Automatic Age

A U T O M A T IC A G E
108
Field Museum One of World’s
Most Famous
Chicago possesses one of the most
noted scientific museums in the world,
one constantly mentioned for its
archeological explorations and sci­
entific achievements. I t is the Field
Museum of N atural History, located
in G rant Park at Roosevelt Road,
just outside the gates of the W orld’s
Fair. I t is open free to the public
on Thursdays, Saturdays and Sun­
days, and on all days to children, de­
spite the fact that its varied collec­
tions have an inventory value of $45,­
000,000, and an absolute value that
is priceless, since many collections
could never be duplicated or replaced.
Its visitors totaled 1,800,000 in 1932
and increased to 3,300,000 in 1933, as
a result of the Century of Progress
crowds which enjoyed its educational
offering. Only six and one-half per
cent of the 1933 attendance paid ad­
mission on the pay-days, when the
admission fee is 25 cents.
G ift of Merchant
The magnificent monument to sci­
entific knowledge was made possible
for the city through a $9,000,000 be­
quest of the late Marshall Field,
widely known as “the world’s great­
est merchant.” His first g ift was
made in 1893, the year of the first
W orld’s Fair, and was later, in 1906,
increased by an $8,000,000 bequest.
The collections first purchased were
housed in the old Fine Arts building
in Jackson park, and its Grecian de­
sign, carried out in rich Georgian
marble, is now famous all over the
world.
This museum building is 700 feet
long, 350 feet wide, 90 feet high and
Field Museum’s Great Hall
June , 1934
covers an area of eleven acres. It
was designed with three main ob­
jectives: first, to provide perfect ex­
hibition halls for the display of sci­
entific collections; second, to furnish
adequate quarters and facilities for
carrying on im portant research work
by the staff; third, to achieve the
high standard of ancient Athenian
architecture, and make a worthy
place for itself as a monumental civ­
ic structure.
The general interior plan includes
a great central hall or nave, flanked
by transverse exhibition halls on
both sides; these halls being again
united by others running parallel to
the nave at either end of the build­
ing.
This central hall is dedicated to
Stanley Field, president of the muse­
um since 1908. Its spirit is typified
in the four glorious statues, titled
“ N atural Science,” “ Dissemination of
Knowledge,” “ Research” and “ Rec­
ord.”
The many rich collections of the
Museum have been gathered by a
skilled staff from all parts of the
world, a t great cost of time and
money. Often there are 14 or 15 d if­
ferent expeditions operating over the
world, at scattered points, in the
course of a single year. Thus, the
Museum is noted for exactness and
purity of investigation, and the ex­
hibits are specially noted for attract­
iveness, educational value, and eco­
nomic usefulness.
Four M ain Sections
There are four principal depart­
ment— Anthropology, Botany, Geolo­
gy and Zoology, each giving repre­
sentative exhibits to the great cen­
tral hall. In anthropology there are
more than 200,000 exhibits of the
“ Science of M an” shown, outlining
world-wide achievements in arts and
industries, the facts of their social
and religious lies. No museum in
the world excels in such presentation
of the historic and prehistoric life of
man, taken from so many of the for­
gotten races and tribes.
In botany the exhibits show the en­
tire range of plant life, in all forms
and products.
T h is v ie w o f S ta n le y F ie ld H a ll— th e g r e a t c e n tr a l c o r r id o r o f th e
F ie ld M u s e u m o f N a t u r a l H is t o r y — s h o w s th e c la s s ic G re c ia n d e s ig n o f
t h i s $60,000,000 in v e s tm e n t, w h ic h t h r o u g h g i f t s o f M a r s h a ll F ie ld a n d
o th e r s , is n o w t h e p r o p e r t y o f th e p e o p le o f C h ic a g o . In th e m id d le
d is ta n c e is s h o w n th e g r o u p : “ T h e B a ttle o f M a s to d o n s ” — s h o w in g t h e
r e p r o d u c tio n o f th e s e p r e h is t o r ic m o n s te r s as s c ie n t is t s k n o w th e m t o
h a v e b e e n . T h e e a r lie s t b e g in n in g s o f m a n a n d o t h e r k in d s o f l i f e a re
re p ro d u c e d in d r a m a t ic fo r m s so t h a t e v e r y v i s i t o r c a n “ see f o r h im s e lf "
j u s t h o w i t w a s . T h e F ie ld M u s e u m is n o te d th e w o r ld o v e r f o r - i t s
o u ts ta n d in g re s e a rc h a c h ie v e m e n ts , a n d th e sco p e o f it s c o lle c tio n s .
© I n t e r n a t io n a l A r c a d e M u s e u m
In geology may be seen an almost
complete pageant of life in all its
previous forms, from the invertebrate
forms of millions of years ago, on
down to the modern type of man.
Zoology is noted for its rare spe­
cimens exhibit, and also fb r its ex­
pensive reproductions, in landscape
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