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Polar Museums directory
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Alaska State Museum
| Website: | www.museums.state.ak.us/asmhome.html |
| Address: | 395 Whittier St., Pouch FM, Juneau, AK 99811 |
| Telephone: | +1-907-465-2901 |
| Fax: | +1-907-465-2976 |
| Year of foundation: | Established in 1900 as the Alaska Historical Library and Museum, becoming a separate organization in 1966 |
| Collections: | Carries out research on and collects/displays materials relating to the people and history of Alaska. Sizable collections for the Alaskan Eskimo, smaller Aleut and Athapaskan collections |
| Publications: | <em>Concepts</em> (1986-, 3pa); <em>Gentle craft: watercolour views of Alaska 1778-1974; Glory remembered: wooden headgear of Alaska sea hunters</em> (Black, 1991); <em>Native Alaskan art in the State Historical Museum, Juneau, Alaska</em> (Keithahn, 1959); <em>Qajaq: kayaks of Siberia and Alaska</em> (Zimmerly); <em>Search for the Northwest Passage: a bicentennial exhibition on the Alaska voyages of George Vancouver</em> (Olson) |
American Museum of Natural History
| Website: | www.amnh.org |
| Address: | Central Park West at 79th St., New York, NY 10024 |
| Telephone: | +1-212-769-5100 |
| Fax: | +1-212-769-5223 |
| Year of foundation: | 1869 |
| Collections: | In addition to displays illustrating the marine and terrestrial animal life of the polar regions, the collections include artefacts relating to northern cultures and to the polar aviator Ellsworth Lincoln. The Hall of Meteorites contains three meteorites brought back by Peary from Cape York, Greenland, including the world's largest. The Library includes the Chambers Polar Research Collection (founded, 1994) |
| Publications: | <em>Bulletin</em> (1881-); <em>Anthropological Papers</em> (1907-); <em>Natural History</em> (1901-, 12pa) |
Anchorage Museum of History and Art
| Address: | 121 West Seventh Av., Anchorage, AK 99501 |
| Telephone: | +1-907-343-4326 |
| Fax: | +1-907-343-6149 |
| Year of foundation: | 1968 |
| Collections: | Large collection for Alaskan history and native culture, with some Siberian and Canadian material. Library |
| Publications: | <em>Alaska Gallery at the Anchorage Museum of History and Art</em> (Davis, 1990); exhibition catalogues |
Antarctic Experience
| Website: | www.gdargaud.net/Antarctica |
| Address: | PO Box 73, Reedsport, OR 97467 |
| Collections: | Run by the Hero Foundation focusing on the Antarctic Research Vessel <em>Hero</em>. There is a visitor and museum centre ashore and it is planned to expand the facilities to form the Richard E. Byrd National Antarctic Center. |
Baranov Museum
| Address: | Erskine House, 101 Marine Way, PO Box 61, Kodiak, AK 99615 |
| Telephone: | +1-907-486-5920 |
| Year of foundation: | 1954 |
| Collections: | Natural and cultural history of Kodiak Island, including Aleut and Eskimo artefacts. |
Bishop Museum
| Website: | www.bishopmuseum.org |
| Address: | Honolulu, Hawaii |
| Collections: | Fine holdings of Antaarctic, sub-Antarctic and Southern Ocean invertebrates collected by Gressitt. |
Carnegie Museum of Natural History
| Website: | www.carnegiemuseums.org/cmnh |
| Address: | Carnegie Institute, 4400 Forbes Av., Pittsburg, PA 15213 |
| Year of foundation: | 1896 |
| Collections: | Extensive ethnographic and natural history holdings obtained on over 50 Arctic and several Antarctic expeditions. Library. |
Carrie M. McLain Memorial Museum
| Address: | PO Box 53, Nome, AK 99762 |
| Telephone: | +1-907-443-2566 |
| Year of foundation: | 1967 |
| Collections: | Local history, archaeology and anthropology. Nome gold rush. |
Cold Spring Harbor Whaling Museum
| Website: | www.cshwhalingmuseum.org |
| Address: | Main St., PO Box 25, Cold Spring Harbor, NY 11724 |
| Year of foundation: | 1936 |
| Collections: | History and techniques of whaling. Exhibits include scrimshaw and the dory used by Robert Cushman Murphy during his voyage on the <em>Daisy</em> to South Georgia, 1911-12 |
| Publications: | <em>Scrimshaw: folk art of the whalers</em> (Earle, 1957) |
Dillingham Heritage Museum
| Address: | Pouch 202, Dillingham, AK 99576 |
| Telephone: | +1-907-842-5610. |
Field Museum of Natural History
