Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History
Encyclopedia
The Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History is the oldest museum in Santa Barbara, California
, founded in 1916. The museum is located in Mission Canyon, immediately behind the Santa Barbara Mission. Set in a traditional southern California environment, the museum campus occupies 12 acres (4.9 ha) of oak woodland along Mission Creek. It is housed in a mission-style, Spanish Mediterranean complex of buildings. The museum has 5,700 members and more than 150,000 people visit the Museum each year.
—the study of bird eggs—“would throw a flood of light upon the trend of life itself,” yielding “the secrets of life’s origins and its destiny.”
Though it began from a collection of bird eggs, the holdings of the Museum were soon expanded into other realms by its Board of Directors. The successor to William Dawson as director was Ralph Hoffmann
, a Harvard-trained educator, botanist, and ornithologist. The next director Paul Marshall Rhea who had been President of the American Association of Museums, Director of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History
, and Director of the Carnegie Foundation
in Washington, D.C.. Some of the notable benefactors of the Museum included Dr. Caroline Hazard who was President of Wellesley College at the time: she donated part of her estate in Mission Canyon for a new museum building. This building was built with funds donated by Mrs. Rowland G. Hazard in memory of her late husband and opened in 1923. The architect was Carleton Winslow
.
In 1937, Arthur Sterry Coggeshall came to Santa Barbara, and took the position of Director of the Museum. He had also worked at various prestigious museums, such as the American Museum of Natural History
in New York City and the Carnegie Museum of Natural History
in Pittsburgh. Upon coming, he convinced Max Fleischmann, heir to the Fleischmann Yeast fortune, to build Fleischmann Auditorium as a condition of his employment. Coggeshall was later a key player in the foundation of the California Association of Museums and the Western Museum Association.
From the 1960s to the '80s, the Museum had a large role in the field of environmental action
. Museum scientists helped establish the whale stranding network and participated in the California Condor
Project.
Albert Einstein
, who was visiting the museum with his wife, in 1931, remarked "I can see that this museum has been built by the work of love."
painters. The museum is also known for its halls of marine life, geology, and Chumash Indian life, as well as an art gallery
dedicated to antique natural history
prints. It has collections of over 3 million specimens and an active research program with a focus on marine biology
, terrestrial vertebrates, insects, anthropology
, geological mapping, and natural history art.
Exhibits include "Butterflies Alive" and “Bringing the Condors Home” telling the story of the decline and beginning of recovery of the California Condor
.
The museum’s Gladwin Planetarium was renovated in early 2005 and equipped with technology to display distant planets, star
s, and galaxies.
The Ty Warner Sea Center
, located on Santa Barbara’s historic Stearns Wharf
, is an off-site facility owned and operated by the Museum of Natural History
. It opened in April 2005. Among the exhibits of the Sea Center are a Tide Pool
with waves rushing into it every 60 seconds, the Wet Deck featuring direct access to the water below, the Channel Theater, the Workshop, the Whale Karaoke station, and the plastinated dolphin.
The Museum has one of the largest extant collections of historical Native American basketry by Chumash Basket weaver artists.
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...
, founded in 1916. The museum is located in Mission Canyon, immediately behind the Santa Barbara Mission. Set in a traditional southern California environment, the museum campus occupies 12 acres (4.9 ha) of oak woodland along Mission Creek. It is housed in a mission-style, Spanish Mediterranean complex of buildings. The museum has 5,700 members and more than 150,000 people visit the Museum each year.
History
The early roots of the Museum date back to the 1890s, when a group of professional and amateur scientists started the Santa Barbara Natural History Society and an accompanying museum at 1226 State Street. Though the effort waned at the end of the century, the arrival of ornithologist William Leon Dawson from Ohio re-ignited the effort. Dawson and a group of prominent Santa Barbarans founded the Museum of Comparative Oology, which was first located in two outbuildings on his property on Puesta del Sol in Mission Canyon. The initial holdings were assembled from his own extensive collection of bird eggs as well as collections of other community members. According to the Museum's website, Dawson believed oologyOology
Oology is a branch of ornithology studying bird eggs, nests and breeding behavior. Oology can also refer to the hobby of collecting wild birds' eggs, sometimes called birdnesting or egging, which is now illegal in many jurisdictions.-As a science:Oology became increasingly popular in Britain and...
—the study of bird eggs—“would throw a flood of light upon the trend of life itself,” yielding “the secrets of life’s origins and its destiny.”
Though it began from a collection of bird eggs, the holdings of the Museum were soon expanded into other realms by its Board of Directors. The successor to William Dawson as director was Ralph Hoffmann
Ralph Hoffmann
Ralph Hoffmann was an American natural history teacher and amateur ornithologist and botanist. He was the author of the first true bird field guide.-Early life:...
, a Harvard-trained educator, botanist, and ornithologist. The next director Paul Marshall Rhea who had been President of the American Association of Museums, Director of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History
Cleveland Museum of Natural History
The Cleveland Museum of Natural History is a natural history museum located approximately five miles east of downtown Cleveland, Ohio in University Circle, a 550-acre concentration of educational, cultural and medical institutions...
