26 Oxford Street 11
Divinity Avenue
Cambridge Cambridge
617-495-3045 617-496-1027
www.hmnh.harvard.edu
www.peabody.harvard.edu
Despite the difference in
addresses, these two museums are located in the same building
and are inter-connected. It makes sense to visit them together.
The Harvard Museum of
Natural History is actually three museums: the Botanical Museum,
the Museum of Comparative Zoology, and the Mineralogical and
Geological Museum, and they are the best-kept secret in Boston.
The University owns impressive collections in these fields,
logically and clearly laid out on the third floor of the
building. Enter through Oxford Street and start your tour with
these three. You can then enter the Peabody through the Mineral
exhibit, view the displays here on the third floor then descend
to finish with the Peabody’s first floor collection. If this
all seems chaotic, remember – this is a university building
and offices and labs sit side-by-side with the public rooms.
Although all rooms hold
fascinating treasures, the high point of your visit is sure to
be the Glass Flowers – three full rooms of meticulously
crafted botanical models made of glass by the Dresden artisans
Leopold and Rudolph (father and son) Blaschka around the turn of
the century. There are almost 3000 pieces, complete with leaves,
petals, stamens, roots, and even pollen and the occasional
insect. Unbelievably realistic, and with a beauty of their own,
the models were created for teaching purposes.
Apart from the Glass
Flowers, the museums hold other fine and stunning collections,
for example: all shapes, sizes and colors of beetles, unusual
dinosaurs and fossils, fish, birds, and mammals. There are whale
skeletons with the baleen intact – for once, you can visualize
just how such large creatures live off tiny plankton. Kids won’t
be disappointed, neither will the adults. The mineralogical
collection is vast and well tagged, and includes meteorites.
Gems sparkle from their cases.
The Peabody collections
include Native American Arts of the Southwest, as well as
reproduced Mayan artifacts. Up on the balcony (floor 4), you’ll
discover the watercraft, tools, and every day objects of the
people of Oceania. Down on the first floor, there is a section
dedicated to the Bushmen of the Kalahari, and a large Hall of
the North American Indian. This hall is divided geographically
and depicts tribal life by sections of the Northern Hemisphere:
Northeast, Northwest, Arctic, Southeast, and Southwest. It’s a
thoughtful presentation of an important part of the American
heritage.
Out of the way,
inexpensive, and unadvertised, this group of museums is one of
the best and quietest destinations in Boston. You won’t find
crowds here, nor will you find guards lurking in every corner
– this place works by the honor system.
Hours:
Monday – Saturday: 9 –
5
Sunday: 1 – 5
Closed July 4th,
Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s Day
Admission:
Adults: $5.00
Seniors: $4.00
Non-Harvard students with
I.D.: $4.00
Ages 3 – 13: $3.00
HARVARD
MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY PEABODY MUSEUM
ATTRACTIONS
