1. “He will probably be set down as one of the most famous lovers of all natural things,” wrote Russell Owen of Carl Akeley in 1936. 

    In this photo, exhibition staff apply finishing touches to the mountain gorilla diorama in the Museum’s Akeley Hall of African Mammals. Explorer, naturalist, artist, and taxidermist Carl Akeley, who designed this iconic hall,  first encountered the mountain gorilla in 1921. Returning to Africa for additional research in 1926, Akeley died near this site and was buried on the side of Mount Mikeno, which is depicted in the background painting.

    Today’s peek into the archives comes from the New York Times’ The Lively Morgue.

    (via livelymorgue)

  2. “There is a delight in the hardy life of the open. There are no words that can tell the hidden spirit of the wilderness, that can reveal its mystery, its melancholy and its charm. The nation behaves well if it treats the natural resources as assets which it must turn over to the next generation increased; and not impaired in value. Conservation means development as much as it does protection.” - Theodore Roosevelt 

    “There is a delight in the hardy life of the open.

    There are no words that can tell the hidden spirit of the wilderness, that can reveal its mystery, its melancholy and its charm.

    The nation behaves well if it treats the natural resources as assets which it must turn over to the next generation increased; and not impaired in value.

    Conservation means development as much as it does protection.”

    - Theodore Roosevelt 

  3. Though many people might be quick to call this familiar-looking dinosaur a Brontosaurus, that’s actually a name that stems from a case of mistaken identity and has since been retired. Read the behind-the-scenes story of how this sauropod got its proper name here, and don’t forget to get your tickets to hear astrophysicist Mario Livio speak about other brilliant blunders at the Hayden Planetarium Space Theater on June 10 at 7pm. 

    Though many people might be quick to call this familiar-looking dinosaur a Brontosaurus, that’s actually a name that stems from a case of mistaken identity and has since been retired. Read the behind-the-scenes story of how this sauropod got its proper name here, and don’t forget to get your tickets to hear astrophysicist Mario Livio speak about other brilliant blunders at the Hayden Planetarium Space Theater on June 10 at 7pm. 

  4. It’s Tuesday’s peek into the archives! This image comes from the Research Library’s Lantern Slide Collection:A woman viewing Libra: The Scales, date unknown.View more images from our archives here.

    It’s Tuesday’s peek into the archives! This image comes from the Research Library’s Lantern Slide Collection:

    A woman viewing Libra: The Scales, date unknown.

    View more images from our archives here.

  5. It’s Tuesday’s peek into the archives!Taxidermist George Adams constructs the foundation for a Moa bird model, June 1951. © AMNH Library/2A2584 

    It’s Tuesday’s peek into the archives!

    Taxidermist George Adams constructs the foundation for a Moa bird model, June 1951.

    © AMNH Library/2A2584 

  6. Today’s photo from the archives takes us inside the Museum’s Ichthyology Collection back in 1966. Explore more photos from the archives here. (c) AMNH Library/#332030

    Today’s photo from the archives takes us inside the Museum’s Ichthyology Collection back in 1966.

    Explore more photos from the archives here.

    (c) AMNH Library/#332030

  7. Long before Roy Chapman Andrews’ famed fossil hunts in the Gobi Desert (where his team discovered many new mammal and dinosaur fossils, including the first nests of dinosaur eggs), he traveled the world studying whales. Pictured: Roy Chapman Andrews on the schooner Adventuress in Alaska in October 1913 © AMNH Library/219165 (via Roy Chapman Andrews, Whales Researcher)

    Long before Roy Chapman Andrews’ famed fossil hunts in the Gobi Desert (where his team discovered many new mammal and dinosaur fossils, including the first nests of dinosaur eggs), he traveled the world studying whales.

    Pictured: Roy Chapman Andrews on the schooner Adventuress in Alaska in October 1913

    © AMNH Library/219165

    (via Roy Chapman Andrews, Whales Researcher)

    (Source: amnh.org)

  8. It’s Tuesday’s peek into the archives: art students at work in the Akeley Hall of African Mammals, 1956.© AMNH Library/#2A5136

    It’s Tuesday’s peek into the archives: art students at work in the Akeley Hall of African Mammals, 1956.

    © AMNH Library/#2A5136

  9. It’s Tuesday’s peek into the archives! Museum staff hang a sperm whale skeleton in the Hall of Ocean Life, 1933. For more photos from our archives, explore the Picturing the Museum collection.© AMNH Library/#314142

    It’s Tuesday’s peek into the archives! 

    Museum staff hang a sperm whale skeleton in the Hall of Ocean Life, 1933. 

    For more photos from our archives, explore the Picturing the Museum collection.

    © AMNH Library/#314142

  10. It’s Tuesday’s peek into the archives! A bobcat is installed in the Jeffrey Pine Forest Diorama, 1958.  See it today in the Hall of North American Forests.

    It’s Tuesday’s peek into the archives!

    A bobcat is installed in the Jeffrey Pine Forest Diorama, 1958. 

    See it today in the Hall of North American Forests.