Chicago Field Museum

Did you see the 1997 film, The Relic? That movie was filmed at the Chicago Field Museum, which boasts a great location on Lake Shore Drive next to Lake Michigan. The Chicago Field Museum is also a part of the complex known as Museum Campus Chicago. Its location, as well as its unique and exciting exhibits, make it a perfect venue for an Illinois family vacation. While you are there, you can visit the other museums in the complex, which include the John Shedd Aquarium and the Museum of Science and Industry.

Aside from the great exhibits at the Field Museum, the architecture is also noteworthy. It is reminiscent of the style that was popular during the World's Columbian Exposition in the 1890s. Students of architecture often visit to simply observe the building's structure. The Chicago Field Museum has also had a nuber of different names and "identities."

At first, the Chicago Field Museum was called the Columbian Museum of Chicago. However, in 1905, it was renamed in honor of Marshall Field, who was a major donor. At one time, The Field Museum was housed in the building that is now occupied by the Museum of Science and Industry, but the Field Museum's present location is in a building that opened in 1921.

The Field Museum in Chicago is organized into four major departments: Anthropology, Zoology, Botany and Geology. Some of the most popular exhibits at the Chicago Field Museum include:

* Sue, who is the largest and most complete Tyrannosaurus rex fossil skeleton in the world. Sue's size is her distinctive quality. She is 45 feet long and 13 feet high. At 67 million years old, she is a rather old gal. Sue was named after Sue Hendrickson, who was the paleontologist who discovered it. . She is a permanent feature of the Field Museum in Chicago. While's Sue's enormous body is located on the main floor in the Stanley Field Hall, her big head was too heavy to be mounted on the rest of the body, It is therefore located on a second floor balcony.
* The Field Museum also has a complete set of human cultural anthropology exhibits, which include artifacts from ancient Egypt, the Pacific Northwest and Tibet.
* There is a diverse taxidermy collection. Highlights of this fascinating exhibit include two African elephants, as well as the Lions of Tsavo that were featured in the 1996 movie The Ghost and the Darkness.

Although the above-mentioned exhibits are the most popular, there are many other exciting displays at the Field Museum in Chicago. For example, at the Inside Ancient Egypt, you can transport you back in time to ancient Egyptian life. This Field Museum exhibit has 23 human mummies are on display, as well as a bizarre collection of animal mummies. If you are feeling adventurous, there is also a tomb that you can enter, complete with 5,000 year old hieroglyphs.

The newest permanent exhibit at the Chicago Field Museum is called "Evolving Planet". It makes use of the museum's extensive fossil collection to explain the history and the evolution of life on earth. The Field Museum also has a Native American exhibit, complete with totem poles and traditional Native American costumes.