Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum Of Natural History
The museum began at the University of Oklahoma as a “Department of Geology and Natural History” created by the territorial legislature in 1899. Dr. Albert Heald Van Vleet was appointed the first “Territorial Geologist and Curator of the Museum.” He immediately began to collect and by 1902 had accumulated fourteen thousand zoological, botanical, and geological specimens. Unfortunately, all were lost in 1903 in the first of two devastating fires. The second fire, in 1918, destroyed a large collection of birds stored in a temporary wooden building. In spite of these losses, collections continued to grow as new professors joined the university.
Some of the most significant early acquisitions included geological exhibits obtained from the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair, archaeological items from Spiro Mounds in 1916, and collections from the 1924 Sykes Expedition to Alaska and Canada. The expedition provided the incentive for the university’s president, Dr. Stratton Brooks, to obtain funds for a separate museum building. Unfortunately, although the state legislature appropriated the funds in 1929, they were immediately lost as a result of the Great Depression.
Ground-breaking ceremonies for the 198,000-square-foot building occurred on February 23, 1996. After one hundred years of struggle the facility opened to the public on May 1, 2000, as the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History.
Thank You Dan For All The Keys
Below find the eighth in a series of guest posts offered in celebration on the occasion of our colleague and friend Daniel C. Swans retirement from the University of Oklahoma, where he has served with distinction as a Professor of Anthropology, Curator of Ethnology, and Interim Director of the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History. Reflecting here on an aspect of Dans work and his personal impact is Abby Wightman, who is Associate Professor of Anthropology at Mary Baldwin College. This series of guest posts has been organized in partnership with Michael Paul Jordan. Jason Baird Jackson
Thank You, Dan, For All The Keys
When my friends Michael Jordan and Jason Jackson asked me to write this piece in honor of Dan Swan, I was surprised honored and pleased, but still surprised. Dan did not serve on my dissertation committee. We have never been work colleagues. I am not a museum anthropologist, and we have never co-authored a publication. In anthropological terms, we did not have formally-defined roles with assigned duties and reciprocal obligations. Yet it is precisely this list of nots of all the ways Dan and I are not connected that is so important here.
Thank you, Dan, for all those keys. Best wishes on all your future adventures!
The normal headnote follows here instead as a footnote.*
Dan
Yammak ílla.
Lokosh
The Chickasaw Cultural Center in Sulphur, Oklahoma via WikiMedia Commons .
Dan
Thats it.
Sincerest thanks
Lokosh
The Puzzle Of Assessment Reports
You can encounter all kinds of strange things while assessing. For instance, I was recently assessing a new collection when I opened a box to find that, much to my surprise, the box just contained nothing but loose stones. Nothing in the box was bagged or organized in any way, just a bunch of rocks at the bottom of a box. Now usually this isnt too bad of a thing to find. After all most artifacts are marked in some way to indicate which artifact is which, and as it would happen all these stones were marked! From there the next steps were to match each stone with its entry in the inventory. Only the thing is, when I went to match them, almost none of them corresponded with their entry in the inventory. Now usually this isnt a problem, I could go in and enter all the stones as new database entries and move on. The problem is that there was the same amount of stones as there were entries for them. Which lead me to conclude that the stones were in the report, just not well-organized. So, I had to sort each stone into several possible candidates in the report and make a note of each one. Whats even worse is that when I had to do the exact same thing with hundreds of pottery sherds. The thing is though, I really enjoyed working through all those problems. The joy I got from figuring out that assessment is the same that I get from solving a good puzzle.
You May Like: Museum Hotel Kansas City Mo
Exploring The Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum Of Natural History In Norman
The Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History located at the University of Oklahoma campus in Norman, OK is a great sensory experience for kids and parents. Heres a guide for getting the most out of this wonderful museum.
Permanent Exhibits
The Museum is a research division of the University of Oklahoma, housing over seven million objects and specimens in 12 collections. Permanent exhibits include specimens of archaeology, ethnology and Native American Languages.
The Hall of Ancient Life features fossils and articulated skeletons of the worlds largest Apatosaurus and Saurophaganax maximus, a fearsome predator unique to Oklahoma. The Hall of the People of Oklahoma traces the 30,000-year history of the Native people of Oklahoma. Exhibits begin with the earliest archaeological evidence and travel through time to an examination of what it means to be Native American in Oklahoma today. The entry walls are covered in handprints made by representatives from 26 of Oklahomas 39 federally recognized tribes.
When you are done exploring, the museums
Redbud Café is a relaxing place to fill those grumbling tummies . Souvenirs of your trip can be purchased at
Excavations, the museums store.
Karen Mitchell, a lifelong resident of the Oklahoma City metro area, lives in Edmond with her husband, Mark, teenage son, Ryan, and one spoiled Welsh Corgi. Daughter, Megan, attends OSU in Stillwater.
