Field Museum: where history and culture collide
There’s something truly magical about a place that houses pirates, dinosaurs, mummies and meteorites. Chicago’s Field Museum of Natural History is a collection of historical wonders, and though it may be designed with kids in mind, it’s an entertaining and educational attraction for all ages.
Named in honor of its first major benefactor, Marshall Field, the Field Museum has been located at the downtown Chicago lakefront since 1921. Originally founded to house specimens from the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, the museum’s collections have since grown to more than 20 million.
Among its current treasures is Sue, the largest and most complete T. Rex fossil ever discovered. Standing 13 feet high and 42 feet long, the imposing dinosaur guards the great hall and greets visitors as they enter. Also on display is the skeleton of a sauropod (the only one of its kind on exhibit in the world) and a Cryolophosaurus, one of the first dinosaurs found in Antarctica.
Visitors to the Field can enter and explore an authentic reconstructed Pawnee earth lodge, an ornately carved Maori meeting house, and travel through the islands of of the Pacific with recreations of postcard-perfect beaches, all without leaving Chicago.
Also on permanent exhibit at the Field are relics from the ancient Americas, a cultural exploration of the African continent, countless animal displays from around the world and throughout history, mummies from ancient Egypt, and stunning jewels in the Grainger Hall of Gems.
While the Field Museum’s collection is one of the world’s finest, as an education and research institution, it also aims to inform visitors while showing them all the wonders our world has to offer. With T. Rex’s and mummies as teachers, it’s pretty hard not to learn and have a great time while doing it at the Field Museum.
- by D.J. Siegel, Chicago Reporter for HelloMetro
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