September 16, 2009

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.

From The November-December 2009 Issue

Photograph by Jim Harrison

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.

Published in the November-December 2009 print issue under the headline “A Gallery Glows Again,” in the John Harvard's Journal section.

Related topics

University News

You might also like

Podcasting is becoming one of the fastest-growing methods of sharing political discourse to wide audiences

Are Creators the Future of Democracy?

A Harvard panel considers how “parasocial relationships” might drive democratic engagement.

Dick Friedman, longstanding contributing editor to Harvard Magazine,

Five Questions with Dick Friedman

Harvard Magazine’s longstanding football editor reflects on his career in journalism.

Loeb House surrounded by snow and greenery under a clear blue sky.

Harvard Board of Overseers Candidates Describe Priorities

Alumni will vote for the University governing board in April and May.

Most popular

A crowd of people shout and march during a nighttime demonstration, while a man and woman in the foreground hold two silver-colored pans above their heads and bang on them with sticks

The Harvard Professor Who Quantified Democracy

Erica Chenoweth’s data shows how—and when—authoritarians fall.

Students writing at desks on wheels, racing ahead of a stationary student at a fixed desk

Why Men Are Falling Behind in Education, Employment, and Health

Can new approaches to education address a growing gender gap?

Joseph Nye, former Dean of Harvard Kennedy School and leading political scientist

Mark Carney on the Limits of Soft Power

At the 2026 Davos summit, the Canadian prime minister echoes Harvard’s Joseph Nye.

Explore More From Current Issue

A stylized illustration of red coral branching from a gray base, resembling a fantastical entity.

This TikTok Artist Combines Monsters and Mental Heath

Ava Jinying Salzman’s artwork helps people process difficult feelings.

Lawrence H. Summers, looking serious while speaking at a podium with a microphone.

University News

Harvard in the News

Grade inflation, Epstein files fallout, University database breach

Cover of "Harvard's Best" featuring a woman in a red and black gown holding a sword.

Harvard History

A Forgotten Harvard Anthem

Published the year the Titanic sank, “Harvard’s Best” is a quizzical ode to the University.