The Georgia Museum of Natural History, 1785-1900

Overview

The  Georgia Museum of Natural History  (GMNH) at the University of Georgia (UGA) houses over 7 million specimens in its collection. Historically, little has been known about the collection’s earliest origins and the development of the museum. Though the GMNH was formally established in 1978 and recognized as the state museum of natural history in 1999, the findings presented herein reveal that it has existed in some form since the early 1800s.

Research mainly conducted at the  Richard B. Russell Special Collections Library  tells the previously unknown story of the founding and history of the Museum of Natural History at UGA in the nineteenth century.

This story map aims to highlight key aspects of the growth and development of the collections, their changing location on campus, the museum’s relationship with the Library and the Botanical Gardens, and researchers in charge of the collections in the early and pivotal years of the institution.

Locations of the Museum and Original Botanical Garden


The Origins and Founding of the Museum

1785-1820

Figure 1. Map of UGA Campus 1805. Courtesy of Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library / University of Georgia Libraries.

The University of Georgia was incorporated in 1785 as the first state-supported University in the country. In its inception, Josiah Meigs was appointed as the first professor and also named Acting President. When he arrived at UGA, Meigs created an outline of what subjects students should learn as well as compiled a list of books to be used for instruction. While not confirmed in the  Minutes , E. Merton Coulter, UGA professor and historian, notes in his book College Life in the Old South (1928), that Meigs began a collection of natural history specimens when he was President of The University of Georgia from 1801 to 1810.

In these early years of the collection, these curios and relics were closely linked to the library. Because the library and apparatus collection were growing, a separate building was needed to care for the items and properly store them. Construction for the new two-story building, known as Old College today, began in 1803 and was completed in 1806 (Figure 1).

Construction of the new two-story building – Franklin College, named after Benjamin Franklin – began in 1803 and was completed in 1806. Known today as Old College, the building was intended to serve multiple purposes: it had space for public worship on the ground floor, and the library, philosophical apparatus and mathematical equipment were located on the upper floor. In 1806 the trustees deemed the library so important to the university that they established a lottery to raise $3,000 ($63,700 today) to purchase more books.

The trend of growing the library and apparatus collections continued through the 1810s. As more professors with specialized knowledge were hired, certain individuals were assigned to obtain and care for certain objects and equipment. For example, Dr. Henry Jackson, professor of natural philosophy and physics for over twenty years, was given $2,000 ($38,950 today) in 1817 for purchases of equipment under his discretion. Jackson made additions to the instrument collection with the funds from the Trustees. To do so, he left his post to travel to France in part to obtain another philosophical apparatus, after which he resumed his seat as the Professor of Natural Philosophy and Chemistry. Instruments, such as perhaps the philosophical apparatus Jackson acquired, were only allowed to be handled by “the President, the Professor of Natural Philosophy and Chemistry, and when necessary the Students of the Junior and Senior Classes, under the immediate inspection of the Professor”. Patrons also began to donate specimens in the late 1810s. For example, in 1819 a Mr. McClure from Paris donated “three splendid works in the department of natural history,” which the University gladly welcomed. 

Until 1820, there was no explicit mention of a natural history collection in the Minutes. The Trustees often referred to the philosophical apparatus and the library, clearly prized possessions, in their descriptions of teaching objects. In 1821, the Trustees laid out notes for the care and keeping of such objects. In one of the notes from June of that year, they mention a room that contains “Apparatus or Curiosities,” the first time that the term “curiosities” was used in the university’s documents. The term commonly described a collection of objects in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, which were often stored in cabinets on display and were essentially “collections of artifacts on shelves,” often “heterogeneous and unsystematic”. The Minutes of 1821 explained how rules “concerning the Library, Museum, and Apparatus, shall […] be written in a fair hand and posted in the rooms where they are kept.” The wording in the rules suggest that the collection had grown big enough to require the label of a museum by 1821. The Minutes made note of the proper caring for the objects and placed them “in casements calculated for their preservation.” These rules were the beginning of a relationship in which the collection of “certain curios and relics” was physically kept in close proximity to the library. This also marks the beginning of more formal and frequent mentions of the museum collections in official documents. 


