Yosemite Museum facts for kids
The Yosemite Museum is a special place in Yosemite Valley, located inside Yosemite National Park in California. It opened in 1926, thanks to people like Ansel Franklin Hall. The museum teaches visitors about the history and culture of the Ahwahnechee people. These are the Native Americans who lived in the valley for a very long time. The museum also has a large collection of baskets, some made for everyday use and others for selling. These baskets show how people lived from around 1870 until today.
Right next to the museum is the Yosemite Valley Visitor Center. Here, you can learn about the park's rocks, animals, and the people who have lived there. This includes Native Americans, early settlers, and famous figures like John Muir.
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History of the Yosemite Museum
The Yosemite Museum was one of the first museums created by the National Park Service (NPS). It has one of the biggest collections in the entire park system. The very first "museum" in Yosemite was actually an arboretum, a place for trees, started in 1904. This was even before the National Park Service existed.
Early Museum Locations
In 1915, a museum focusing on nature was set up in the Park Headquarters Building. Then, in 1922, the museum moved to what used to be artist Chris Jorgensen's home. This new, bigger space allowed the museum to add items about history, different cultures, and geology. Visitors really loved the expanded exhibits.
Building a New Museum
In the 1920s, there was a big idea to build museums in national parks to help people learn outdoors. The Yosemite Museum was a perfect example of this idea. A group called the American Association of Museums helped get money to build a new museum in Yosemite. They received a grant of $70,500 to build and equip it. This new building was meant to be a model for other park museums.
The new museum building was finished in 1925 and opened to the public in 1926. It had two floors with exhibits on geology, nature, history, and different cultures. It also included a research library, workrooms, and a meeting room.
Museum Changes Over Time
After the new Valley Visitor Center opened in 1966, much of the Yosemite Museum building was used for offices. Most of the museum's collection is now kept in storage. However, some items are still shown in other places. These include the Indian Cultural Exhibit (opened in 1976) and the Museum Gallery (opened in 1988). You can also see items at the Pioneer Yosemite History Center and the El Portal Transportation Exhibit.
Many objects from the museum are often loaned to other museums for exhibits and research. Park staff and outside researchers use the museum's collection and its library to study the history of the park's people and nature.
Yosemite Museum Collections
The Yosemite Museum has many interesting items. Here are some of the highlights:
- The first drawings of Yosemite by Thomas A. Ayres.
- John Muir's personal tin cup.
- Beautiful landscape paintings by famous artists like Thomas Hill, Thomas Moran, William Keith, and Albert Bierstadt.
- About 100,000 old photographs of the park.
- Baskets made by skilled artists like Lucy Telles and Maggie Howard.
- The Schwabacher Basket Collection, which includes baskets from the Mono Lake Paiute and Miwok people.
Museum Architecture Style
The Yosemite Museum is built in a style called National Park Service rustic. This style was important to the National Park Service. It meant that buildings should look like they belong in nature. They should blend in with their surroundings. Builders used natural materials like local rocks, logs, and wood shingles for the outside of these buildings. The idea was to make buildings look like they were made by early pioneers using simple tools. This helped them fit in with both nature and the past.
Yosemite Museum's Design
The Yosemite Museum is a great example of this rustic style. It was built in the middle of a new village area where all buildings were designed to look similar. The museum's architect, Herbert Maier, explained how the museum fit its natural setting. He said the museum's design focused on being wide and low. This was because trying to make a tall, impressive building would mean competing with the huge cliffs around it.
Herbert Maier went on to design many other buildings that are famous examples of the rustic style. In 1933, he helped the National Park Service guide state park designers. He created guidebooks to help them use rustic design ideas. These books were shared widely and influenced how park buildings were designed all over the country. This happened when many new parks were being built with the help of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).
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