, and Director of the Carnegie Foundation
Carnegie Corporation of New York
Carnegie Corporation of New York, which was established by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 "to promote the advancement and diffusion of knowledge and understanding," is one of the oldest, largest and most influential of American foundations...
in Washington, D.C.. Some of the notable benefactors of the Museum included Dr. Caroline Hazard who was President of Wellesley College at the time: she donated part of her estate in Mission Canyon for a new museum building. This building was built with funds donated by Mrs. Rowland G. Hazard in memory of her late husband and opened in 1923. The architect was Carleton Winslow
Carleton Winslow
Carleton Monroe Winslow , also known as Carleton Winslow Sr., was an American architect, and key proponent of Spanish Colonial Revival architecture in Southern California in the early 20th Century....
.
In 1937, Arthur Sterry Coggeshall came to Santa Barbara, and took the position of Director of the Museum. He had also worked at various prestigious museums, such as the American Museum of Natural History
American Museum of Natural History
The American Museum of Natural History , located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States, is one of the largest and most celebrated museums in the world...
in New York City and the Carnegie Museum of Natural History
Carnegie Museum of Natural History
Carnegie Museum of Natural History, located at 4400 Forbes Avenue in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, was founded by the Pittsburgh-based industrialist Andrew Carnegie in 1896...
in Pittsburgh. Upon coming, he convinced Max Fleischmann, heir to the Fleischmann Yeast fortune, to build Fleischmann Auditorium as a condition of his employment. Coggeshall was later a key player in the foundation of the California Association of Museums and the Western Museum Association.
From the 1960s to the '80s, the Museum had a large role in the field of environmental action
Environmentalism
Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks to incorporate the concerns of non-human elements...
. Museum scientists helped establish the whale stranding network and participated in the California Condor
California Condor
The California Condor is a New World vulture, the largest North American land bird. Currently, this condor inhabits only the Grand Canyon area, Zion National Park, and coastal mountains of central and southern California and northern Baja California...
Project.
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
, who was visiting the museum with his wife, in 1931, remarked "I can see that this museum has been built by the work of love."
Exhibits
The museum is renowned for fine dioramas of birds, mammals, and southern California habitats. These were illustrated in the 1930s and 1960s by famous artists of the California school of plein-aireEn plein air
En plein air is a French expression which means "in the open air", and is particularly used to describe the act of painting outdoors.Artists have long painted outdoors, but in the mid-19th century working in natural light became particularly important to the Barbizon school and Impressionism...
painters. The museum is also known for its halls of marine life, geology, and Chumash Indian life, as well as an art gallery
Art gallery
An art gallery or art museum is a building or space for the exhibition of art, usually visual art.Museums can be public or private, but what distinguishes a museum is the ownership of a collection...
dedicated to antique natural history
Natural history
Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...
prints. It has collections of over 3 million specimens and an active research program with a focus on marine biology
Marine biology
Marine biology is the scientific study of organisms in the ocean or other marine or brackish bodies of water. Given that in biology many phyla, families and genera have some species that live in the sea and others that live on land, marine biology classifies species based on the environment rather...
, terrestrial vertebrates, insects, anthropology
Anthropology
Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...
, geological mapping, and natural history art.
Exhibits include "Butterflies Alive" and “Bringing the Condors Home” telling the story of the decline and beginning of recovery of the California Condor
California Condor
The California Condor is a New World vulture, the largest North American land bird. Currently, this condor inhabits only the Grand Canyon area, Zion National Park, and coastal mountains of central and southern California and northern Baja California...
.
The museum’s Gladwin Planetarium was renovated in early 2005 and equipped with technology to display distant planets, star
Star
A star is a massive, luminous sphere of plasma held together by gravity. At the end of its lifetime, a star can also contain a proportion of degenerate matter. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun, which is the source of most of the energy on Earth...
s, and galaxies.
The Ty Warner Sea Center
Ty Warner Sea Center
The Ty Warner Sea Center is a museum located on Santa Barbara’s historic Stearns Wharf, is owned and operated by the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History.-Exhibits:...
, located on Santa Barbara’s historic Stearns Wharf
Stearns Wharf
Stearns Wharf is a pier in the harbor at Santa Barbara, California, USA. When completed In 1872, it became the longest deep-water pier between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Named for its builder, local lumberman John P...
, is an off-site facility owned and operated by the Museum of Natural History
Museum of Natural History
A museum of natural history is a museum with exhibits about natural history, including such topics as animals, plants, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, and climatology. Some museums feature natural-history collections in addition to other collections, such as ones related to history, art and...
. It opened in April 2005. Among the exhibits of the Sea Center are a Tide Pool
Tide pool
Tide pools are rocky pools by oceans that are filled with seawater. Many of these pools exist as separate entities only at low tide.Tide pools are habitats of uniquely adaptable animals that have engaged the special attention of naturalists and marine biologists, as well as philosophical...
with waves rushing into it every 60 seconds, the Wet Deck featuring direct access to the water below, the Channel Theater, the Workshop, the Whale Karaoke station, and the plastinated dolphin.
The Museum has one of the largest extant collections of historical Native American basketry by Chumash Basket weaver artists.
See also
- Visual arts by indigenous Californians
- Native American Basket Weavers
- Basket weaving