Establishment and Development

1820-1830

While there are earlier mentions of scientific equipment and other objects being held at Old College, Philosophical Hall (now known as Waddel Hall) became the first designated building to hold these collections. Completed in 1821, Philosophical Hall housed the school’s library, its growing collection of scientific equipment, and the early museum. The library was located on the second story of Philosophical Hall, where the Trustees also held their meetings. The Trustees continued to give money for new apparatuses, chemical tests, and also hired “a laborer and servant in the philosophical rooms.” Although it is not explicitly stated, the term “laborer” often referred to an enslaved person during this time. Such references allude to the critical role played by these individuals in the development, construction and maintenance of all aspects of the institution, including the museum, from its inception. That enslaved people formed an integral part of UGA’s history has only recently begun to be acknowledged.

This building did not hold the library and museum collections for long, however. Seeing that the library was growing rapidly, the Trustees set aside over $20,000 ($493,525 today) to build New College, which was completed in 1823, when the library and museum collections were transferred there from Philosophical Hall.

Throughout the 1820s, many donations to the museum collections are noted. Yet again, this reinforced the need for more space store the objects and keep them safe. In 1824, a Dr. Daniel of Savannah, gave a “handsome collection of Mineralogical specimens.” This may have greatly influenced the Trustees, who later that same year resolved that the professor of chemistry and mineralogy should acquire “a mineralogical cabinet not exceeding in cost $40 [$1,100 today] for the safe preservation of such minerals.” Suggesting the importance of not only natural specimens but cultural ones as well, George I.S. Walker further contributed to filling these cabinets by giving “154 gold, silver, and copper coins of various nations,” enhancing this early collection. Other artifacts included “sixty more of different kinds [of coins],” donated by a William Cunningham and “valuable antiquities of Greece and Rome,” donated by William Shields. The specifics surrounding the nature of these objects are unknown, as are their current whereabouts.

Reflecting the growth and importance of these collections, in 1829 the Trustees spent “$2,000 [$55,700 today] for a cabinet of minerals” for New College as well as enough funds for a new natural history faculty member. Unfortunately, the following year, New College was destroyed by a terrible fire. The local Athenian newspaper described the event: “crackling and fallen timbers, the sheets of flames as they burst from one window after another, effusing their lurid glare around, and roaring fierce and frightfully, broke in upon the stillness of night with a sound that sent a thrill of horror through every bosom.” It is likely that donations and other items in the collections mentioned in the Minutes from the 1820s perished in this fire. 


The Museum and the Botanical Garden

1830s- mid 1850s

Following the 1830 fire, immediate steps were taken to make up for the lost collections. A gift of funds of $500 ($14,900 today) was granted “for the purchase of a mineralogical cabinet…at the disposal of the Professor of Natural History” in 1831. Plans for a new building that was “not to cost more than $2,000 [$60,300 today]” and plans to carry on “improvements of the botanic garden and procure such specimens of Natural History and Botany” were discussed by the Trustees the following year. The Ivy Building was erected in 1832 to house the library and the new cabinet of minerals (Figure 2). The University re-collected equipment, geological specimens, and other fixtures to replace those that were lost or damaged by the fire. 

Figure 2. Ivy Building, 1870s. Courtesy of Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library / University of Georgia Libraries.

As the University continued to set aside money to support the natural history collection, a shift occurred in 1832. A note in the Minutes specifies not only a mineralogical cabinet but “also suitable stands or tables on which to display them [the specimens],” suggesting that the way collections were viewed by the Trustees had changed, and that their visibility was considered an asset to the University. In the same note, $75 ($2,300 today) was recorded for another purchase of minerals, again adding to the size of the collection. The natural history department was also given $100 ($3,000 today) for additional improvements in 1832 and 1833. By 1834, the Committee on the Botanic Garden and Cabinet of Minerals reported that the cabinet and garden were “both in a state of order and neatness.” Donations continued throughout the decade, including specimens from as far flung as Hawaii: in 1837, Reverend George White of Savannah gave “rocks from the awful crater of Mona Loa, in Owyhee [Mauna Loa, Hawai’i].” Nor were donations only from individuals residing in Georgia: a John Bony Esq. of Schoharie, New York also made a donation of about 85 specimens of minerals. 

