The Collections

The Yale Peabody Museum has an extensive and rich archive of materials related not only to the history of the Museum, the individuals involved in its founding, and the early days of its collections, but also to the early history of higher education in the natural sciences in the United States, especially in paleontology.

The Yale Peabody Museum is committed to providing broad access to its collections for teaching, learning, and research, and makes available a variety of digital assets and associated information for specimens, objects, and archival items housed in the Museum. For information and access to Peabody Museum archival material, contact the Peabody’s Archivist. Additional archival materials are also available through the Yale Library’s archives.

Much of the Peabody’s exceptional collections of over 14 million specimens and cultural materials have been photographically documented and can be found through an online search of the collections. Access to and use of Yale Peabody Museum digital assets are subject to our Terms of Use and governed by the Museum’s policies. Requests to reproduce Peabody Museum materials, including photography in the collections, should be directed to Yale Peabody Museum Permissions.

Mailing Address

Permissions
Peabody Museum of Natural History
Yale University
P.O. Box 208118
New Haven, CT 06520-8118 USA
peabody.permissions@yale.edu

The Conservation Laboratory actively supports and promotes the Yale Peabody Museum’s mission to preserve and protect the collections entrusted to its care. The Lab is involved in all aspects of collections care and handling at the Museum. Care and treatment of specimens and cultural materials is guided by the principle that the integrity of an object should be preserved in every possible way. Because the Peabody collections are used primarily for research, our approach to the treatment of the collections is conservative. We are always aware of the research potential of the collections in our care and whenever possible nothing is done to impair or compromise it.

The conservator is involved in all aspects of collections care and handling—how specimens are stored, what materials will be in the display case, and whether they will travel by truck or airplane to another institution for study or exhibition, among others. Conservation work is multi-faceted, involving both active treatment and passive, or preventive, measures, as well as the development of new treatment techniques.

The Peabody’s Conservation Lab has collaborated with the Yale’s Institute for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage on several projects. One such project was the conservation, photographing, and rehousing of 180 tapa cloths—thin “cloths” created from the inner bark of trees that have been crafted for thousands of years in Oceania—from the Museum’s Division of Anthropology collections.

The Yale Peabody Museum’s collections are available to legitimate researchers for scholarly use. Loans are issued to responsible individuals at established institutions. Loans and access to the collection can be arranged through the Collections Manager of the appropriate Division.

For facilities assistance contact: