the dioramas opened in 1909. They were the first to be exhibited in the museum and are the oldest still on display. The hall was refurbished in 1962. Although Chapman was not the first to create museum dioramas, he was the first to bring artists into the field with him in the hopes of capturing a specific location at a specific time. In contrast to
12524-423: The new wing, there was still not enough space for the museum's collection. The city's Park Board approved a new lecture hall in January 1893, but the hall was postponed that May in favor of a wing extending east on 77th Street. A contract to furnish the east wing was awarded in June 1894. When the east wing was nearly completed in February 1895, the AMNH's trustees asked state legislators for $ 200,000 to build
12648-528: The opportunity to accompany the museum's expeditions in Africa in exchange for funding. Akeley began collecting specimens for the hall as early as 1909, famously encountering Theodore Roosevelt in the midst of the Smithsonian-Roosevelt African expedition. On these early expeditions, Akeley was accompanied by his former apprentice in taxidermy, James L. Clark , and artist, William R. Leigh . When Akeley returned to Africa to collect gorillas for
12772-568: The other usual insults". The ten-story Childs Frick Building, which contained the AMNH's fossil collection, was added to the museum in the 1970s. The architect Kevin Roche and his firm Roche-Dinkeloo have been responsible for the master planning of the museum since the 1990s. Various renovations to both the interior and exterior have been carried out. Renovations to the Dinosaur Hall were undertaken beginning in 1991, and Roche-Dinkeloo designed
12896-607: The people are working to conserve this Native language. They have taught Native speakers through immersion programs for young children. The tribes who were removed to the Grand Ronde reservation are: From 1854 to 1856, the U.S. Army resettled Native people from western Oregon, the Oregon coast, and along the Columbia River to territory along the South Yamhill River. It was here that the Grand Ronde Reservation
13020-502: The request in January 1870. Insect specimens were placed on the lower level of the Arsenal, while stones, fossils, mammals, birds, fish, and reptiles were placed on the upper level. The museum opened within the Arsenal on May 22, 1871. The AMNH became popular in the following years. The Arsenal location had 856,773 visitors in the first nine months of 1876 alone, more than the British Museum had recorded for all of 1874. Meanwhile,
13144-632: The short ton. As of 2023, the American Museum of Natural History website gives the weight as "15.5 tons". A replica of the meteorite is in Eugene, Oregon , outside the University of Oregon Museum of Natural and Cultural History on the University of Oregon campus. A 1 ⁄ 5 size replica stands in Fields Bridge Park in West Linn, Oregon . The only exact replica in existence is currently installed in
13268-697: The south side of the second floor. The global diversity of bird species is exhibited in this hall. 12 dioramas showcase various ecosystems around the world and provide a sample of the varieties of birds that live there. Example dioramas include South Georgia featuring king penguins and skuas , the East African plains featuring secretarybirds and bustards , and the Australian outback featuring honeyeaters , cockatoos , and kookaburras . The Whitney Memorial Wing, originally named after Harry Payne Whitney and comprising 750,000 birds, opened in 1939. Later known as
13392-586: The southern frontage, designed by J. Cleaveland Cady as a brownstone neo-Romanesque structure. It extends 700 ft (210 m) along West 77th Street, with corner towers 150 ft (46 m) tall. Its pink brownstone and granite, similar to that found at Grindstone Island in the St. Lawrence River , came from quarries at Picton Island, New York. The southern wing contains several halls ranging in size from 60 by 110 feet (18 m × 34 m) to 30 ft × 125 ft (9.1 m × 38.1 m). At
13516-506: The specimens himself. Clark agreed to this arrangement, resulting in the acquisition of numerous large specimens. Kane joined Leigh, Wilson, and several other artists in completing the hall's remaining dioramas. Though construction of the hall was completed in 1936, the dioramas gradually opened between the mid-1920s and early 1940s. The Hall of Asian Mammals, sometimes referred to as the Vernay-Faunthorpe Hall of Asian Mammals,
13640-399: The square. The finished structure, with a ground area of over 18 acres (7.3 ha), would have been the largest building in North America, as well as the largest museum building in the world. The master plan was never fully realized; by 2015, the museum consisted of 25 separate buildings that were poorly connected. The original building was soon eclipsed by the west and east wings of
13764-579: The statue. The statue was removed in January 2022 and will be on a long-term loan to the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in North Dakota. The interior of the Memorial Hall measures 67 by 120 ft (20 by 37 m) across, with a barrel-vaulted ceiling measuring 100 ft (30 m) tall. The ceiling contains octagonal coffers, while the floors are made of mosaic marble tiles. The lowest 9 ft (2.7 m) of
13888-400: The time, the museum was open to the general public on Wednesdays through Saturdays, and it was open exclusively to members on Mondays and Tuesdays. The museum's collections continued to grow during the 1880s, and it hosted various lectures through the 19th century. With several departments having been crowded out of the original building, New York state legislators introduced bills to expand