During this period, the University began the cultivation of an impressive botanical garden that was associated with the natural history collections. In 1831, a plot of land known as the “Stewards Lot” (currently located on the corner of Pope Street and Broad Street ) was designated for a garden and a house was planned to “be fitted up for the residence of the Professor of Natural History, which he shall be entitled to occupy on the payment of reasonable rent.” Professor of Natural History, Malthus Ward, planted there “several additions of native and foreign plants,” thereby establishing the botanic garden. The garden quickly became one of the most praised aspects of the University. As was stated in the Minutes, the botanical garden and the natural history department held “a great reliance in the talents and industry of Professor Ward.” Ward also purchased numerous natural history books for personal use, which students were allowed to use to as well.

While Ward put in a lot of initial work into the development of the botanic garden, the Trustees felt that “a perseverance in and extension of these labors may lead to results highly interesting and valuable.” They recognized the garden’s importance “in the business life and interests of Society” and that is was “a necessary part of a liberal Education.” Consequently, in 1834, to reverse the “total inadequacy of the amount appropriated to the establishment of a Botanic Garden,” Ward was granted $150 ($4,500 today) for “the increase of the collection of plants and cabinet of minerals” and was given an additional “$250 [$7,500 today] for the improvement of the Garden and Sun House.” The Trustees’ goal was to have a garden “on a scale worthy [to] the College” for “a wide field of study, and Science.” They also believed the garden would provide “tempting and stimulating investigation into natural sciences, leading to useful and manly exercises having a fine effect in morals and health.”The Trustees formed a “Committee of the Botanical Garden and Cabinet of Minerals” (hereafter the Committee) and the university allocated money “for the continuance & improvement of the Botanic Garden & cabinet of minerals and for the employment of a Gardener of competent qualifications.” In 1835, the Trustees suggested enlarging the garden to 2.5 acres due to it “gradually increasing in extent & interest.” There was also an additional allocation for state plants and plants native to Georgia. 

This investment in the garden by the university and its Trustees resulted in the successful establishment and cultivation of the garden. By the late 1830s and early 1840s its reputation was known well beyond the state of Georgia. One visitor from New York noted: 

…the University Botanical Garden to be the institution’s most impressive feature… The garden was located “in the most romantic manner imaginable” and was “watered, by two gurgling brooks, which form a fairy-like island; -- while one of them forms a musical cascade, and the other an artificial pond, abounding in water plants, and containing only a short time ago, a few perch and a harmless alligator. 

At one point, an experimental fruit garden was planted, “rearing the best qualities of fruits, by which from all parts of the country not only will the most rare & choice fruits be introduced but will one day be the means of defraying the expenses of the institution.” 

Figure 3. Professor James Jackson, 1840s. Reproduced from A. L. Hull, A Historical Sketch of the University of Georgia.

While the garden thrived during the 1830s, a shift took place beginning in 1840. The Trustees began to note that not only did “the Garden … cost more than was anticipated by its founders,” but also that it “failed to accomplish all that its founders expected from it.” Though a slave named Patrick was assigned to work for the botanic garden in 1842, talk of discontinuing the garden began to take place and Professor Ward resigned. UGA has recently joined the  Universities Studying Slavery  consortium to document and research the lives of Patrick and other enslaved people at UGA. The research can be found  here . Despite its earlier popularity and recognition, the garden’s fate suddenly became unsure, and natural history was even briefly dropped from the curriculum until James Jackson, nephew of Henry Jackson, stepped in oversee the natural history department until his own retirement in 1850 (Figure 3).

It seems that the garden fell out of favor with the University administration during this time, but still maintained enough supporters to continue; for example, the Trustees tried to resolve the garden’s uncertain fate by deciding that “the Botanical Garden shall be discontinued as an appendage to the college,” but this was contentious and a vote on the matter was postponed. Instead, it was decided that additional funds should be allocated to save the garden, and in 1844 the garden was “in better condition and the plants both within & without the Greenhouse in a more flourishing state than at any former visit to the Garden.” There were few acquisitions to add to the variety of plants, but the ones that were in the garden were protected from that year’s harsh winter to ensure their survival. The garden also battled a drought in 1845 and the Committee once again requested funds for the upkeep of the garden. The continued loss of plants by the few “impropetious [sic] seasons” led to the need for the garden to be placed under “higher cultivation.” There became a push to make the garden “attractive to the resident the citizen of Athens, and the casual visitor, besides yielding such a variety of plants as may aid instruction in the science of Botany.”

