To Make Know How (Exhibition)

Exist Dates

1956 December 5 - 1957 February 24

Biographical or Historical Note

abstract

Exhibition. Opened December 5, 1956 and closed February 24, 1957. Located in Section 12, Floor 2 in the Theodore Roosevelt Rotunda of the New York State Roosevelt Memorial at the American Museum of Natural History. To Make Know How presented an illustrated history of the work of the Museum's Department of Education and was curated by Katherine Benecker, Museum exhibition coordinator, and John Saunders, chairman of the Department of Education, which was referred to as the Department of Public Instruction.

Summary

To Make Know How presented an illustrated history of the work of the Museum's Department of Education and was curated by Katherine Benecker, Museum exhibition coordinator, and John Saunders, chairman of the Department of Public Instruction. The exhibition took its title from Webster's first definition of the word "teach". It consisted of documents from the Department's 87-year history, including early photographs, illustrations, and exhibit pieces alongside their contemporary counterparts and traced the development of the Museum's teaching programs (1, p. 1-2).

Highlights (1, p. 1-3):

*The first habitat group of its kind exhibited in the United States, which showed robins on the branches of an apple tree, from 1886

*An 1871 illustration from Harper's Weekly, which showed exhibition halls of the time

*An early gas-lit lantern slide projector (stereopticon) similar to the kind used by Albert Bickmore during illustrated lectures at the Museum contrasted with a photograph of a Museum television program in rehearsal

*A 1913 exhibition, "The Moths of Limberlost"

*A miniature diorama of the Hall of Northwest Coast Indians later known as the Northwest Coast Hall

*Photographs of the school loan program's delivery service, including a man who made deliveries on foot, a 1907 electric car, a man on a motorcycle in 1922, the first trucks used in deliveries from 1927, and a contemporary truck

This is a condensed summary of the exhibition. For additional information, see Sources and/or Related Resources.

Sources

(1) American Museum of Natural History. Press Release. "Museum's Role as Great Teacher Brought to Life in Colorful New Exhibit." December 5, 1956. Departmental Records, DR 101. American Museum of Natural History Library.

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Related Corporate, Personal, and Family Names

American Museum of Natural History. Department of Education.
Related department (1)

Beneker, Katherine
Curator of exhibition; Exhibition Coordinator at the Museum (1)

New York State Roosevelt Memorial.
Location of exhibition (Rotunda) 1956 December 5 – 1957 February 24 (1)

Saunders, John R. (John Richard)
Curator of exhibition: Chairman, Department of Public Instruction (1)

Related Resources

American Museum of Natural History annual reports, 1902-2001.
"Report from the Manager of Exhibition and Construction 1 July 1956 – 30 June 1957." [1957].

American Museum of Natural History press releases, 1933-1990s.
"Museum's Role as Great Teacher Brought to Life in Colorful New Exhibit." December 5, 1956.

American Museum of Natural History Special Collections photographic drawers
Repository: AMNH Special Collections. [Black and white photo prints of exhibition on view]

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