Barnum Museum of Natural History facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Barnum Hall |
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Barnum Hall
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| Former names | Barnum Museum of Natural History |
| General information | |
| Type | Classroom, laboratory, museum |
| Architectural style | Romanesque Revival |
| Town or city | Medford, Massachusetts |
| Country | US |
| Coordinates | 42°24′28″N 71°07′15″W / 42.407787°N 71.120732°W |
| Opened | 1883 |
| Renovated | 1894, 1935, 1963, 1976 |
| Owner | Tufts University |
| Technical details | |
| Material | Blue-gray slate |
| Floor count | Three |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | J. Phillip Rinn |
| Renovating team | |
| Renovating firm | Perry Shaw, Hepburn and Dean Kubitz & Pepi |
Barnum Hall is a building at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts. It was once known as the Barnum Museum of Natural History. This museum was created by the famous showman P.T. Barnum.
The museum showed off many interesting animals from his circus. Its most famous display was Jumbo the Elephant. Jumbo's stuffed hide was a huge attraction. Sadly, a fire on April 14, 1975, destroyed the building and everything inside. Barnum Hall has since been rebuilt in part.
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How Barnum Hall Began
The idea for the museum came from Tufts University President Elmer Hewitt Capen. He wanted to make the university bigger. P.T. Barnum was a supporter of Universalism, which Tufts was connected to. So, President Capen asked Barnum for help.
In May 1883, Barnum agreed to donate money. He wanted the gift to be a secret at first. He also said the building must always be called the 'Barnum Museum of Natural History.' The new building was meant to go along with his other museum in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
Building Design and Early Collections
The architect J. Phillip Rinn designed the building. It had two main floors above a basement. The basement held a lab and a lecture room. The ground floor had a library and an entrance area.
The upper floors featured a tall, grand hall. This hall was 34 feet high. It was made to display all the museum's specimens. Rinn designed the building to match the nearby Goddard Chapel. This made the campus look more unified.
The museum displayed many items already collected by Tufts professor John Marshall. These were mostly rocks and minerals. Mary Goddard, an early supporter of Tufts, also gave items. She donated coins, cultural artifacts, and stuffed birds. For Barnum, this museum was one of many he helped create. He supported natural history collections at over 200 American universities.
Growing the Museum
After Barnum passed away in 1891, the museum continued to do well. Barnum had left another $40,000 for the museum. This money helped add two new sections and more collections.
In 1894, the university built the west wing. This new part included a biology lab, classrooms, and a library. An east wing was added in 1935 for more labs and offices. The third addition, the Dana Laboratory, was built in 1963. It cost $750,000. Funds for this came from the National Science Foundation. This addition was named after Charles Dana.
The Big Fire of 1975
On April 14, 1975, a fire broke out at Barnum Hall. It started from faulty wiring in a refrigerator unit. By 4:30 in the morning, the building was on fire. Firefighters from eight towns rushed to help. By 6 a.m., the fire was under control.
Even though the fire was huge, no one was hurt. The building kept smoldering for days. When the smoke finally cleared, almost everything was gone. The specimens were just ashes. Only the metal frames that held them up remained.
Jumbo's Ashes
The morning after the fire, an employee found Jumbo's remains. They swept his ashes into a small peanut butter jar. The news of Jumbo's loss spread worldwide. It even overshadowed the loss of important research from the Biology department.
What Happened Next
Today, Jumbo's ashes are kept in a special container. They are sometimes brought out to inspire the university's sports teams. Other parts of Jumbo, like his tail, survived the fire. These are stored in the university's archives.
Plans to rebuild Barnum Hall started right away. Under President Jean Mayer, the university also improved other buildings. This was to prevent future fires. The firm Kubitz and Pepi was hired for the reconstruction. The original sloped roof was replaced with a flat one. The fire caused a big loss of the building's original look.
In 1976, Barnum Hall reopened for students. Because Tufts no longer had its mascot, students found a large papier-mâché statue of Jumbo. It used to be at an animal farm. In 2013, a university group decided to get a new statue. They asked Steven Whyte to create a bronze statue of Jumbo. This 5,000-pound statue was paid for by a former university leader. The new bronze statue was revealed on April 27, 2015.
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