While discussion of the garden tended to overshadow the museum in the Minutes of the 1840s, there was still some progress and development of the museum collections. In 1847, the “large collection of minerals” became useful “to the student and attractive to the scientific visitor” after it had been classified and arranged accordingly. Records show that the same year, a catalogue of the specimens was printed and circulated among those involved in the natural sciences, although no copy of the publication has been found to date. Possibly as a result of the catalogue, in 1848 there was a noted “increased interest felt in all literary institutions on the subject of Natural History.” That same year, $15 ($500 today) was given “for the purchase of rare minerals and shells in Alabama.”

Meanwhile, by 1849, the status of the garden was again in peril, “failing in its purpose of being a botanic garden.” There had been no classification of the garden, and the Trustees decided that a system needed to be developed to allow a “foreign botanist to find…all the plants of the country in which the garden is established.” As a result, in 1850, there was the suggestion to catalogue the plants to aid in exhibiting the garden for “the public and especially to the student as a model of taste and beauty.” Unfortunately, the unfavorable seasons of 1851 created problems such as “defects in the hot house” that led to the deterioration of some of the plant species. The Committee noted the importance of the garden’s “utility in giving instruction to the student’s in one of the useful and beautiful branches of natural sciences,” but that it was “not attracting so much attention in all literary institutions.” To rectify this, additional plants were requested to create a “perfect collection of native shrubs and flowers” in 1852.

Due to this checkered history, it was proposed that the garden should be sold. However, many Trustees during this time thought that the idea of selling the garden was a step backwards because it was an “indespendable [sic] appendage to the study of Botany.” They argued that “the study of natural science is not appreciated properly” but that it would help to advance society if it was. The Trustees thought highly of the natural sciences:

"In a patriotic view, how important it is that this large class of our citizens be given tastes for the refining & elevating study of nature. […] the natural sciences have been cherished in exact proportion to the advance of civilization. […] our own Nat. Hist. has been little explored and there is a wide field of discovery before us, inviting research, and promising distinction. Our geological formation, extends from the lowest promary [sic] to the most recent alluvium containing innumerable fossils, our rich and varied soil sustains a large range of vegitable [sic] life, our atmosphere animate with Birds & Insects, our forests with quadrupeds; our streams, with fishes; all inviting classification & study. It is not without mortification that they allude to the fact, that while nearly all the states in the Union, have instituted inquiries into their Nat. History at the public expense in sums varying from a few thousand to half a million of dollars, nothing has yet been done in this important field of investigation be [sic] ‘the Empire State of the South.’ To aid in removing this reproach from us your committee deem it important to make an earnest effort to keep up and improve the Botanic Garden; to increase (MS p291) [sic] the number of fossils & minerals in the cabinet; the specimens of Nat. Hist. in the museum., [sic] and to bring up the Library in the department of Natural Science, by special appropriation- to an equality with other departments of Science & learning- so far at least as to give its Professor the necessary facilities for classification of Plants in the Garden, & specimens in the museum."

In 1853, the Trustees decided to advocate for the continuation and development of natural history at UGA. The following year, the Minutes record that “The Profr. Of Nat. Sciences has devoted a considerable portion of his time to rearranging and classifying the minerals in the cabinette [sic],” and conducted tours of the room for the Trustees. The Trustees requested “more common and cheaper characteristic fossils of each geologic period, and of the oasts [sic] of the rarer and dearer,” and “a cast of the Glacier systems of the Alps in the form of a relief Map of Switzerland.” In 1855, the cabinet was deemed “judicious showing very satisfactory evidence of the competency of the Professor, giving proof also of care, & the proper degree of interest in the department so interesting & valuable to this institution.” That same year, $50 ($1,500 today) was given to Joseph LeConte for additional minerals. The museum continued to be located in the Ivy Building during this time (but see Figure 4).

