Great Mammal Hall at Harvard Museum of Natural History reopens

The Great Mammal Hall in the Harvard Museum of Natural History is restored and reopened.

The Great Mammal Hall, a two-story gallery 60 feet long by 40 wide, is the oldest and most dramatic in the Harvard Museum of Natural History (HMNH). The hall was emptied of its taxonomic treasures as part of a renovation commemorating the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Museum of Comparative Zoology: the animals were removed and repaired and the display cases restored to their nineteenth-century colors, replacing a palette dating to the 1960s. The gallery reopened October 16. Above, a gaur noses into the stream of escapees during the renovation.

You might also like

Harvard Releases Database of 1,613 People Enslaved by University Affiliates

Research continues to track down living descendants.

Faculty Set to Vote on Grade Inflation Proposal

Results of the email ballot will be announced on May 20.

Jason Furman to Lead Center for Business and Government

The new director of Harvard Kennedy School’s Mossavar-Rahmani Center bridges economic research and policy.

Most popular

250 Years Ago, Harvard Was Home to a Revolution

A look at the sights, sounds, and characters that put the University on the frontlines of history

Radcliffe Institute Announces 2026-2027 Fellows

Scholars will tap Harvard’s intellectual resources during the coming academic year.

Martin Nowak Placed on Leave a Second Time

Further links to Jeffrey Epstein surface in newly released files.

Explore More From Current Issue

A glowing orange sun with a star and a trailing gas cloud in space.

A Harvard Astrophysicist Explains the Bizarre Behavior of a Supergiant Star

The dimming and rapid rotation of Betelgeuse may be caused by a hidden companion.

Portrait of a man with white hair, wearing a black coat, arms crossed, thoughtful expression.

The Framer Who Refused to Sign the Constitution

Harvard’s Elbridge Gerry helped draft the U.S. Constitution, but worried it might create a new monarch.