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

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.

You might also like

Modern building surrounded by trees and a blue sky with fluffy white clouds.

Harvard will rename the building following a $100 million gift from Stuart Zimmer ’91.

Construction site featuring tall concrete structures, cranes, and a blue sky with clouds.

Pritzker Hall, designed for collaboration, should be complete in 2027.

Massachusetts Hall at Harvard Red brick building with a large clock on top, surrounded by green trees.

With a grade inflation vote and in the courts, the University argued that it’s taking steps to change.

Most popular

A blue refrigerator covered with animal pictures, notes, and drawings, surrounded by greenery.

An animal’s journey from grief to love shows how much humans need each other, too.

Drawing of a distant solitary figure walking alone toward the horizon along a narrowing path of light edged on both sides by darkness

The Loneliness Pandemic

As the country isolates, are we all alone?

A man in a dark suit sits on a sofa in a warmly lit room with a fireplace behind him.

How Americans Turned Against Knowledge

Tom Nichols dissects the dangerous antipathy to expertise.

Explore More From Current Issue

A woman with long, silver hair rests her chin on her hand, wearing a black top.

Arts & Culture

Author and Harvard Divinity School writer-in-residence Terry Tempest Williams finds beauty in the world around us.

Harvey Mansfield seated in a bright yellow chair, surrounded by bookshelves and cozy decor.

Faculty

The retired government professor has been a rare conservative voice on campus for decades.

Vibrant urban scene at dusk featuring a mural on a building and illuminated structures.

University News

The Goel Center in Allston will open for performances in the fall of 2026.