Nebraska State Museum celebrates 140th anniversary, continues tradition of educating children

It's a celebration of mammoth proportions.

Throughout the remainder of 2011, the Nebraska State Museum will commemorate its 140th anniversary with new events, exhibits and discoveries. Established in 1871, the museum, located in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Morrill Hall, has become a staple of Nebraska life with a legacy as big as the mammoth statue guarding its front door.

Celebration

Combining new and established educational events is going to make 2011 the museum's biggest year yet, according to its public relations coordinator, Dana Ludvik.

"There's a lot to do and get engaged with," she said. "We have a lot of new events planned — a few big ones happening later this year."

One of those events, Fright at the Museum, will provide children the chance to explore spooky exhibits after the sun goes down on October 26 and 27.

"We've never done this event before," Ludvik said. "Because the museum has three floors, we are calling it ‘three tiers of terror.'"

In addition, the museum will be unveiling new exhibits, including "Amphibians: Vibrant and Vanishing" featuring photography from National Geographic photographer Joel Sartore, and a grand re-opening of the newly renovated Native American gallery. The re-opening will coincide with a weekend of events celebrating Native American culture.

Ludvik said the events are important to keep people up to date on what's new at the museum while sparking children's interest in science.

"Our events show that the museum isn't just filled with a bunch of dusty old bones," she said.

To help spread the word about the 140th anniversary, the museum introduced a new mascot in December — Archie the mammoth.

"Archie is a fun way to have outreach with the public," Ludvik said.

The fuzzy dancing mammoth visited Lincoln elementary schools earlier this year to spark interest in the museum and the new events. Archie is a representation of the 5,000-pound bronze mammoth that guards the entrance to the museum.

"(Archie) has become a symbol for the state and the university," Ludvik said, noting that the statue depicts a real mammoth housed inside the museum's Elephant Hall — the largest mounted mammoth skeleton in the United States.

Behind the Scenes

Mark Harris, the associate director of the University of Nebraska State Museum, said in addition to the exhibits and events, a lot is happening behind the scenes.

"When people come into Morrill Hall, its easy to appreciate all the specimens we have displayed in the building," Harris said. "But few know that the vast majority of our collection is in Nebraska Hall."

Located just a block away, Nebraska Hall is the home to 99 percent of the museum's 14 million specimens, most of them discovered in Nebraska.

On the hall's fourth floor, large open rooms contain endless shelves and drawers of fossils, ranging from long-extinct rhinoceros skulls to rabbit teeth.

"A lot of people don't know the collection exists here," said Ross Secord, the curator of vertebrae paleontology and assistant professor of earth and atmospheric sciences. "I've only been here a few years, so occasionally I will come across something I've never seen before (in the collection)."     

Harris said the collection provides a wealth of knowledge for scientists and researchers — at UNL and elsewhere — studying anything from parasitology to climate change.

"We share the fossils with researchers around the world in order to really discover why the earth is the way it is," Harris said.

Harris said the collection has continued to grow each year thanks to the Highway Salvage Program, which requires road crews to call the museum when they see a fossil, as well as the museum's excavation sites and farmers in Western Nebraska.

"Many field trips (to Western Nebraska) begin with a thoughtful farmer or rancher picking up the phone," he said.

Looking Ahead

Despite the sluggish economy, Ludvik said the museum has continued to provide more opportunities for education.

"Over the years, the museum has definitely had a big role in educating children and families about Nebraska's cultural and fossil history," Ludvick said. "In the future, we want to continue having events and gaining momentum."

Harris said Nebraska's unique fossil history ensures the museum will continue to be hub for research and preservation.

"There is so much yet to be discovered," Harris said. "It's amazing because there are certainly many more Ashfalls in Nebraska."

Through the interactive exhibits and education events, Harris said the building will always be a conduit for inspiring children toward the sciences.

"For some kids, the museum is just for fun. But for others, it changes their life," he said. "As long as we see tens of thousands of happy and engaged children and families getting fired up about science, that's all that matters."

michaelbamesberger@dailynebraskan.com