Joseph Moore Museum of Natural History
Overview
The Joseph Moore Museum, a unique space on Earlham's campus, fosters education, exploration, and research on the natural and cultural history of Richmond, Indiana and the world.Contact Information
801 National Road WestRichmond, Indiana 47374
United States
Description
Joseph Moore Museum is the regional natural history museum for eastern Indiana. It provides opportunities for Earlham students to have hands-on experience working in a museum in the fields of zoology, botany, anthropology, geology, education, and applied arts. Students curate the collection, provide tours and planetarium shows for visitors, maintain the live animal collections, and design and build exhibits. Guidance is provided by natural science faculty members. The museum began as the teaching collection of Joseph Moore in the 1850s. In 1887 the collection was placed in the new Lindley Hall and became open to the public, displaying specimens gathered around the world by various Earlham faculty. In 1924, Lindley Hall, where the museum was housed at the time, was consumed by fire and the collection was partially destroyed. But through the efforts of faculty and students, several important pieces, such as Ta'an, the Egyptian mummy, and the mastodon, were saved. In 1952, the museum moved into our current location in Dennis Hall and under the direction of Jim Cope, the collections were updated and reorganized.