| Website: | www.fieldmuseum.org |
| Address: | Roosevelt Rd. at Lake Shore Dr., Chicago, IL 60605 |
| Year of foundation: | 1893 |
| Collections: | Large northern collections, particularly for Alaska where Miner W. Bruce obtained many artefacts in the Port Clarence and Kotzebue Sound areas between 1892 and 1897. Other important collections were made by Nordenskiold (Port Clarence, 1880) and Peary (Northwest Greenland, 1891-92) |
| Publications: | <em>Fieldiana</em> (1895-) [sub-divided into <em>Anthropology</em>; <em>Botany</em>, <em>Geology</em>, and <em>Zoology</em>] |
Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology
| Website: | www.brown.edu/Facilities/Haffenreffer/ |
| Address: | Brown University, Mount Hope Grant, Bristol, RI 02809 |
| Telephone: | +1-401-253-8388 |
| Fax: | +1-401-253-1198 |
| Year of foundation: | 1956 |
| Collections: | Has extensive northern collections almost exclusively from Alaska where the museum has an ongoing archaeological research programme begun by its first director, J.L. Giddings, and continued by the museum's Circumpolar Laboratory under D.D. Anderson |
| Publications: | Published catalogue: <em>Out of the North: the Subarctic Collection of the Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology</em> (Hail and Duncan, 1989) |
Heritage Museum
| Address: | 301 West Northern Lights Blvd., PO Box 100600, Anchorage, AK 99510 |
| Telephone: | +1-907-265-2834 |
| Fax: | +1-907-265-2002 |
| Year of foundation: | 1968 |
| Collections: | Founded by the National Bank of Alaska to provide a showcase for Alaskan culture and history. The Museum displays baskets, weapons, paintings, photographs of the native peoples. Library. |
Hood Museum
| Website: | www.dartmouth.edu |
| Address: | Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH |
| Collections: | Sizeable ethnographic and archaeological holdings for northern peoples. Collections include Eskimo/Inuit artefacts collected by F.C. and C.G. Churchill (1899-1909), S.P. and A.L. Haight (1953-62) among others. The Athapaskan materials were primarily collected by R. McKennan. |
Kendall Whaling Museum
| Website: | www.kwm.org |
| Address: | 27 Everett St., PO Box 297, Sharon, MA 027067 |
| Telephone: | +1-617-784-5642 |
| Fax: | +1-617-793-0184 |
| Year of foundation: | 1956 |
| Collections: | Holds the world's largest collections of art and artefacts relating to whaling in all regions including the Arctic and Antarctic. The Library is similarly extensive with over 17,000 books, 1000 volumes of whaling logbooks and journals, and ca. 15 m of unbound manuscripts. Since 1975 has held the annual Whaling History Symposium |
| Publications: | <em>Kendall Whaling Museum paintings</em> (Brewington, 1965); <em>Kendall Whaling Museum prints</em> (Brewington, 1969); <em>Newsletter</em> (1983-, 4pa); <em>The South Sea Whaler. An annotated bibliography of published historical, literary and art material relating to whaling in the Pacific Ocean in the nineteenth century</em> (Forster, 1985); <em>Monograph Series</em> (1988-); <em>Whalemen's paintings and drawings: selections from the Kendall Whaling Museum Collection</em> (Martin, 1983) |
Kotzebue Museum
| Address: | Inc., PO Box 46, Kotzebue, AK 99752 |
| Telephone: | +1-907-442-3401 |
| Fax: | +1-907-442-3742 |
| Year of foundation: | 1967 |
| Collections: | Archaeological and ethnographic collections for Eskimos and Indians of region. |
Mariners' Museum
| Website: | www.mariner.org |
| Address: | Museum Dr., Newport News, VA 23606 |
| Telephone: | +1-804-595-0368 |
| Year of foundation: | 1930 |
| Collections: | Archives include papers relating to the US Exploring Expedition (1837-40), including the journal of James Alden. Whaling prints, paintings and scrimshaw. |
Milwaukee Public Museum
| Website: | www.mpm.edu |
| Address: | 800 W. Wells St., Milwaukee, WI 53233 |
| Year of foundation: | 1882 |
| Collections: | Sizeable ethnographic collections, particularly for the Athapaskans and Saami. |
Museum of the Aleutians
| Website: | www.aleutians.org |
| Address: | PO Box 648, Unalaska, AK 99685 |
| E-mail: | museum@ansi.net |
| Telephone: | +1-907-581-51150 |
| Fax: | +1-907-581-1496 |
| Year of foundation: | 1998? |
