{{short description|Natural history museum in Lincoln, Nebraska, US}} {{use mdy dates|date=March 2025}} {{infobox museum | name = University of Nebraska State Museum | image = Lloyd G. Tanner Plaza & Morrill Hall, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA.jpg | image_upright = | logo = NUStateMuseumlogo.png | caption = The museum's north entrance | type= Natural history museum | map_type = | map_caption = | coordinates = {{coord|40|49|12|N|96|42|6|W|display=inline,title}} | established = {{Start date and age|1871}} | location = 645 N. 14th Street <br> Lincoln, Nebraska, United States | owner = University of Nebraska–Lincoln | visitors = | director = Susan Weller | public_transit = | website = {{URL|http://www.museum.unl.edu/}} }}
The '''University of Nebraska State Museum''' (the '''NU State Museum''') is a natural history museum housed in '''Morrill Hall''' on the campus of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in Lincoln, Nebraska. Founded in 1871, it features biodiversity, paleontology, and cultural diversity from across the Great Plains. It became a Smithsonian Affiliate in 2013.
The State Museum comprises four floors with ten permanent exhibits. Among these are Elephant Hall, which houses the world's largest articulated fossil mammoth among its collection of fossil elephants, and Mueller Planetarium, an interactive science center. Other exhibits feature paleontology, ancient life and evolution, wildlife, gems and minerals, and American Indian and African artifacts.
==History== ===Barbour and Morrill=== [[File:The Morrills and reminiscences (1918) (14596163967).jpg|thumb|Charles Henry Morrill, seated second from left, was a significant donor to the museum in its formative years|290x290px]] The University of Nebraska State Museum was founded by Erwin Hinckley Barbour in 1871, two years after the University of Nebraska was established. The museum initially occupied just two rooms on separate floors in University Hall under the direction of Samuel Aughey, who helped preserve the young university when it nearly closed in 1875 but was not considered a profound scientist.<ref name=Growth>{{cite journal|url=http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1536&context=greatplainsresearch|title=Growth of a Natural History Museum on the Prairie: The University of Nebraska State Museum,1879-1996|author=Thomas Myers|journal=Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences|via=Great Plains Study|year=1997|pages=Paper 547}}</ref> Aughey gathered thousands of insect specimens and tens of thousands of mineral samples, but proper cataloguing of the collection was limited.<ref name=Growth/> The museum moved to newly constructed Nebraska Hall in 1888. [[File:Daemonelix (fossil beaver burrows) (Harrison Formation, Middle Miocene; Sioux County, Nebraska, USA) 3 (33361868602).jpg|left|thumb|Daemonelix formations, discovered by Erwin Hinckley Barbour in 1891, are on display at the museum]] Barbour became Chairman of the Department of Geology (and ''de facto'' museum director) in 1891 and immediately sought to expand the collection of fossil vertebrates; at the time, skeletons of a cow and a horse were the only large objects in the museum's possession.<ref name=Prelim>{{cite journal|title=The Preliminary Report on The Nebraska State Museum|author=Erwin Hinckley Barbour|journal=The University of Nebraska Bulletin of the Nebraska State Museum|year=1924|volume=1|pages=1}}</ref> Barbour led an expedition to the Nebraska panhandle and unearthed a mysterious formation in the state badlands, a trace fossil he named Daemonelix ("the devil's corkscrew").<ref>{{cite web|url=https://eartharchives.org/articles/legend-of-the-devil-s-corkscrews/index.html|title=Legend of the "Devil's Corkscrews"|author=Vasika Udurawane|website=Earth Archives|date=2020|access-date=10 July 2025}}</ref>
Barbour's discovery intrigued regent and donor Charles Henry Morrill, who gave $1,000 for another expedition when he learned Barbour's studies were not funded by the university. Morrill began sponsoring annual "Morrill Geological Expeditions," which greatly expanded the museum's collections. Barbour and university representatives presented his geological discoveries at the 1898 Trans-Mississippi Exposition.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1051&context=geosciencefacpub|title=Report on the Work of the Morrill Geological Expeditions of the University of Nebraska|author=Carrie Adeline Barbour|journal=Papers in the Earth and Atmospheric Sciences|date=June 1900|access-date=10 June 2025}}</ref> Barbour also began to gather the large mammoth and mastodon specimens for which the museum has become known.<ref name=Growth/> Morrill funded a new "Museum Building" in 1908 to house the rapidly expanding collection.
