Just short of its 200th birthday, a landmark natural history museum shuts down
The Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, the oldest natural history museum in the Americas, has closed its doors after nearly 200 years of operation. The closure follows a period of declining funding for cultural institutions, despite public efforts to save the landmark.
Why it matters
The closure highlights the financial fragility of long-standing scientific and cultural institutions in the modern era.
PHILADELPHIA — Every weekend for the past month, the sidewalk in front of the Natural Academy of Sciences has simultaneously felt like a festival, a funeral, and a science fair.
On the Museum's final Friday, there was a line of attendees waiting to get in; Activists circulating petitions and flyers to "Save the Academy"; and a museum educator showed off a giant salamander skull and a rare coat of pangolin scales.
For Philly area kids, visiting this place has been a rite of passage for generations. So when word dropped on September 1st that the nearly 200-year-old museum was closing at the end of the month, thousands of families began a wistful pilgrimage, to make one final visit.
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