Date of Completion

5-8-2026

Degree Type

Honors Thesis

Discipline

History (HIST)

First Advisor

Amy Woodson-Boulton

Abstract

My research is on the history of temporary and permanent climate change exhibitions at natural history museums in the United States. My primary research question is: How have natural history museums responded to human-caused environmental destruction through their exhibitions, and what, if anything, are natural history museums doing now to address our current environmental crisis? My research begins with a historiography of natural museums and examines how early 20th-century museums responded to a sense of environmental crisis and widespread threats of species extinction. In the early 20th century, museums shifted from Victorian-era glass cases to modern and artistic dioramas that presented beautiful and pristine wilderness. These new dioramas attempted to inspire audiences to care about the environment and preserve wilderness that preservationists presented as disappearing. 21st-century museums are again changing their displays to address climate change, environmental justice, and extinction, this time using different technologies. I explore four specific museums, their histories, and how they are addressing the threat of climate change: the Field Museum of Natural History, the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, the Harvard Museum of Natural History, and the American Museum of Natural History. My research brings into conversation museum history, climate communications, and environmental history, while fitting into the larger scholarly conversation of the cultural and political role of American natural history museums. My approach to this topic is new because I am recognizing that the public presentation of natural history itself has a history, and climate change fits into what is considered a “difficult history.” My research is built upon primary sources, including museum multimedia archives, periodical archives, relevant secondary sources from historians, scientists, and museum practitioners, and visits to current climate change exhibitions at relevant museums.

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