Morrill continued his contributions for the rest of his life, funding over one hundred archaeological expeditions.<ref name=Morrill/> Shortly before his death in 1928, he implored chancellor Samuel Avery to establish a permanent home for the State Museum, as the Museum Building had fallen into disrepair after a 1912 fire.<ref name=Morrill/> Avery hastily raised $300,000 for construction of a new museum, art, and music building, which was completed in 1927 just east of Memorial Stadium and dedicated as Morrill Hall.<ref name=Morrill/> Its design was based on the European museums Barbour had toured during a 1909 trip.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Morrill Hall... Looking Back|author=Dorothy Meade|journal=Museum Notes|year=1991|volume=78}}</ref>
===Expansion=== thumb|277x277px|The Mueller Planetarium was established in 1958 With his health failing, Barbour retired as museum director in 1941 at age eighty-five.<ref name=Growth/> Assistant director C. Bertrand Schultz was promoted and worked to bring the university's collections of plants and insects, neglected during Barbour's tenure given his focus on large vertebrates, back under the museum's auspices.<ref name=Growth/> In the late 1950s, Schultz helped establish the Nebraska Hall of Wildlife, a series of dioramas depicting birds and animals in their native environments.<ref name=Growth/> Around the same time, university alumnus and Cleveland industrialist Ralph S. Mueller donated funds for what became the Mueller Planetarium, a thirty-one-foot dome that was the first planetarium in Nebraska.<ref name=RSM>{{cite web|url=http://www.spacelaser.com/60years.html|title=Mueller Planetarium|publisher=University of Nebraska–Lincoln|access-date=30 November 2016}}</ref> More than 20,000 people attended shows during its first six months of operation.<ref name=RSM/>
Toward the end of his thirty-two-year tenure as director, Schultz led a consolidation of the museum's collection. By 1970, the majority of artifacts were stored under the same roof for the first time in nearly one hundred years, with the exception of many large fossils which were kept in an off-campus storage facility.<ref name=Growth/>
Schultz's successor James H. Gunnerson led a dramatic reorganization of museum staff, hiring professional caretakers and greatly improving management of the collections. Members of the new staff noted a worsening deterioration of many fossils due to Morrill Hall's aging preservation systems.<ref name=Growth/> In June 1987, the Nebraska Legislature approved $3.7 million in funding for the renovation of Morrill Hall, including the addition of modern climate control to protect artifacts.<ref name=140years/>
In 1998, a $275,000, life-size bronze mammoth statue – nicknamed "Archie," the same name given to the museum's largest fossil display – was erected in front of the museum's main entrance.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.dailynebraskan.com/hairy-mammoth-sculpture-will-greet-visitors-to-morrill-hall/article_79dfba01-fcb3-555c-b924-4cae758814dd.html|title=Hairy mammoth sculpture will greet visitors to Morrill Hall|author=Tom Foster|newspaper=The Daily Nebraskan|access-date=10 July 2025}}</ref>
===21st century=== In the early 2000s, sweeping budget cuts led by new chancellor Harvey Perlman eliminated several museum research positions and threatened its accreditation status with the American Alliance of Museums.<ref name=DN>{{cite news|url=https://www.dailynebraskan.com/state-museum-faces-budget-cuts-challenges/article_297da7ff-658a-5bbe-8972-783ff5fd4ec4.html|title=State museum faces budget cuts, challenges|author=Rachael Seravalli|newspaper=The Daily Nebraskan|date=11 November 2003|access-date=10 July 2025}}</ref> A decision to close the Mueller Planetarium was later reversed.<ref name=DN/>
The museum became a Smithsonian Affiliate in 2013, and permanently houses the Institute's scarab collection.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.dailynebraskan.com/culture/only-2-percent-of-morrill-halls-collection-is-on-display-heres-where-the-rest-is/article_be1af1ba-51bb-11e9-8020-039aa5e3fbbe.html|title=Only 2 percent of Morrill Hall's collection is on display; here's where the rest is stored|author=Emma Kopplin|newspaper=The Daily Nebraskan|date=29 March 2019|access-date=10 July 2025}}</ref> Morrill Hall underwent a $9.3-million renovation in 2024 as the building prepared to celebrate its hundredth anniversary.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.1011now.com/2024/06/25/93-million-morrill-hall-renovations-refresh-new-while-keeping-classics/|title=Morrill Hall undergoes $9.3M renovation, enhancing museum experience for next 50 years|author=Grace Mcdonald|website=KOLN|date=25 June 2024|access-date=10 July 2025}}</ref>
==Exhibits== ===First floor=== ;Hall of Nebraska Wildlife The Hall of Nebraska Wildlife is a collection of dioramas displaying animals, birds, and plants from different Nebraska regions. It includes an American bison (''bison bison''), a presumed descendant of the pre-Illinoian ice age ''bison antiquus'', extinct since 4,000 to 5,000 years ago.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://library.sandiegozoo.org/factsheets/_extinct/bison_extinct/bison_extinct.htm|title=North American Bison: Their Classification and Evolution|author=Jerry Mcdonald|journal=San Diego Zoo Global|date=1981|access-date=21 November 2016|archive-date=August 9, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170809191647/http://library.sandiegozoo.org/factsheets/_extinct/bison_extinct/bison_extinct.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>
A mountain lion was added to the exhibit in 2008 after it was struck and killed on Interstate 80. Chemical analysis of the mountain lion's claws suggests it traveled from the Black Hills along the Missouri or Elkhorn Rivers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://museum.unl.edu/exhibits/mountainlion.html|title=Mountain Lion installed in Hall of Nebraska Wildlife|website=University of Nebraska State Museum|access-date=21 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100530220056/http://museum.unl.edu/exhibits/mountainlion.html|archive-date=30 May 2010}}</ref> The exhibit also displays African animals on the Red List of Threatened Species, including the waterbuck (''kobus ellipsiprymnus''), a medium-sized antelope at lower risk, and the black rhinoceros (''diceros bicornis''), now critically endangered due to overhunting.
;''The Photo Ark'' Morrill Hall houses the only permanent display of Joel Sartore's ''National Geographic The Photo Ark'' photograph series.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.joelsartore.com/photo-ark/|title=The Photo Ark|website=Joel Sartore|access-date=25 June 2025}}</ref> Sartore, a Nebraska native, began the project in 2005 to document the world's biodiversity, hoping to photograph the approximately 15,000 living species in zoos, aquariums, and wildlife sanctuaries to encourage protection of wildlife. The exhibit uses videos and displays to showcase Sartore's techniques and interactive elements about the species and landscapes featured in the series.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://museum.unl.edu/exhibits/exhibits/photo-ark.html|title=Photo Ark: Exhibits: University of Nebraska State Museum of Natural History|website=University of Nebraska State Museum|access-date=25 June 2025|language=en}}</ref>
A nearby display features Nebraska artist Elizabeth Honor Dolan, who was commissioned in 1926 to paint a series of fresco murals in Elephant Hall and adjacent galleries.
