Everhart Museum facts for kids
Everhart Museum
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| Established | 1908 |
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| Location | 1901 Mulberry Street Nay Aug Park, Scranton, Pennsylvania |
| Type | Art, natural history |
The Everhart Museum of Natural History, Science & Art is a cool place to visit in Nay Aug Park in Scranton, Pennsylvania. It's a special museum that shows off both amazing art and fascinating natural history.
A local doctor and expert in preparing animal specimens, Dr. Isaiah Fawkes Everhart, started the museum in 1908. Many of the bird specimens you see there came from his own collection!
Besides animals, the museum has lots of other cool things. You can see beautiful artworks, especially by artists from Northeastern Pennsylvania. There are also artifacts from different cultures and even real fossils! The museum is also known for its great collection of American folk art.
Contents
History of the Everhart Museum
How the Museum Started
The Everhart Museum was founded by Dr. Isaiah Fawkes Everhart, who was a kind person who loved nature. He wanted to share the wonders of the world with his community in Scranton. When the museum first opened its doors on May 30, 1908, it was one of the very few public museums in Pennsylvania.
Dr. Everhart had served as a surgeon during the Civil War. After the war, he had an idea to gather a huge collection of birds and animals native to Pennsylvania. He was very skilled at taxidermy, which is preparing, stuffing, and mounting animal skins to make them look alive. His collection grew into one of the best and largest in the United States!
In 1905, Dr. Everhart decided to use money from his estate to build a museum in Nay Aug Park. He wanted it to be a place that would "educate and delight for generations to come." He kept collecting specimens and soon realized he wanted to build the museum while he was still alive.
So, in 1907, he announced he would provide the money and guidance to create a museum "for the young and old of this generation." Construction began, and the main building of the Everhart Museum was dedicated on Memorial Day, May 30, 1908. At first, most of the museum's items were Dr. Everhart's bird specimens.
To honor the museum's founder, a bronze statue of Dr. Everhart and a lake named Lake Everhart were dedicated on May 20, 1911. Dr. Everhart passed away just five days later. While he had planned for three separate buildings, the museum's leaders later added two wings to the original building. These additions were finished in 1929, making the museum even bigger! Later, in 1962, a new small gallery was built in the basement for changing exhibits.
Stolen Artworks
On November 17, 2005, two important artworks were stolen from the museum. These included a painting by Jackson Pollock and a piece by pop artist Andy Warhol. Even though the police and the FBI tried to get them back, the artworks have not been returned to the museum.
Museum Collections
The Everhart Museum has about 20,000 different objects! About half of these are related to human culture and art. This includes paintings, sculptures, and items from different cultures around the world. The other half of the collection focuses on natural science, like fossils, birds, mammals, and minerals.
The museum often uses its natural science collection to inspire art exhibits. It's a great resource for artists and kids who want to learn about the natural world!
Natural Science Collection
The natural science collection at the Everhart Museum includes animals and plants from Pennsylvania and from all over the world.
- The bird collection has 2,300 specimens, and many of them are on display in the museum's Bird Gallery.
- The mammal collection has about 400 specimens, including primates and local animals.
- There are also about 285 fish, reptile, and amphibian specimens.
- The museum's shell collection is huge, with 3,500 specimens!
- The mineral collection has 800 pieces.
- You can see some of the 300 fossil pieces in the Life Through Time Gallery.
- The insect collection includes about 300 butterflies, moths, and beetles.
- In 1913, a local botanist named Alfred Twining gave his collection of 2,100 plant specimens to the museum.
Fine Art Collection
The fine art collection features paintings from the 1800s by famous national and local artists. It also has modern prints and paintings, a small group of European paintings, and both classical and modern sculptures.
The ancient civilizations collection has 500 pieces. These include old ancient Egyptian items, Roman glass and bronze objects, sculptures, and jewelry. The ethnographic collections have 4,000 pieces, like pottery, fabrics, and religious items from different cultures. The African art collection has 500 pieces, including masks, figures, and tools.
Americana and Folk Art
The Americana and folk art collection includes paintings, sculptures, textiles, and furniture. In 1934, Mr. and Mrs. John Law Robertson lent some important American Folk Art pieces for an exhibit. Most of these were later bought by the museum between 1946 and 1948, forming the core of this large collection.
Mrs. Robertson was one of the first people to dedicate her time and money to building a major folk art collection in the country. She loved art that was often overlooked by museums that only focused on "fine arts." She looked for American art outside of traditional art schools, seeing the beauty and history in these unique objects.
Decorative Arts
The decorative arts collection has ceramics, glass, and furniture from Asia, Europe, and America. A special part of this collection is the Dorflinger Glass. This beautiful cut glass and stemware was made in White Mills, Pennsylvania, from 1852 to 1921.
The Dorflinger factory was very famous for its high-quality glass. Eight American presidents, from Abraham Lincoln to Woodrow Wilson, and even some European royalty, wanted their fine tableware!