| Collections: | Muesum's mission is to preserve and share the human history of Unalaska and the Aleutian Island region. Collections include archaeological, ethnological and archival materials. |
Museums Alaska
| Website: | www.museumsalaska.org |
| Address: | 8916 Gloralee St., Anchorage, AK 99502 |
Mystic Seaport Museum
| Website: | www.mystic.org |
| Address: | Route 27, Mystic, CT 06335 |
| Year of foundation: | 1929 |
| Collections: | <em>Charles W. Morgan</em>, the only surviving American wooden sailing whaleship, is the major exhibit, together with much else relating to whaling and sealing activities, and some ethnographic materials. Library |
| Publications: | <em>A guide to the manuscript collections of the G.W. Blunt White Library at the Mystic Seaport Museum</em> (Stein, 1983); <em>American maritime documents, 1776-1860</em> (Stein, 1992); <em>Dictionary of scrimshaw artists</em> (Frank, 1991); <em>Graven by the fishermen themselves: scrimshaw in Mystic Seaport Museum</em> (Malley, 1983) |
NANA Museum of the Arctic
| Address: | PO Box 49, Kotzebue, AK 99752 |
Nantucket Historical Association - The Peter Foulger Museum
| Address: | PO Box 1016, Nantucket, MA 02554 |
| Telephone: | +1-508-228-1894 |
| Fax: | +1-508-228-5618 |
| Year of foundation: | 1894 |
| Collections: | Whaling museum with displays of whaling artefacts, scrimshaw and South Seas exploration. Library contains the Arctic and Antarctic Book Collection of Benjamin Sharp and a collection of ships logs |
| Publications: | <em>Guide to the manuscript collections of the Nantucket Historical Association</em> (Haring and Michael, 1986) |
National Museum of Natural History
| Website: | www.mnh.si.edu |
| Address: | Smithsonian Institution, 10th St. and Constitution Av., NW, Washington, DC 20560 |
| Year of foundation: | 1846 |
| Collections: | Extensive collections from Alaska, northern Canada and Greenland of which very little is on display. Important early work on Arctic and sub-Arctic peoples was carried out by the Bureau of Ethnology which later merged with the Department of Anthropology, within which an Arctic Studies Center was set up in 1988. This has an active research programme on the anthropology and archaeology of Alaska, northern Canada and other circumpolar regions |
| Publications: | <em>Anthropological Papers</em> (1938-66); <em>Arctic Studies Center Newsletter</em> (1992-); <em>Catalog to manuscripts at the National Anthropological Archive</em> (1975); <em>Explorations and field-work of the Smithsonian Institution</em> (1910/11-40); <em>Guide to the Smithsonian Archives</em> (1978); <em>Handbook of North American Indians</em> (Sturtevant, 1978-); <em>Inua: spirit world of the Bering Sea Eskimo</em> (Fitzhugh and Kaplan, 1988); Northern Studies monograph series; Smithsonian (1970-, 12pa); Smithsonian Contributions [separate series for Anthropology (1965-), Astrophysics (1956-), Botany (1969-), Earth Sciences (1969-), Marine Sciences (1977-), Paleobiology (1969-), and Zoology (1969-)] |
National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI)
| Website: | www.nmai.si.edu |
| Address: | Smithsonian Institution, Administrative Office, 470 L'Enfant, Suite 7103, MRC 934, Washington, DC 20560 |
| Telephone: | +1-212-825-6700 |
| Fax: | +1-212-825-8180 |
| Year of foundation: | 1916 [formerly known as Museum of the American Indian - Heye Foundation and sited in New York. Since 1990, part of Smithsonian and due to open in Washington, DC in 2001] |
| Collections: | Northern material from Alaska, Canada and Greenland is well-represented in the displays and collections. Extensive library. Exhibits facility: George Gustav Heye Center, One Bowling Green, New York, NY 10004 |
| Publications: | <em>Arctic art: Eskimo ivory</em> (Smith, 1980) |
Old Dartmouth Historical Society Whaling Museum
| Address: | 18 Johnny Cake Hill, New Bedford, MA 02740 |
| Fax: | +1-508-997-0018 |
| Year of foundation: | 1903 |
| Collections: | Materials relating to the history of the New England whaling industry. Extensive art collection including scrimshaw and many Eskimo artefacts purchased by whalers at Bering Straits, Hudson Bay and West Greenland. The library has particularly extensive holdings for the history of American whaling, including many logbooks, journals and business records |