;Marx Discovery Center The Dr. Paul and Betty Marx Science Discovery Center offers a hands-on experience for elementary-aged children. It includes rhinoceros skeletons to be "uncovered," touchable fossils of mammals and plants, and information about the geology of Lincoln.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://museum.unl.edu/exhibits/marx-discovery-center.html|title=Marx Discovery Center: Exhibits: University of Nebraska State Museum of Natural History|website=University of Nebraska State Museum|access-date=25 June 2025|language=en}}</ref>
===Second floor=== ;Paleontology of Nebraska thumb|The Mesozoic Gallery Located on the main floor of the State Museum as its centerpiece, the Paleontology of Nebraska exhibits include Elephant Hall, the Mesozoic Gallery, Fossil Animals, and the Toren Gallery of Ancient Life. The museum is known for its collection of over one million vertebrate fossils, fifth-largest in the United States, which it has gathered since Erwin Barbour began excavating in Western Nebraska in 1891.<ref name=Morrill>{{cite web|url=http://historicbuildings.unl.edu/building.php?b=33|title=UNL Historic Buildings – Morrill Hall|website=UNL Historic Buildings|access-date=17 November 2016}}</ref> More than 85,000 vertebrate species have been cataloged, most originating from Nebraska, along with Pleistocene-era fossils from New Mexico and Cretaceous-era fossils from Montana.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.museum.unl.edu/research/vertpaleo/index.html|title=UNL State Museum Vertebrate Paleontology Collections & Research|website=University of Nebraska State Museum|access-date=21 November 2016}}</ref>
{{anchor|Elephant Hall}} Elephant Hall houses a large collection of mammoth skeletons, including the largest Columbian mammoth fossil in the world (known as "Archie").<ref>{{cite news|url=http://journalstar.com/news/local/education/archie-the-mammoth-a-cover-boy/article_1e992334-4560-5441-8175-6dee535ef2e3.html|title=Archie the mammoth a cover boy|author=Chris Dunker|newspaper=Lincoln Journal Star|date=19 May 2015|access-date=21 November 2016}}</ref> Elephant Hall displays skeletons and models of various eras, highlighting changes in skeletal structure across thousands of years.
The Mesozoic Gallery features skeletons and models of species of the Mesozoic era. The gallery houses several dinosaur fossils, including a plesiosaur excavated in 2004 from Northeast Nebraska, one of the longest marine fossils in the world.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://museum.unl.edu/collections/vertebrate-paleontology/highway-paleontology/mesozoic-plesiosaur.html|title=A Mesozoic Plesiosaur|publisher=University of Nebraska State Museum Vertebrate Paleontology|access-date=21 November 2016}}</ref>
The Toren Gallery of Ancient Life includes models of organisms of the Paleozoic era. Fossil Animals displays skeletons of rhinoceros, horses, and camels, and typically houses new donations.<ref name=140years/>
;Mueller Planetarium Mueller Planetarium was established in 1958 through a gift from alumnus Ralph S. Mueller. Director Jack Dunn hosted the planetarium's first laser light show in 1977, playing electronic music through a repurposed car speaker sound system with two slide projectors.<ref name=Dunn>{{cite journal|url=http://0-web.b.ebscohost.com.library.unl.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=ff29aeb9-1320-4ae3-ac0f-3bd4fd2f15b1%40sessionmgr102&vid=6&hid=128|title=Jack Dunn: a new life after 43 years at Mueller Planetarium|author=Troy Fredderson|journal=Planetarian|date=1 September 2014|access-date=21 November 2016|volume=43|issue=3}}</ref> When some audiences complained it was difficult to see the stars projected during laser shows, Dunn developed a show specifically tailored for visually impaired patrons.<ref name=Dunn/> The project, promoted and shared internationally by the International Laser Display Association, used high-contrast dots and lines.<ref>{{cite book|title=1993 University of Nebraska State Museum Annual Report|author=Brett Ratcliffe|publisher=University of Nebraska–Lincoln|date=1993|pages=19–20}}</ref>
In 2006, the planetarium installed spherical mirrors to project shows onto the dome's thirty-foot roof.<ref name=Dunn/> Dunn retired in 2014 but the Mueller Planetarium continued its laser light displays, along with informational shows depicting the Solar System and Nebraskan night skies.<ref name=Mueller>{{cite web|url=http://www.spacelaser.com/|title=Space and Lasers at Mueller Planetarium 1971-2014|author=Jack Dunn|website=University of Nebraska–Lincoln|access-date=20 November 2016}}</ref>
