American Museum of Natural History. Allen Hall of North American Mammals.

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authorized form: American Museum of Natural History. Allen Hall of North American Mammals.
source: amnhopac

uncontrolled form: Hall of North American Mammals
dates of use: 1904, 1911, 1914, 1915, 1918, 1919, 1926, 1927, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1942
uncontrolled form: North American Mammals
dates of use: 1904, 1939, 1943, 1945
uncontrolled form: North American Mammal Hall
dates of use: 1911, 1912, 1913, 1931, 1933
uncontrolled form: Mammals of North America
dates of use: 1911, 1913, 1914, 1916, 1918, 1919, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1936
uncontrolled form: North American Hall
dates of use: 1914, 1918, 1924, 1931, 1936
uncontrolled form: North American Faunal Hall
dates of use: 1915
uncontrolled form: Allen Hall
dates of use: 1922, 1928, 1945
uncontrolled form: Allen Hall of North American Mammals
dates of use: 1924, 1928, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1939, 1943, 1945
uncontrolled form: North American Hall of Mammals
dates of use: 1926
uncontrolled form: Hall of American Mammals
dates of use: 1926
uncontrolled form: J. A. Allen Hall of North American Mammals
dates of use: 1932, 1933
uncontrolled form: Mammals of North America (Allen Hall)
dates of use: 1934, 1935, 1936

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Exist Dates

1904 - 1948

Biographical or Historical Note

abstract: Permanent exhibition. Opened approximately 1904 and closed approximately 1946-1948. Located on Floor 2, Section 3. The Allen Hall of North American Mammals featured mounts of North American mammals in display cases. In 1922 the hall was named in honor of J.A. Allen, former mammalogy curator (1, 1922 p. 22). Specimens were collected for the hall on (2, 1902, p. 11, 27; 3, 1904 p. 29-31).

Unlike the current (as of 2017) dioramas on view in the Bernard Family Hall of North American Mammals, the Allen Hall featured mounted mammal specimens in cases, some of which had painted backgrounds and foreground design (1, 1911, p. 43). The Allen Hall briefly contained African mammals, and also featured polar and oceanic mammals when the hall for Mammals of the Polar Regions was being used for preparation of the new Elephant Group and other African mammals (1, 1919, p. 53; 1, 1913, p. 55).

The Allen Hall of North American Mammals also included exhibits of mammals found within fifty miles of New York City, which were displayed elsewhere before 1912 (1, 1912, p. 50). The hall was continuously updated until it was replaced by the new Hall of North American Mammals. The Allen Hall's habitat groups included the opossum, raccoon, red and gray foxes, skunk, mink, weasel, rabbits, hares, woodchuck, squirrels, muskrat (3, 1911, p. 45-48), Alaska and New Brunswick moose, bison, pronghorn antelope (GG 1911 p. 47-49), fur seal, Grant's caribou, mountain sheep, walrus, polar bear, Roosevelt elk, Peary musk ox, Alaskan brown bears, mountain goats, beavers, (3, 1914, p. 65-70), brown bat (3, 1916, p. 71), Virginia deer, otter, pack rats (3, 1918, p. 57-63), timber wolves, jaguars, pumas, rats and mice, coyotes/prairie wolves, arctic wolves and foxes, peccary, chipmunks, wild cats, jack rabbits (3, 1928, p. 61), flying squirrels, weasels, European wild boars, black bears, Grant, woodland, and Peary's caribou (3, 1930, p. 60-64), and Grizzly bears (3, 1934, p. 60).

Although the new North American Mammal Hall opened in 1942, the old hall appears in the Museum General Guides as late as 1945. The two halls featured many of the same species including American bison, moose, Rocky Mountain goats, beavers, wolves, Virginia deer, grizzly and Alaskan brown bears, Grant's barren ground caribou, musk ox, pronghorns, black bears, and pumas (3, 1945, 112-116).

