Updated: 10/25/2013 
Joseph Moore Museum of Natural History
Richmond, Indiana
Description

Joseph Moore Museum is the regional natural history museum for eastern Indiana. It provides opportunities for Earlham students to have hands-on experience working in a museum in the fields of zoology, botany, anthropology, geology, education, and applied arts. Students curate the collection, provide tours and planetarium shows for visitors, maintain the live animal collections, and design and build exhibits. Guidance is provided by natural science faculty members.

The museum began as the teaching collection of Joseph Moore in the 1850s. In 1887 the collection was placed in the new Lindley Hall and became open to the public, displaying specimens gathered around the world by various Earlham faculty. In 1924, Lindley Hall, where the museum was housed at the time, was consumed by fire and the collection was partially destroyed. But through the efforts of faculty and students, several important pieces, such as Ta'an, the Egyptian mummy, and the mastodon, were saved. In 1952, the museum moved into our current location in Dennis Hall and under the direction of Jim Cope, the collections were updated and reorganized.

All of our tours meet Indiana State science and social studies standards for the appropriate grade levels.

History

Joseph Moore was a teacher at the Friends Boarding School in Richmond, Indiana (later to become Earlham College) who began to collect natural history objects to supplement his teaching. At first, he housed his collection in a cabinet in Earlham Hall and later moved it to a small room. The collection was constantly being enlarged and when Lindley Hall was built in 1887, the lower floor of one wing was designated for the museum. In 1889, the fossil Giant Beaver and Ta'an, the mummy, were acquired. Also during this time, the museum received the skeleton of "Tippo Sahib", a local circus elephant that had gone mad and had to be shot. Its skeleton was mounted next to that of the mastodon.

Artifact Collections

The Joseph Moore Museum is a vital contributor to the education of both Earlham College students as well as the public of Wayne County, Indiana and beyond. The museum and its collections provide the opportunity for experiential learning through hands-on activities and research while maintaining a valuable asset for scientists around the world.

The JMM also provides many teaching opportunities for professors and their classes at Earlham College. Courses from all divisions on campus have used our exhibits and collections, such as Ecological Biology, Biodiversity, History of the Ancient Mediterranean, Natural History Museum Curation, Drawing I, Vertebrate Zoology and French 102. A minimum of 300 college students come to the museum or use our collections in courses each year

Programs
Fairies Move In at the Museum

Recently, we discovered a different sort of nest among the birds in the Marshes of Indiana exhibit at the Joseph Moore Museum. A tiny door on the side of the exhibit leads into a well-furnished, one-room house fashioned from a portable snake cage. The apparently tiny residents of this mysterious abode have impressed us with their creative use of objects found around the museum, such as sea shells for beds and table settings and a piece of turtle shell for a door knocker. After doing some research, we came across pictures and stories of similar doors and abodes in business throughout Ann Arbor, Michigan. Ann Arborite Jonathan B. Wright calls the residents of the tiny dwellings “Urban Fairies”. Curious individuals and families have developed a map of the fairy doors in Ann Arbor and marveled as the number of residences—and their fan base—have grown.

We'll be on the lookout for more fairy houses here in Richmond, and you should too! If you find any, send us a picture (josephmooremuseum@gmail.com) and we'll post it. If you have questions about how the Fairies chose the Joseph Moore Museum, we'll be happy to answer your questions at the same email address.

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MUSEUM CONFERENCES

April 27 - April 29, 2025

Oregon Museum Association 2025 Conference

TBA

Independence, Oregon

Beginning in 2025, the OMA annual conference will be held in Spring rather than Fall

The conference this year is all about trying new things. We are hoping to organize the conference into the following four tracks: Collections Care, Leadership, Emergency Preparedness, and Tourism

Check our website for more details in early 2025

The OMA newsletter is emailed every month with updates on OMA events, museum news, other events, trainings, jobs, grants and more for the museum community in Oregon.

For more information, please email connect@oregonmuseums.org.

October 1 - October 4, 2025

Western Museums Association’s (WMA) 2025 Annual Meeting

TBA

Reno, Nevada

Save the Date for WMA 202

As we celebrate our 90th anniversary, join us to build relationships and soar higher than ever before. With the theme of ELEVATE, WMA 2025 will explore ways to lift up the experiences of cultural professionals and the communities they serve.

In Reno, Nevada, 4,400 feet above sea level, we will forward the progress of museums by looking to the future.

May 6 - May 9, 2025

2025 American Alliance of Museums (AAM) ANNUAL MEETING & MUSEUMEXPO

Los Angeles Convention Center

Los Angeles, California

AAM 2025 will focus on the theme, Museums & Trust.

Museums have long inspired high levels of public trust, surpassing news outlets, government organizations, researchers and scientists, corporations, and social media platforms. This consistent finding underscores our institutions’ unique position in society as stewards of knowledge, culture, science, and history—areas where credibility and reliability are paramount

In an era marked by mistrust and misinformation, museums have a rare ability to counterbalance the proliferation of false narratives and polarized perspectives. Using our trusted position, we can cultivate a more healthy, empathetic, and informed society.

But to do so, we must maintain our credibility proactively, embracing thoughtful, transparent, and collaborative practices that will defend against influences like bias, resource challenges, abuse of power, and social injustice

An Incredible MuseumExpo

AAM is again partnering this year with the Museum Store Association to host an incredible combined expo hall. Find the most innovative services, products, and solutions in the museum field. With 350 exhibitors, you are bound to find the right partner for your museum’s current challenges and opportunities.

May 5 - May 9, 2025

Museum Store Association FORWARD 2025 in LA

The Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles, California

Join MSA in LA

We’re excited about our next MSA FORWARD Conference & Expo in “The City of Angels” – Los Angeles, California in conjunction with the American Alliance of Museums

Join the Museum Store Association (MSA) and hundreds of nonprofit retail professionals for the 70th Annual MSA FORWARD Retail Conference & Expo, taking place May 5-9, 2025 at The Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, California

Once again, MSA FORWARD will be held in conjunction with the 2025 American Alliance of Museums (AAM) Annual Meeting & Expo

Learn best practices and new ideas for store merchandising, operations, marketing, and sale

Participate in dedicated networking events and create connections that will inspire new ideas

Meet with over 200 MSA vendors about your product needs

Hear from knowledgeable industry experts during session breakouts and keynote presentations

Network with AAM attendees and exhibitor

September 10 - September 13, 2025

2025 Am Assoc for State and Local History Annual Conference

TBD

Cincinnati, Ohio

The 2025 AASLH Annual Conference, in partnership with Ohio Local History Alliance, will take place as the history field makes the final preparations to kickoff off the 250th commemoration of the founding of the United States.

The 2025 conference theme, inspired by AASLH’s Making History at 250: The Field Guide for Semiquincentennial, is an opportunity to broadly explore one of the guide’s themes, The American Experiment. For many in the American colonies in 1776, independence from Britain represented a “leap into the dark” into an unknown future

We are excited for you to join us in Cincinnati as we encourage discussion about our democracy and civic institutions and how they can help strengthen understanding, inspire action, and reveal ways that all of us can participate in and shape the ongoing American experiment.

For more information, please call 615-320-3203 or email info@aaslh.org.

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