Figure 4. UGA campus as shown in Gleason’s Pictorial and Drawing Room Companion in May, 1854. In 1854, the museum was located in the Ivy Building. However, this image depicts the Presbyterian church in the Ivy Building’s place, suggesting it was based on a rendering of campus pre-dating 1832.  Courtesy of Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library / University of Georgia Libraries.

Over the next few years, due to a lull in University funding, decreased value of currency, and the “declining condition of the college”, it was decided that the garden “had become so expensive and consumed such a significant percentage of the institution’s scarce funds that the board contemplated abandonment but ultimately decided to continue it but with less appropriated funds. Despite this, in 1856, the Botanical Garden was sold, and the resulting money was used the following year to construct the iron fence that still stands around North Campus today, along with the iconic UGA Arch (Figure 5). 

Figure 5. UGA Arch with iron fence in front of Library Building, 1875. Courtesy of Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library / University of Georgia Libraries.


The Civil War and Postbellum Period 

Late 1850s- 1870s

Prior to the Civil War, in the late 1850s, UGA President Andrew Lipscomb raised enough money to build a new library to accommodate the collections which had begun to outgrow the Ivy Building. The Trustees had noted that “the large case in the centre [sic] of the room [of the Ivy Building] is an inconvenient obstruction. They recommend that it be removed and converted into cases to be placed on the side walls.” In 1859, construction began adjacent to the Ivy Building and the new Library Building was completed in 1862. The two buildings were later joined together to form the present-day Hunter-Holmes Building. The specimen collections were moved to the new Library Building, with “one story to be appropriated to libraries, one story to museum, and one story to lecture rooms.” The museum, “previously huddled together in the old building, has been moved…, and tastefully and appropriately arranged,- [sic] presenting an imposing view.” Not only does the museum at this point seem to have been impressive, the interior walls of the building itself were impressive as well, as the third floor was reportedly painted with an elaborate mural. The Library building was also to be “a suitable lecture hall for the Chair of Natural History.” 

By 1863, the third story of the Library Building was covered with painted designs of evolution and science, fostering an immersive learning environment for students. The description below was noted by the Trustees:

In the third Story is the Hall of Natural History, filled with most beautiful and appropriate diagrams, the central one intended to exhibit a section of the earth, with its nucleus, and crust, the thickness of the latter being much exaggerated…The four grand divisions of the animal kingdom are pointed out by dividing the circle into quadrants and placing the animals of each type by themselves in each quadrant. The four triangular spaces around the central figure contain each a single animal as a representative of the four divisions. The long quadrangular spaces on each side are intended [sic] to bring into view still more clearly the succession of animals through geological epochs being there presented. The plan of illustration thus presented on the frescoed ceiling will be farther elaborated on the side walls, so as to give the students a miniature library of the connection subsisting between Geology and Natural History.

Another detailed description of the elaborate ceiling and geology room comes from Thomas Walter Reed, a student during the 1880s: 

There was never another such ceiling in the world and there never will be another… The ceiling presented a sight such as no mortal man had ever looked upon elsewhere. The entire space was covered with a beautifully painted design, representing the evolution of life through all the geologic or zoologic ages. A small circle in the center depicted what appeared to be forms of spermatozoa, while in concentric circles about four feet wide, separated into segments, were portrayed primitive types of life- arthropods, crustaceans, arachnids, the fishes, etc. I particularly recall several beautifully painted fishes, swimming with --------- tail and every scale and fin vividly portrayed. Each segment of each circle was made typical of a particular stage of evolution. The painting of the higher vertebrates was surprisingly well executed. Just beyond the periphery of the largest circle, a golden crown, with rays of light streaming upward from it, stood as the representation of Man. No human figure was drawn.

The artist was unnamed in the Minutes. One possibility is that Mary Jett Franklin was the painter. She was born in Athens in 1842, trained at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (PAFA) in Philadelphia, and spent time in Paris before returning to Athens later in life, when she painted two portraits commissioned by UGA, in addition to several other works. We consulted local historian Mary Bondurant Warren, who informed us that Franklin had left Athens in 1859 to attend the PAFA but returned during the Civil War, which places her in the city as a young art student during the time the mural was painted. To this day, the fate of the mural is unclear. Over 100 years after it was painted, an article of 1970 article in the UGA student newspaper, the Red and Black, noted that “the painting is apparently still in place in the present building, but has been covered with soundproofing.” Today the room has a false ceiling, and it is possible some remaining portion of the mural may be preserved above it.