14012-726: The trade language that had developed earlier. The Chinook Jargon was widely spoken throughout the Northwest between tribes and newcomers to the region. At Grand Ronde reservation, Chinook Jargon developed as a creole language , and was the first language in most native homes. Tribal members continued to use this language, even as their children were educated in English and through the termination era (1954-1983). During this period, children were being sent to Indian boarding schools and forced to learn English; all individual tribal languages at Grand Ronde became extinct as their last native speakers died. In
14136-424: The tribal Court of Appeals (en banc) overturned the tribe's mass dis-enrollment in 2014 of 66 living descendants of Chief Tumulth of the watlala Band of Chinuk, who had signed the 1855 treaty with the United States by which his tribe ceded communal land and agreed to the Grand Ronde reservation. This was the first such action by a tribal court overturning dis-enrollment of members by a tribe. Since 2000, members of
14260-528: The tribe travel to New York City annually in July to see Tomanowos , also known as the Willamette Meteorite . This meteorite was taken from Oregon years ago and has been displayed at American Museum of Natural History as a natural curiosity. The Clackamas people , one of the Grand Ronde tribes, perceive this 15-ton meteorite as a sacred Sky Person who fell to earth thousands of years ago and helped create their people and their world. Efforts since
14384-424: The trustees approved final plans the next year. J. Harry McNally was the general contractor . Roosevelt's cousin, U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt , dedicated the memorial on January 19, 1936. The original building was later known as "Wing A". During the 1950s, the top floor was renovated into a library, being redecorated with what Christopher Gray of The New York Times described as "dropped ceilings and
14508-596: The walls are wainscoted in marble, above which the walls of the memorial hall are made of limestone. The top of each wall contains a marble band and a Corinthian entablature. Each of the Memorial Hall's four sides contains two red-marble columns, each measuring 48 ft (15 m) tall and rising from a Botticino marble pedestal. There are rounded windows at clerestory level on the north and south walls. William Andrew MacKay designed three 62 ft-wide (19 m) murals depicting important events in Roosevelt's life:
14632-583: Was discovered, and after a lawsuit, the Oregon Supreme Court held that Oregon Iron and Steel Company was the legal owner. In 1905, Sarah Tappan Hoadley, wife of William E. Dodge Jr. , purchased the meteorite for $ 26,000 (around $ 920,000 in 2024). After displaying it at the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition , she donated it to the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, where it has been on display since 1906. The Clackamas people have long used
14756-471: Was established in 1857. In 1887, with the passage of the Dawes Act , the Grand Ronde Reservation was reduced through the privatization of property. Land that was not allotted to Natives through the process of privatization was made available to non-Native ownership. In 1936, Grand Ronde voted to confederate, accept an Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) government, and adopted a constitution and by-laws modeled after
14880-475: Was in this charter that the "American Museum of Natural History" name was first used. Bickmore said he wanted the museum's name to reflect his "expectation that our museum will ultimately become the leading institution of its kind in our country", similar to the British Museum . Before the museum was established, Bickmore needed to secure approval from Boss Tweed , leader of the powerful and corrupt Tammany Hall political organization. The legislation to establish
15004-508: Was installed inside the hall. The Hall of Reptiles and Amphibians is near the southeast corner of the third floor. It serves as an introduction to herpetology , with many exhibits detailing reptile evolution, anatomy, diversity, reproduction, and behavior. Notable exhibits include a Komodo dragon group, an American alligator , Lonesome George , the last Pinta Island tortoise , and poison dart frogs . In 1926, W. Douglas Burden , F.J. Defosse, and Emmett Reid Dunn collected specimens of
15128-410: Was raised for the building fund. Numerous dignitaries and officials, including U.S. president Ulysses S. Grant , attended the museum's groundbreaking ceremony on June 3, 1874. The museum opened on December 22, 1877, with a ceremony attended by U.S. president Rutherford B. Hayes . The old exhibits were removed from the Arsenal in 1878, and the AMNH was debt-free by the next year. Originally,
15252-427: Was reconstituted. In 1983, House Resolution 3885 restored federal recognition status to the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde. Five years after this resolution, a small portion of the original reservation was returned to Grand Ronde which is used today for timber, recreation, and traditional harvesting practices. The tribes began publishing Smoke Signals , then a monthly newsletter, in 1978; it has since shifted to
15376-496: Was renovated in 1962. In 1969, a renovation gave the hall a more explicit focus on oceanic megafauna , including the addition of a lifelike blue whale model to replace a popular steel and papier-mâché whale model that had hung in the Biology of Mammals hall. Richard Van Gelder oversaw the creation of the hall in its current incarnation. The hall was renovated once again in 2003, this time with environmentalism and conservation being
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