History And Description Of The Remains
In 1941, human remains representing, at minimum, 10 individuals were removed from the Clement 1 site in McCurtain County, OK. This mound and midden site was excavated in 1941 by the Works Progress Administration, and the excavated Start Printed Page 50902materials were transferred to the Museum the same year. The human remains include one fragmentary skeleton of an adult female, 35-50 years old one fragmentary skeleton of an adult male, 35-50 years old one fragmentary skeleton of an adult probable male, 35-50 years old one fragmentary skeleton of an adult of indeterminate sex, 20-35 years old two fragmentary skeletons of adults of indeterminate sex, each more than 20 years old one fragmentary skeleton of an adult of indeterminate sex, 35-50 years old two fragmentary skeletons of adults greater of indeterminate sex, each more than 50 years old and one fragmentary set of teeth belonging to an adult of indeterminate sex and age. No known individuals were identified.
Also Check: Museums In New Haven Ct
Sam Noble Museum Of Natural History To Host ‘for The Love Of Natural History’ Themed Curiousiday Event
The theme of the Sam Noble Museum of Natural Historys Curiousiday event this month is For the Love of Natural History.
The event, which will be Feb. 12, is free with general admission and will have activities themed around love for kids and families to participate in, including making fish prints, colorful wings and cupid’s arrows to play with gravity.
The activities will be at different booths located around the museum. There will also be a scavenger hunt, with the award for completion being a special Sam Noble Valentine’s Day card with candy.
Lisa Ratliff, public programs coordinator for the museum, said the museum started Curiosiday in 2021 as a way to get more involvement from the community.
The museum transcends into a different feeling when we hold these programs, and I think it is a feeling of warmth, of welcoming, Ratliff said.
Different departments will be in charge of each activity. The ichthyology department will use fish prints to teach how fish use patterns to attract mates, and the ornithology department will teach how birds use their wings for sexual selection.
The museum has also partnered with different organizations for its Curiosidays in previous months. In November 2021, the theme was Dia de los Muertos Para Los Animales.
All of the Curiosidays are in both English and Spanish, and Ratliff helps to translate activities.
Daniel C Swan Museum Leader
Below find the ninth in a series of posts offered in celebration on the occasion of our colleague and friend Daniel C. Swans retirement from the University of Oklahoma, where he has served with distinction as a Professor of Anthropology, Curator of Ethnology, and Interim Director of the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History. Here I take a turn reflecting on an an aspect of Dans work and his personal impact. This series of guest posts has been organized in partnership with Michael Paul Jordan. Jason Baird Jackson
Daniel C. Swan, Museum Leader
Earlier posts in this series in celebration of Daniel C. Swans retirement from the Sam Noble Museum, and from the University of Oklahoma where it is based, have emphasized mentoring. To impact a more junior colleague positively and to help launch them, or to advance them, in their career is particularly noble work. Since we met one another in the spring of 1994, Dan has been an extraordinary mentor to me and an energetic advocate for me and my work. My career has followed the particularand wonderfulpathways that it has because of Dans deep influence on me and on my lifecourse. This observation could easily be the stepping off point for an essay on Dans outsized role as a mentor and supporter to me and to many others. I would love to write that essay.
Danthank you for all that you have given and all that you have done. Congratulations!
Don’t Miss: Hotels By Field Museum Chicago
Equal Employment Opportunity Statement
The University of Oklahoma is an EO/Affirmative Action institution . Individuals with disabilities and protected veterans are encouraged to apply. Visit the SNOMNH web site at: www.samnoblemuseum.ou.edu. The University of Oklahoma, in compliance with all applicable federal and state laws and regulations does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, genetic information, gender identity, gender expression, age, religion, disability, political beliefs, or status as a veteran in any of its policies, practices, or procedures. This includes, but is not limited to: admissions, employment, financial aid, housing, services in educational programs or activities, or health care services that the University operates or provides.
Attention Drivers: Extremely Rough Road Ahead
Below find the sixth in a series of guest posts offered in celebration on the occasion of our colleague and friend Daniel C. Swans retirement from the University of Oklahoma, where he has served with distinction as a Professor of Anthropology, Curator of Ethnology, and Interim Director of the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History. Reflecting here on an aspect of Dans work and his personal impact is Kimberly J. Marshall, Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of Oklahoma. This series of guest posts has been organized in partnership with Michael Paul Jordan. Jason Baird Jackson
Attention Drivers: Extremely Rough Road Ahead
About the same time I landed a tenure-track job at the University of Oklahoma, researchers at the University of California, Berkeley published an important book called Do Babies Matter: Gender and Family in the Ivory Tower . In this book, the authors draw upon a very large body of data to conclude that, more often than not, womens academic careers are harmed by family formation. Although women and men enter PhD programs at relatively equal rates, women are far less likely to achieve tenure in their fields. The researchers found that a critical juncture in determining a female faculty members career trajectory happens during the pre-tenure probationary period, a 5-7 year pressure cooker when the expectations for performance at the highest academic levels often collide with the intense pressures of mothering babies and toddlers.
Also Check: Ripley’s Believe It Or Not Museum
Fred Jones Jr Museum Of Art
405-325-3272fjjma.ou.edu
The University of Oklahomas Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art is one of the finest university art museums in the United States. Strengths of the nearly 16,000-object permanent collection are French Impressionism, 20th century American painting and sculpture, traditional and contemporary Native American art, art of the Southwest, ceramics, photography, contemporary art, Asian art and graphics from the 16th century to the present.