| Publications: | <em>Johnny Cake Hill Bulletin</em> (4pa); <em>Returns of American whaling voyages</em> |
Paul Jensen Arctic Museum
| Website: | www.oregonlink.com/arctic |
| Address: | Western Oregon University, 590 West Church St., Monmouth, Oregon 97361 |
| Telephone: | +1-503-838-8468 |
| Year of foundation: | 1985 |
| Collections: | Founded by educator, collector, and philanthropist Paul H. Jensen, the Jensen Arctic Museum is the only museum on the West Coast of the USA wholy devoted to Arctic culture. The museum's collections include ca. 4,000 ethnographic artefacts collected by Dr Jensen over three decades in Alaska plus private donations from more than 70 other sources. |
Peabody Museum of Salem
| Website: | www.pem.org |
| Address: | East India Square, Salem, MA 01970 |
| Telephone: | +1-508-745-1876 |
| Fax: | +1-508-744-6776 |
| Year of foundation: | 1799 |
| Collections: | The oldest continuously operated museum in the United States. Founded by the East India Marine Society, whose membership was restricted to Salem men who had navigated in seas near or beyond the Cape of Good Hope or around Cape Horn. Members were enjoined to bring back artefacts obtained on their voyages and the collection includes ethnographic material from Alaska, Canada and Greenland in addition to many items relating to whaling. The Philips Library contains many books describing early voyages to the Arctic and Antarctic, as well as ethnographic material for Arctic peoples, a large collection of whaling logbooks, and the Francis B. Lothrop Collection of whaling prints |
| Publications: | <em>American Neptune</em> (1941-, 4pa); <em>Review of Archaeology</em> (1980-, 2pa); <em>Whaling prints in the Francis B. Lothrop Collection</em> (Ingalls, 1987) |
Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum
| Website: | http://academic.bowdoin.edu/arcticmuseum |
| Address: | Bowdoin College, Brunswick, ME 04011 |
| E-mail: | glemoine@bowdoin.edu |
| Telephone: | +1-207-725-3062/3416 |
| Fax: | +1-207-725-3499 |
| Year of foundation: | 1967 |
| Collections: | Includes displays of artefacts and photographs associated with the Arctic explorers Robert E. Peary and Donald B. MacMillan. The College Library holds MacMillan's personal library and papers as well as a large collection of papers and photographs concerning Robert A. Bartlett. The Arctic Studies Center, established 1985, seeks to link the resources of the museum and library with teaching and research, and to house travelling exhibitions, lectures, workshops, and educational outreach efforts. |
Pratt Museum
| Website: | www.prattmuseum.com |
| Address: | 3779 Bartlett St., Homer, AK 99603 |
| Telephone: | +1-907-235-8635 |
| Fax: | +1-9007-235-2764 |
| Year of foundation: | 1968 |
| Collections: | Set up by the Homer Society of Natural History to collect, preserve and interpret the natural and cultural history of the Kenai Peninsula, lower Cook Inlet and Kachemak Bay |
| Publications: | <em>Newsletter</em> (4pa); monographs of regional interest |
Robert H. Lowie Museum of Anthropology
| Address: | University of California, 103 Kroeber Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720 |
| Year of foundation: | 1901 |
| Collections: | Sizeable Arctic and sub-Arctic collections include material acquired by agents of the Alaska Commercial Company during the period 1868 to 1898 and donated in 1904; and artefacts collected by Charles L. Hall between 1894 and 1901. |
San Diego Museum of Man
| Website: | www.museumofman.org |
| Address: | 11350 El Prado, Balbao Park, San Diego, CA 92101 |
| Year of foundation: | 1915 |
| Collections: | Sizeable northern collections, with Alaska well-represented particularly by the Charles D. Brower Collection. |
Sheldon Jackson Museum
| Website: | www.museums.state.ak.us/Sheldon Jackson/sjhome.html |
| Address: | (State of Alaska, Dept. of Education, Division of Libraries, Archives and Museums), 104 College Dr., Sitka, AK 99835 |
| Telephone: | +1-907-747-8981 |
| Fax: | +1-907-747-3004 |
| Year of foundation: | 1887 |
| Collections: | Ethnographic material from Eskimo, Aleut and Alaska Indian cultures |
| Publications: | <em>Faces, voices & dreams: a celebration of the centennial of the Sheldon Jackson Museum</em> (Corey, 1987) |
