A Century on Whitney Avenue

By Steven Scarpa

Under the watchful gaze of the fossil specimens Archelon, Edmontosaurus, and Stegosaurus, over 800 scientists and friends crowded into the Great Hall to dedicate the new Peabody Museum in December 1925, which had left its original home at the corner of Elm and High streets in 1917. 

The present-day Peabody has put together a small exhibition to mark the anniversary of the move to the corner of Sachem and Whitney, a carefully curated selection of objects that each tell the story of where the museum was a century ago. The exhibition, located on the first floor, will be on display through May 4.  

Back in late December 1925, leading thinkers across all scientific disciplines celebrated the role that the new Peabody would play. During the ceremony, the speakers expressed the hope that its collections, which had been in storage, would again be used to further scientific inquiry.   

“It is with much confidence that we look forward to the future, estimate the certain growth of the collections, and consider the service which they will render to Science, to the University, and to the City in which the Peabody Museum has had its home for more than a half century,” said Edward Salisbury Dana, chair of the Peabody Board of Trustees at the time.  

With the teaching of evolution recently contested in the Scopes Trial, the Peabody was noted for its acceptance of the idea. The fossil collection was exhibited as a timeline of evolution. This exposed visitors and school groups to evolutionary theory as an explanation for the biodiversity of life on Earth, a concept that was provocative for the time.  

“The world was different 100 years ago. While evolutionary theory was widely accepted in scientific circles, it was a highly controversial topic in popular culture. The Peabody’s bold display was a national revelation,” said botanist Erika Edwards, a Peabody curator, and the current acting director of the museum.  

James Rowland Angell, the president of Yale, saw the opening not as a culmination of the museum’s work, but as a beginning. He believed that the Peabody was to be a “dynamic center from which must flow continual service to science and so to humanity.”  

“Here, for generations to come, serious students will assemble for the intensive study of those profound and revealing chapters in nature’s history which are here written. Hither will come citizens young and old to gain broader and deeper conceptions of the history of life, of the earth and its structure and place in the cosmos,” Angell said in his remarks that day.  

And, over time, students and citizens have continued to learn about their place in the world. Generations of Peabody scientists and educators have adapted to the times. “We selected a few crucial items that demonstrate the Peabody’s pursuit of scientific knowledge at the time,” said David Heiser, director of student programs.  

For example, a small microscope for children alludes to the rise of science education and the establishment of Peabody’s education programs. A Caribbean lobster, first identified and described as a new species by marine biologist Pearl Lee Boone in 1925, is notable because she worked during a time when women scientists were rare and often discredited. Across the back wall of Room 106, a rare video from the time period plays, showing the museum’s education programs in action, and visitors enjoying the museum. 

Surrounded by a refreshed and revitalized Peabody Museum, this new display demonstrates in a small way that the fundamental principles of thoughtful inquiry and careful stewardship are timeless.