Happy Birthday, Science Museum!

In 1907, the Science Museum of Minnesota opened its doors as the St. Paul Institute of Arts and Letters, specializing in public lectures, classes on education and art, and a museum of natural and physical sciences. Over the past one hundred years, it has undergone numerous changes—of name, of focus, of location—but it has always remained committed to growing and providing memorable learning opportunities.

Take a look at what we've been...and what we've become!

In the 1920s, the St. Paul Institute/ Science Museum became the home of the Midwest's first free educational film lending library.
Fifty years later, it became the home of one of the very first domed theaters in the world and began building a world-class library of giant screen films that are etched in the memories of its audiences.

In the 1930s, Institute leaders established departments of anthropology, biology, geology, pure science, and applied sciences. They also proposed a move to downtown St. Paul's riverside.
That move never happened, but almost 65 years later, the Science Museum moved to a new riverfront home, which was near the original location proposed in 1935. Its science departments continue to do groundbreaking research around the world.

In 1959, the Science Museum became one of only four museums in the world to have a complete Triceratops skeleton when Bruce Erickson, curator of paleontology, brought the Triceratops skeleton he found in Hell's Creek, Montana, to Minnesota in his first year on the job.
Today, the Science Museum's paleontology program is going strong, with a crew of staff and volunteers caring for and studying a top-notch collection of prehistoric specimens here at home.

In the 1960s, exhibit developers at the Science Museum adopted a goal of presenting information in ways that fit into the context of visitors' daily lives. They focused on making information more engaging and interactive than in previous years.
Today, the Science Museum is known worldwide for its interactive exhibits, dynamic traveling exhibitions, and internationally distributed large format films.

In the early 1990s, the Science Museum's board of trustees voted to develop a new facility, based on growing attendance, the need for space to house collections, and plans for outdoor programs.
In 1999, the new facility opened to the public with more than 300,000 square feet, the first convertible-dome Omnitheater in the Western Hemisphere, and ten acres of outdoor space.

In 2006, the Science Museum hosted BODY WORLDS. The world-renowned exhibit gave visitors an unprecedented chance to marvel at the majesty and intricacy of the human body.
BODY WORLDS' seven month run at the Science Museum shattered attendance records and put the Science Museum on the map as an institution worthy of powerful, nationally and internationally recognized exhibitions and programs.

One hundred years after its inception, the Science Museum is a place for discovering the world, asking questions, experiencing technology, exploring news headlines, and engaging in discussion about the issues of our time.

Happy Birthday, Science Museum. Here's to the growth and promise that the next century will bring.