Though the late 1840s and 1850s saw a decline of investment in the museum and botanical garden, the years during and after the Civil War, surprisingly, brought a significant turn. Just two months after the end of the war, in June of 1865, President Lipscomb arranged to have a collection of birds, which he had cared for during the war, placed in the museum for their safekeeping. Lipscomb employed “suitable persons… who had paid much attention to ornithology,” such as a Dr. Wilson, to carry out “the process of cleansing and stuffing most of the specimens,” though ultimately “the project had to be abandoned” due to “injuring” of the specimens. A year later, in 1866, former Georgia Governor George R. Gilmer gave a bequest of “his library, Cabinet of minerals, and canorites” to the University in support of Georgia education. Donations like these were not rare throughout the postwar period: 

From time to time, articles of various sorts are sent to the University in the nature of “Curiosities”, illustrations of antiquities &c. These are sometimes very valuable and should be retained here as the proper place for them. Many others could no doubt be obtained by proper effort.

The Museum also apparently petitioned for donations. One such request dates to 1875, when an article in the local newspaper sought “Posts or trees that have been penetrated or pierced by stones or by pieces of timber” following a notable tornado outbreak in March of that year. It is likely that these would have served research purposes rather than have gone on display. A photograph taken inside the museum in 1875 shows the impressive collection of skeletons and preserved specimens in purpose-built cases that would have been available for viewing (Figure 6). 

Figure 6. Museum in the Library Building, 1875. Courtesy of Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library / University of Georgia Libraries.

Records show that the library, botanical garden, and museum collections were always linked together. The museum collections were usually kept alongside library books, although an 1874 map of the University’s campus shows the two as separate buildings. This discrepancy is still under examination, since the museum collections had been moved to the Library Building by this time. It is possible some collections may have remained in the Ivy Building, marked as “Museum” in the map (Figure 7).

Figure 7. Detail of 1874 Map of UGA’s campus. Courtesy of Athens Historical Society, Athens, Georgia.


Late 1800s

1880s-1890s

By the early 1880s, the mineralogical collection contained nearly 6,000 specimens and was increasing. In fact, in 1880 it was noted that the museum was valued at $5,000 ($127,000 today). There was a large collection of minerals from Georgia obtained during a geological survey that represented all the mineralogical formations in the state. Gifts “of curious and valuable objects” were also frequently received by the University from a variety of donors. One such donation was “a very interesting and valuable collection of Claiborne Fossils.” Another was “parts of [a] whale captured on the coast of Georgia.” Additionally, a 1882 newspaper article noted the dress of a Cherokee chief that had been donated about fifty years prior. In need of restoration due to misuse and moth damage, the dress was made of “the finest dressed buckskin, beautifully trimmed and ornamented” and proved to be a “valuable curiosity” for the museum – the article claimed that the museum declined an offer of $500 ($12,700 today) for it. In 1895 a donation of one hundred bird skins was added to the collection. This highly praised collection was “one of the very finest in the South, containing the skins of every species of birds known in Georgia as well as many from other States.” 

The large number of donations in the 1880s and 1890s may have been related to the renovation of the museum. Over time the Library Building and its beautiful murals had fallen into disrepair. Henry Tuck, a student between 1877 and 1881, remembered the museum as follows: 

On the third floor of the building, I was curious to note the wrecked remains of the collection of southern fauna, evidently collected before the War. Hundreds of skeletons of bedraggled birds, pea-cocks, cranes, wild ducks, wild cats, snakes, and so forth, entomological specimens, and all species of fauna, covered with dust and spider webs, which all presented a sad reminder of more ambitious if not more prosperous days in the history of the College.