Simon Paneak Memorial Museum
| Address: | 341 Mekiana Rd., PO Box 21085, Anaktuvuk Pass, AK 99721 |
| Telephone: | +1-907-661-3413 |
| Fax: | +1-907-661-3429 |
| Year of foundation: | 1986 |
| Collections: | Focuses on recording and preserving the history, traditions, and artifacts of Nunamiut Inupiat, or inland Eskimos, of Anaktuvuk Pass who base their existence on hunting caribou and sheep. Describes itself as "America's farthest north museum". The museum is named after an early community leader instrumental in the re-settlement of this area and a keen observer of his own culture. Houses the Hans van der Laam Brooks Range Library Collection. |
Sullivan County Historical Museum
| Address: | PO Box 247, Hurleyville, NY 12747 |
| Telephone: | +1-914-434-8044 |
| Year of foundation: | 1960 |
| Collections: | Displays relating to Frederick A. Cook. |
Thomas Burke Memorial Washington State Museum
| Website: | www.philau.edu |
| Address: | University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195 |
| Telephone: | +1-206-543-5590 |
| Fax: | +1-206-685-3039 |
| Year of foundation: | 1885 |
| Collections: | Extensive collection with Alaska and Chukotka particularly well-represented. Major collections are the Hachman-Konig Collection (ca. 1900), and those obtained by Birket-Smith (1933), James Swan (1890), James White (1895), Stefansson and Walter Waters (1920s), Joseph T. Bernard (1924), and Robert Gierke (1910-30). Also over 700 photographic prints of ethnographic interest taken 1880s-1950s. |
University Museum
| Website: | www.philau.edu |
| Address: | University of Philadelphia, 33rd and Spruce Sts., Philadelphia, PA 19104 |
| Year of foundation: | 1889 |
| Collections: | Extensive Arctic collections, with Alaska particularly well-represented. Library. |
University of Alaska Museum
| Website: | www.uaf.edu/museum |
| Address: | 907 Yukon Dr., Fairbanks, AK 99775 |
| Telephone: | +1-907-474-7505 |
| Fax: | +1-907-474-5469 |
| Year of foundation: | 1912 |
| Collections: | Extensive collections and displays for the natural and cultural history of Alaska. The primary State repository for natural history |
| Publications: | <em>Alaska mining history: a source document</em> (Heiner, 1977); <em>Otto Speaks</em> (1988-); <em>Setting it free: an exhibition of modern Alaskan Eskimo ivory carving</em> (Larsen and Dickey, 1982); <em>Some warmer tone: Alaska Athabaskan bead embroidery</em> (Duncan, 1984) |
US Coast Guard Museum
| Address: | New London, CT 06320 |
| E-mail: | herrick@deseg.uscga.edu |
| Telephone: | +1-860-444-8511 |
| Fax: | +1-860-444-8289 |
| Year of foundation: | 1967 |
| Collections: | Important holdings from Revenue Cutter Service including logbooks of Bering Sea Patrol, photographs, uniforms, Ward Room china and silver, kayak models, and large collection (ca. 200 pieces) of Eskimo carved ivory and bone export goods; all dating from 1880s-1920s. |
US Naval Academy Museum
| Website: | www.usna.edu/Museum |
| Address: | Annapolis, MD 21402 |
| Telephone: | +1-301-267-2108 |
| Year of foundation: | 1845 |
| Collections: | Artefacts and journals from expeditions of DeLong (1879-81), Greely Relief Expedition (1884), Peary (1905-06), and Byrd (1926). Oil portraits of Kane and DeLong, bust of Byrd, and the Jeanette Monument. |
US Navy Memorial Museum
| Address: | Bldg. 76, Washington Navy Yard, Washington, DC 20374 |
| Telephone: | +1-202-433-4882 |
| Year of foundation: | 1962 |
| Collections: | Contains substantial polar exhibits including a recreation of Byrd's Bolling Advance Weather Base and other memorabilia relating amongst others to Byrd, Ronne and Scott. Also, models of ships used in Dumont d'Urville (1837-40) and Wilkes (1838-42) expeditions to Antarctica. |
William Hammond Mathers Museum
| Website: | www.iupui.edu |
| Address: | Indiana University, 601 East 8th St., Bloomington, IN 47405 |
| Telephone: | +1-812-855-6873 |
| Fax: | +1-812-855-0205 |
| Year of foundation: | 1962 |
| Collections: | Sizeable collection of Alaskan Eskimo artefacts chiefly donated by Mollie Griest and Mrs L.B. Williams, the former collection made at Point Barrow (1916-36), the latter on St. Lawrence Island, Point Barrow and Nome (1942-55). Library. |