American Museum of Natural History Research Library
author: American Museum of Natural History

American Museum of Natural History. Hall of Mammals.; Mammals; Mammal Hall; Mammals of the World; Whales; Mammals of the World, Their Families and Evolution; Synoptic Hall of Mammals; Buffon Hall; Hall of Mammals; Synoptic Hall; Hall of Mammals of the World; Hall of Synoptic Mammals; Synoptic Series of Mammals; Mammals - Synoptic Series; Biology, Evolution of Mammals; Biology of Mammals; Hall of the Biology of Mammals
birth: 1900
death: 1969
Permanent exhibition. Opened approximately 1900 and closed February 1969. Located on Floor 3, Section 3. The Hall of Mammals at the American Museum of Natural History exhibited mammal models, mounts, and skeletons and was arranged to present the orders and families of mammals. Previous to the opening of this mammal hall, the lower story of the 1877 building contained the Museum's mammal exhibits. By approximately 1900, the mammals were divided into separate halls, including the Hall of Primates, Hall of North American Mammals, Mammals of the Polar Regions, and Mammals of the World, later known as the Hall of Mammals, Synoptic Hall of Mammals, and the Biology of Mammals. The Hall of Mammals was closed for refurbishing in 1969. Although the Department of Mammalogy had plans to renovate the hall, it never reopened (1; 2, 1968/69 p. 4; 2, 1969/70, p. 4).
The Hall of Mammals was arranged from left to right to show the evolution and relationships of mammals. Most exhibits, which were featured on two levels with a balcony, provided a mount and a skeleton of each animal represented. By 1911, the rail along the gallery contained exhibits of insects and a mural frieze of marine scenes with dolphins and porpoises (3, 1911, p. 70; 3, 1919, p. 93). By 1927, the hall included the skeleton of Jumbo the elephant (3, 1927, p. 38). 1931-1933 General Guides indicate the hall name as "Mammals (Synoptic Series)".
The grand centerpiece of the hall was the 79-foot model of a sulphur-bottom (blue) whale suspended from the ceiling. The whale model, constructed by Roy Chapman Andrews in 1907, was made of timber, steel pipe, chicken wire, plaster of Paris, and papier mache (4, 2000, p. 27; 3, 1911, p. 70; 4, 2000; 6, 1973/74 p. 24). Other scale models also suspended from the ceiling were added by about 1919, and they included a toothed sperm whale, killer whale, porpoises (3, 1919, p. 93; 1), and cetacean skeletons which were exhibited near the railing. Additional models and skeletons were transferred to the Hall of Ocean Life in 1927 (6, 1927, p. 34).
The sulphur-bottom whale, which weighed 63 tons, remained in the Hall of Mammals until its closure. As its hall had shuttered, and it was too heavy to move to another Museum, the once-popular sulphur-bottom model was demolished in December 1973, though the blue whale model in the Hall of Ocean Life replaced it as the Museum's iconic whale (7, 1967; 6, 1973/74, p. 24). After Biology of Mammals closed, a gallery for temporary exhibitions, Gallery 3, opened in the same space in 1978 (6, 1977/78 p. 20).