In 1879, the building’s wood cornice and tin conductors needed to be refitted before winter. It was noted that due to the “great number of valuable specimens & curiosities, the University of Georgia has practically no cabinet or museum worthy of the name that is useful to students or attractive to visitors.” By June 1880, the Trustees wrote that although the “third floor of the Library Building [was] admirably suited to the purposes of a mineralogical and general museum, …the ceiling has already partly fallen and is in great danger of complete destruction.” The next month, $700 ($17,800 today) was provided “for the fitting up of the third Story of the Library Building as a Mineralogical, Geological and General Museum.” The Trustees recorded the following changes:

Prof. Charbonnier has very kindly made designs & estimates for fitting up the rooms in proper manner and informs me that the sum of seven hundred (700) dollars would be sufficient to replaster, kalsomine and paint the rooms, to replace the present partition by arches and pillars thus producing one superb room one hundred & twenty five (125) by fifty (50) feet, excellently lighted; to provide glass covered cases & shelving and all other arrangements necessary to preserve and exhibit our valuable collections.

In April of 1882, workers had rearranged the curiosities that were stored in the museum and put them on display once again, suggesting the museum may have been closed to the public for some period of time. The local newspaper advertised in June of 1882 that the museum renovation would be completed in time for the upcoming commencement and would be worth visiting when finished. By 1890, a newspaper article publicized that there were “many queer relics of dead cities and distant lands to be seen in the University museum,” inviting visitors to come view the display.


Conclusions

The 20th Century to Present Day

The history of the Georgia Museum of Natural History extends well beyond 1978 when it was formally recognized by the University. Beginning with the University’s first President, Josiah Meigs, the museum’s collections truly constitute some of the oldest objects in the institution. By 1880, the museum’s mineralogical collection alone numbered well over 6,000 specimens and it continued to grow over the following decades through donations and research collection efforts. Over time, the buildings for the collections became more specialized, with dedicated space to ensure objects’ safekeeping. From the Philosophical Hall, to the Library Building, the movement of the museum shows its important role at UGA throughout the nineteenth century.

The Georgia Museum of Natural History has proved to be one of the earliest entities in UGA’s history, formally mentioned in its Minutes for the first time in 1821. Significant actors in the history of the University such as Meigs had greatly contributed to the development of the collections, an effort that was previously unrecognized. It is clear that early professors and the University administration acknowledged the significance of a museum and garden for learning purposes. Yet, then as today, it remained subject to the whims of funding and external support. Similarly, other university-based natural history museums around the country have suffered adversities such as lack of funding, decentralization, and the ups and downs of public interest. 

The display space inside of the Museum (2020).

The present research began by attempting to find the earliest origins of the museum and was heavily concentrated up on the years up to 1900. Much remains unknown about the museum’s history in the period from 1900 to 1978. The foundation for future work, along with an extensive list of valuable resources, has been laid out by this project with hopes of uncovering all of the museum’s history in support of its future.

The modern museum continues today with various programs to aid in collections management, public service and outreach, research, and teaching. One program, the  Museum Internship  gives undergraduate students the opportunity to work in one of the following collections:  Archaeology  Arthropods  Botany , Economic Geology, Herpetology, Genomics and Marine Invertebrates, Ichthyology, Invertebrates,  Mammalogy , Mineralogy,  Mycology  Ornithology,  and  Zooarchaeology .

Display cases inside the current Museum (2020).

Figure 2. Ivy Building, 1870s. Courtesy of Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library / University of Georgia Libraries.

Figure 3. Professor James Jackson, 1840s. Reproduced from A. L. Hull, A Historical Sketch of the University of Georgia.

Figure 4. UGA campus as shown in Gleason’s Pictorial and Drawing Room Companion in May, 1854. In 1854, the museum was located in the Ivy Building. However, this image depicts the Presbyterian church in the Ivy Building’s place, suggesting it was based on a rendering of campus pre-dating 1832.  Courtesy of Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library / University of Georgia Libraries.

Figure 5. UGA Arch with iron fence in front of Library Building, 1875. Courtesy of Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library / University of Georgia Libraries.

Figure 6. Museum in the Library Building, 1875. Courtesy of Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library / University of Georgia Libraries.

Figure 7. Detail of 1874 Map of UGA’s campus. Courtesy of Athens Historical Society, Athens, Georgia.

The display space inside of the Museum (2020).

Display cases inside the current Museum (2020).

Figure 1. Map of UGA Campus 1805. Courtesy of Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library / University of Georgia Libraries.