Exist Dates
1939 - approximately 1968-1971
Biographical or Historical Note
- abstract
- Permanent exhibition. Opened 1939 and closed approximately 1968-1971. Located Floor 2, Section 5. North Asiatic Mammals (Hall)
at the American Museum of Natural History was created to cover mammals found north of the Himalayas, including Tibet, Afghanistan,
Mongolia and Siberia (1, 1939, p. 105) and was a companion hall to the South Asiatic Mammal Hall, now the Hall of Asian Mammals.
The hall was on exhibit from 1939, but never completed, and in 1946 it shared a space with the Corner Gallery, which showcased
temporary exhibits. The Third (Rainey) Asiatic Expedition (1918-1919), the Morden-Clark Expedition of the American Museum
of Natural History (1926) and the Morden-Graves Asiatic Expedition (1929-1930) collected material for the hall. Expedition
members included William J. Morden, George Coe Graves, Roy Chapman Andrews, George Goodwin, and James L. Clark, who designed
the hall (2, 1924, p. 11; 2, 1926, p. 25; 2, 1929, p. 71; 2, 1931, p. 9-10).
The Hall of North Asiatic Mammals included two complete habitat dioramas, the Siberian Tiger and the Giant Panda. An intended
third group, the Saiga Antelope was being prepared, but there is no documentation that it was ever completed or exhibited
(1, 1953, p. 145). By 1946, the North Asiatic Hall shared a space with the Corner Gallery (1, 1947, p. 113; 2, 1946/47, p.
17). One of the giant panda specimens and both Siberian tigers have been on view in the endangered species exhibit in the
Hall of Biodiversity since 1998 (3).
Sources
(1) General Guide to the Exhibition Halls of the American Museum of Natural History. New York: American Museum of Natural
History, 1939-1953.
(2) American Museum of Natural History. Annual Reports. New York: American Museum of Natural History, 1924-1946/47.
(3) American Museum of Natural History, "Hall of Asian Mammals." American Museum of Natural History, accessed June 26, 2017,
http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent-exhibitions/mammal-halls/hall-of-asian-mammals.
Information for the hall appears in the following Museum publications:
American Museum of Natural History Annual Reports for years: 1924 (page 11); 1925 (page 18); 1926 (page 25); 1927 (page 15);
1928 (page 26); 1929 (page 9, 71); 1930 (page 38, 41, 47); 1931 (page 10, 32); 1932 (page 58, 62); 1933 (page 6, 17); 1935
(page 12, 15); 1936 (page 53, 104); 1937 (page 5, 17); 1938 (page 50); 1939 (page 9, 41); 1940 (page 39); 1941 (page 43);
1961 (page 38)
American Museum of Natural History General Guides for years: 1939 (page 17, 105); 1943 (page 17, 113, 115); 1945 (page 17,
113); 1947 (page 17, 113); 1949 (page 17, 113); 1953 (page 145); 1956 (page 151); 1958 (page 153); 1962 (page 12, 43); 1964
(page 12, 43)
American Museum of Natural History Pictorial Guide 1967.
Terms
- place
- New York
AMNH: Floor 2, Section 5.