The Daily Journal Of The United States Government
Legal Status
This site displays a prototype of a Web 2.0 version of the daily Federal Register. It is not an official legal edition of the Federal Register, and does not replace the official print version or the official electronic version on GPOs govinfo.gov.
The documents posted on this site are XML renditions of published Federal Register documents. Each document posted on the site includes a link to the corresponding official PDF file on govinfo.gov. This prototype edition of the daily Federal Register on FederalRegister.gov will remain an unofficial informational resource until the Administrative Committee of the Federal Register issues a regulation granting it official legal status. For complete information about, and access to, our official publications and services, go to About the Federal Register on NARA’s archives.gov.
Legal Status
Also Check: Boston Museum Of Science Events
Transitioning And Keeping Track
My summer internship and all I had learned there at the NGMM fueled my excitement about museums, and I hoped to continue learning about them when I returned home for my junior year of college here at the University of Oklahoma. With this in mind, I applied to the NAGPRA internship program in the archaeology department at the Sam Noble Museum. As an anthropology major, I have learned so much about the history of the field of archaeology. The study of archaeology has contributed much to our understanding of the past, but also has a history of obtaining artifacts illegally. Since I first learned about the NAGPRA program and how it provides Native American tribes with a legal means to have their ancestors returned, I knew I wanted to one day work to help right, or at least reverse, these wrongdoing of the past. We have a responsibility as a museum to preserve history, but not at the expense of the tribes. Having this opportunity is extremely humbling, and Im grateful to have the chance to combine a passion for museums with a desire to help. Not only this, but this NAGPRA internship is very different than what I became used to over the summer on Capitol Hill.
Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum Of Natural History Profile And History
The Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History in Norman opens “Drawing the Motmot: an Artist’s View of Tropical Nature” and “Darwin at the Museum” Oct. 10. Both will be on display through Jan. 18, 2010. “Drawing the Motmot” takes visitors on an artistic rainforest adventure featuring art created in tropical rainforests. See field sketches, paintings and commentary of nature artist Deborah Kaspa ri. “‘Drawing the Motmot’ offers a unique glimpse into the life of a nature artist in the field,” said Linda Coldwell, public relations and marketing officer at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History. “The artwork is stunning, but the added elements of video, sound and photos of Debby working in the rainforest are what really bring this exhibit to life. You’ll leave here wanting to grab a pencil and start sketching in your own backyard.” “Darwin at the Museum” is a special exhibit showcasing a complete set of first-editions of Darwin’s works, plus maps and illustrations, hand-written manuscripts and letters by Darwin himself plus, specimens from museum collections.
Also Check: Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum Wedding
Collection Storage And Organization
Savannah Miller, Anthropology Undergraduate, University of Oklahoma.
The practice of archaeology generates a huge number of artifacts, big and small, rare and commonplace. All of these artifacts need to be stored and cared for so they are available to future generations. But when a single excavation can yield hundreds, or even thousands of artifacts, organization becomes a challenge.
Many of the archaeological collections at the Sam Nobel Museum of Natural History are from several decades ago, when the standards for curation were very different. The earliest archaeological collections were acquired through Works Progress Administration projects in the 1930s-40s. The WPA was a national program begun during the Great Depression to provide work for the many unemployed Americans. Public works projects were begun all over the country, and Oklahoma was one of the first states to use the WPA to begin archaeological excavations. These projects generated a lot of information about Oklahomas past, but they also generated a huge number of artifacts. After being boxed up, many of these collections have remained just as they were in the 1930s. Many of them even include the original field notes, now old enough to warrant their own place in a museum.
Field notes from an archeological site excavated by the WPA
References
Bustard, Wendy. Archeological Curation in the 21st Century Or, Making Sure the Roof Doesnt Blow Off. CRM 5 .
Sentences Forsam Noble Oklahoma Museum Of Natural History
- A new tyrannosaurid specimen , including skull fragments, ribs and parts of the hindlimb, was reported from New Mexico in 1990 and assigned to the now-defunct genus Aublysodon.Daspletosaurus–Wikipedia
- Mary Linn, an associate professor of anthropology at the University of Oklahoma and the associate curator of Native American languages at the Sam Noble Museum, notes Oklahoma also has high levels of language endangerment.Oklahoma–Wikipedia
- At the same time, the Oklahoma Museum of Natural History had recovered remains belonging to the same hadrosauroid from excavations in the southwestern region of the Swell.Eolambia–Wikipedia
- Its specific name honors Dr. Richard L. Cifelli, a paleontologist at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, for his contributions to the paleontology of Oklahoma and support in studying D. cifellii.Delorhynchus–Wikipedia
- The closely related genus Saurophaganax reached perhaps 10.9 m in length, and its single species has sometimes been included in the genus Allosaurus as Allosaurus maximus, though recent studies support it as a separate genus.Allosaurus–Wikipedia
- First, Martha Kutter, in a 2003 abstract, reported on new remains of this genus under study at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, including the remains of at least seven individuals with bones from all regions of the body.Zephyrosaurus–Wikipedia
Don’t Miss: Miami Beach Museums In Miami
