The Field Museum is located at 1400 S. Lake Shore Drive in Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.  Their regular hours are 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily every day except Christmas Day.  The museum has several ticket options to choose from.

Visitor parking in all lots on the Museum campus is $15 per day.

The purpose of the Field Museum is to accumulate and disseminate knowledge, the preservation and exhibition of objects illustrating art, archaeology, science and history.  The name was changed to “Field Museum” in 1905 to honor the Museum’s first major benefactor, Marshall Field as well as to better reflect its focus on the natural sciences.

Collections

The biological and anthropological collections assembled for the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893 form the core of the Museum’s collections.  These collections have grown through world-wide expeditions, exchange, purchase, and gifts to more than twenty million specimens.  The natural history library has more than 250,000 volumes.

Public Learning

Exhibits are the primary means of informal education supplemented with innovative educational programs.  Examples include:

• The Harris Loan Program began in 1912 that provides educational outreach to children.  The program brings artifacts, specimens, audiovisual materials and activity kits to Chicago area schools.
• The Department of Education offers changing programs of classes, lectures, field trips, museum overnights and special events for families, adults and children.
• Professional symposia and lectures present the latest scientific results to the international scientific community and the public.

Research

Basic research in the fields of systematic biology and anthropology is conducted by the Museum’s curatorial and scientific staff in the Anthropology, Biology, Geology and Zoology departments.  The Field Museum is an international leader in evolutionary biology and paleontology, and archaeology and ethnography.  The Museum also maintains close relationships with local universities, particularly the University of Chicago and the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Permanent exhibits include:

• The Ancient Americas:  A discovery about the Americans who lived here before us and how it is changing almost everything we thought we knew before.

The Field Museum Exhibits about nature include:

• Africa:  Learn more about the cultures and environments of Africa
• Animal Biology
• Bird habitats exhibit is a birdwatcher’s paradise that includes peacocks, penguins, quetzals, weavers and more
• Bushman is one of the most popular primates ever.  He is a lowland gorilla who once lived at Lincoln Park Zoo.
• Lions of Tsavo are the lions that terrorized East Africa a century ago
• Mammals of Africa:  Everything from aardvarks to zebras
• Culture exhibits include Inside Ancient Egypt, the Eskimos and Northwest Coast Indians, Pawnee Earth Lodge, Contemporary Native American cultures.

Important Disclaimer:  The URL address in the resource box of this article is not associated with the Field Museum.  This article and the web site are offered as a resource for formulating vacation ideas.

Written by:  Connie Limon.  For more vacation ideas visit http://smalldogs2.com/VacationIdeas  For a variety of FREE reprint articles and special topic articles rarely found elsewhere visit Camelot Articles at http://www.camelotarticles.com

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© 2007 Connie Limon All Rights Reserved