;Bizarre Beasts Bizarre Beasts opened in 2013 to display strange and unusual prehistoric creatures. Artist and Nebraska native Gary Staab created the exhibit to provide a face-to-face look at these animals and discover how their environments shaped their features. The display showcases cast skeletons and life-size models of natural oddities, including a pterosaur, a giant reptile with a fifteen-foot wingspan; ''Diatryma'', a six-foot-tall flightless bird; and ''Helicoprion'', a thirteen-foot shark with a row of teeth that resembles a buzz saw.<ref>{{cite web|title=Bizarre Beasts: Exhibits: University of Nebraska State Museum of Natural History |url=https://museum.unl.edu/exhibits/exhibits/bizarre-beasts.html|website=University of Nebraska State Museum|access-date=25 June 2025|language=en}}</ref>
===Third floor=== ;First Peoples of the Plains Renovated and reopened in 1987, the First Peoples of the Plains gallery celebrates the traditions of Plains Indians. It features tools, clothing, and art from Indigenous tribes including the Omaha, Ponca, Iowa, Lakota, and Winnebago. The exhibit emphasizes how the vast Plains grasslands influenced cultural traditions, language, artistic expression, and religion of its tribes.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://museum.unl.edu/exhibits/exhibits/first-peoples-of-the-plains.html|title=First Peoples of the Plains: Exhibits: University of Nebraska State Museum of Natural History|website=University of Nebraska State Museum|access-date=25 June 2025|language=en}}</ref>
;Arms, Armor, and Anthropology The Arms, Armor, and Anthropology exhibit originally opened in October 2009 as Weapons Throughout Time. It reopened in June 2025, featuring over 150 weapons and pieces of armor, examining how cultural values, fighting tactics, and available resources contributed to differing weapon types and styles. The exhibit includes several full sets of armor, including Meiji-period Samurai armor, clubs, daggers and knives, swords, bows and arrows, and firearms.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://museum.unl.edu/exhibits/exhibits/arms-armor-anthropology.html|title=Arms, Armor, and Anthropology: Exhibits: University of Nebraska State Museum of Natural History|website=University of Nebraska State Museum|access-date=25 June 2025|language=en}}</ref>
;Other exhibits The Goliath exhibit focuses on the Goliath beetle (''Goliathus''), one of the largest insects on earth, and its role in the global ecosystem. It includes hundreds of specimens from the university's entomology collection.
The Explore Evolution exhibit opened in September 2005 to depict evolutionary concepts developed by scientists including Peter and Rosemary Grant, Svante Pääbo, and Philip Gingerich.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://explore-evolution.unl.edu/exhibit.html|title=Explore Evolution: The Exhibit|website=University of Nebraska State Museum|access-date=20 November 2016}}</ref>
The Cooper Gallery is used for temporary exhibits. Since 2019, it has hosted "Sun, Earth, Universe," created by the National Informal STEM Education Network and NASA. The exhibit has interactive displays about Earth and the Solar System. It is primarily suited for young children, allowing the opportunity to build a model spacecraft, observe the scale of the Solar System, use the tools NASA employs to explore interstellar forces, and study the Artemis program.
===Fourth floor=== The fourth floor of the museum housed office space and was closed to guests for over fifty years. In 2019, it was renovated through $11.4 million in private donations and the Cherish Nebraska exhibit was opened.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.dailynebraskan.com/news/morrill-hall-s-unused-fourth-floor-to-receive-renovation/article_fe38c9cc-7922-11e5-951f-8f1a4a9a35ab.html|title=Morrill Hall’s unused fourth floor to receive renovation|author=Lukas Ziemba|newspaper=The Daily Nebraskan|date=23 October 2015|access-date=10 July 2025}}</ref> Seven galleries display Nebraska's natural heritage, as it looks today and how it looked in the past. The Science Exploration Zone contains microscopes to study smaller organisms, and the State Museum Science display shows how scientists collect and prepare specimens from the field. A space for visitors to meet with museum scientists was created.