Sources

1) American Museum of Natural History. Annual Reports. New York: American Museum of Natural History, 1911-1922.

2) Allen, J.A., North American Ruminants. New York: American Museum of Natural History, 1902.

3) General Guide to [the Exhibition Halls of] the American Museum of Natural History, 1904-1945.

Information for the hall appears in the following Museum publications:

American Museum of Natural History Annual Reports for years 1904 (page 29-31); 1911 (page 29, 43); 1912 (page 50); 1913 (page 55); 1914 (page 30, 31); 1915 (page 28, 41); 1918 (page 42); 1919 (page 53); 1922 (page 22); 1924 (page 12, 91); 1926 (page 25); 1928 (page 6); 1931 (page 7, 8); 1932 (page 62); 1933 (page 6, 17); 1936 (page 40); 1942 (page 17)

American Museum of Natural History General Guides for years 1904 (Table of Contents, page 29); 1911 (page 35, 45); 1913 (page 59); 1914 (page 65); 1916 (page 67); 1918 (page 57); 1919 (page 58); 1920 (page 58); 1921 (page 58); 1922 (page 58); 1923 (page 59); 1926 (page 16, 17); 1926 (page 37); 1927 (page 18, 37); 1928 (page 58, 59); 1930 (page 58, 59); 1931 (page 58, 66); 1932 (page 58, 66); 1933 (page 60, 68); 1934 (Table of Contents, page 59); 1935 (Table of Contents, page 59); 1936 (Table of Contents, page 60); 1939 (page 17, 105); 1943 (page 17, 113); 1945 (page 17, 113)

Guide Leaflet North American Ruminants by J.A. Allen, Supplement to American Museum of Natural History Vol. II No. 3, March 1902 Guide Leaflet No. 5

Terms

place: New York
AMNH: Floor 2, Section 3. Additional location information: Southeast Wing. Hall number 206.

Related Corporate, Personal, and Family Names

: Akeley, Carl Ethan 1864-1926
Carl Akeley collected and mounted Virginia Deer (3, 1913 p. 59).
: Allen, J. A. (Joel Asaph) 1838-1921
J.A. Allen was a Curator in Mammalogy. The hall was named for him (1, 1922, p. 22).
: Andrew J. Stone Expedition
The Alaskan Moose in the hall was collected on this expedition (2, 1902, p. 11).
: Andrews, Roy Chapman, 1884-1960
Curator Roy Chapman Andrews secured material for the Virginia Deer Group (1,1915, p. 41).
: Anthony, H. E. (Harold Elmer) 1890-1970
Curator Harold Anthony secured material Jack Rabbit and Mountain Beaver Groups (1, 1915, p. 41).
: Bernard Family of North American Mammals
Although the two halls were briefly open at the same time, the Bernard Family Hall of North American Mammals replaced the Allen Hall of North American Mammals.
: Grant, Madison 1865-1937
Trustee Madison Grant donated the Grant Caribou Group (1, 1931 p. 6).
: Mammals of the Polar Regions (Hall)
The Allen Hall of North American Mammals exhibited specimens previously in the Mammals of the Polar Regions after 1911 (1, 1913, p. 55).
: Peary Expedition
Specimens for the Musk Ox Group was collected on this expedition (2, 1902, p. 27)
: Peary Relief Expedition to the Arctic
Specimens for the New Brunswick Moose, Bison, Walrus Groups were collected on this expedition (3, 1904, p. 29-31)
: Peary, Robert E. (Robert Edwin) 1856-1920
Robert Peary collected specimens for Musk Ox and Polar Bear Groups (3, 1936, p. 61)
: Stone, A. J. (Andrew Jackson) 1859-1918
Collected specimens for Grant's Caribou (3, 1936, p. 61)

Related Resources

subjectOf: Historic Halls of the American Museum of Natural History
Curated digital images of permanent halls in the American Museum of Natural History Library, Digital Special Collections.