==People== ===Directors=== {|class=wikitable ! No. !! Director<ref name=Director>{{cite news|url=http://journalstar.com/news/local/education/state-museum-names-new-director/article_b4d03a08-56c4-59ed-b9af-656bde91fc6f.html|title=State Museum names new director|newspaper=Lincoln Journal Star|date=17 August 2015|access-date=17 November 2016}}</ref> !! Tenure |- ! 1 | Samuel Aughey || 1874–1885 |- ! 2 | Lewis Ezra Hicks || 1885–1891 |- ! 3 | Erwin Hinckley Barbour || 1891–1941 |- ! 4 | C. Bertrand Shultz || 1941–1973 |- ! 5 | James H. Gunnerson || 1974–1982 |- |rowspan=2| ''Interim'' || Allen Griesemer || 1982–1984 |- | John Janovy || 1984–1986 |- ! 6 | Hugh Genoways || 1986–1994 |- ! 7 | James Estes || 1995–2003 |- ! 8 | Priscilla Grew || 2003–2015 |- ! 9 | Susan Weller || 2015–present |}
===Significant contributors=== {|class=wikitable ! Year(s) !! Contributor !! Contribution |- | 1871 || Stephen F. Nuckolls || Mineral artifacts<ref name=Growth/> |- | 1893–1941 || Charles Henry Morrill || Funding for research, expeditions, and construction<ref name=Morrill/> |- | 1987 || Nebraska Legislature || $3.7-million grant<ref name=140years>{{cite web|url=http://www.museum.unl.edu/140/history.html|title=University of Nebraska State Museum: Celebrating 140 years of Discovery, 1871–2011|website=University of Nebraska State Museum|publisher=Nebraska State Museum|access-date=19 November 2016}}</ref> |- | 1989–1992 || National Science Foundation || $380,000 for renovation and the addition of an endangered species collection<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=8820867&HistoricalAwards=false|title=NSF Award Search: Award#8820867 – Renovation of Vertebrate Fossil Collections of the University of Nebraska State Museum|website=National Science Foundation|access-date=16 November 2016}}</ref> |- | 2007–2012 || National Institutes of Health || Grant to create a World of Viruses exhibit<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1256&context=virologypub|title=World of Viruses: Going Viral|author=Judy Diamond|journal=Virology|date=2011|access-date=20 November 2016|page=254}}</ref> |- | 2008 || National Science Foundation || $480,000 for beetle research<ref name=140years/> |- | 2013 || Claire M. Hubbard Foundation || $150,000 for educational endeavors, technology advancements, and youth programs<ref>{{cite web|url=https://nufoundation.org/-/article-hubbard-foundation-advances-state-museums-outreach-and-service|title=Hubbard Foundation advances State Museum's outreach and service|website=University of Nebraska Foundation|publisher=University of Nebraska Foundation|access-date=21 November 2016}}</ref> |}
==Gallery== <gallery mode=packed> File:Animal Evolution Display.jpg|Animal evolution display File:Fossil Exhibit.jpg|Fossil exhibit File:Dinosaur Bone Display.jpg|Elephant Hall, which includes the largest mammoth skeletons </gallery> <gallery mode=packed> File:Mesozoic Gallery.jpg|Entrance of Mesozoic Gallery File:The Discovery Shop located within the museum.jpg|The Discovery Shop File:Fossil Preparation at State Museum.jpg|Fossil preparation File:2nd Floor Hallway at State Museum.jpg|Second floor hallway File:Dinosaur Display.jpg|Vertebrate Paleontology Area on first floor File:Display at Nebraska State Museum.jpg|First Peoples of the Plains exhibit </gallery>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{commons category|University of Nebraska State Museum}} *[http://www.museum.unl.edu/ Official website]
{{University of Nebraska–Lincoln}} {{Lincoln, Nebraska}} {{authority control}}
Category:Museums in Lincoln, Nebraska Category:University of Nebraska–Lincoln buildings and structures Category:Natural history museums in Nebraska Category:University museums in Nebraska Category:1871 establishments in Nebraska Category:Museums established in 1871 Category:Paleontology in Nebraska Category:Dinosaur museums in the United States Category:University and college buildings and structures completed in 1871