On April 20, 1891, the Minnesota state legislature adopted an act to establish the first public park for the state of Minnesota on land that surrounded the headwaters of the Mississippi River at Lake Itasca. “An act to establish and…
Yesterday’s Tuesday Tweet featured an image of an albino Grackle. That is not the only image within the Bell Museum records that documents color abnormalities in animals. In the 1940s, museum taxidermist Walter Breckenridge prepared a mounted display of three…
For several months now I have wanted to share some unique images from the Bell Museum of Natural history negative collection. The images document the preparation and construction of the iconic Bell Museum dioramas, or what museum director Thomas Sadler…
In addition to preparing specimens for exhibits and giving talks to museum visitors about mammals and birds during his tenure as curator and director of the Bell Museum of Natural History (1926-1970), Walter J. Breckenridge was also involved with academic…
In his autobiography, My Life in Natural History, former Bell Museum preparator and director Walter Breckenridge provided a description of the Peregrine Falcon and an introduction to the sport of falconry: “One of my favorite birds is the peregrine falcon….
This Wednesday in our series chronicling the adventures of former Bell Museum preparator and director Walter J. Breckenridge, we share just how far – or high – Breckenridge went in order to study birds. In his autobiography, My Life in…
Yesterday we shared Walter J. Breckenridge’s recollection of his trip to the Superior National Forest near Winton, Minnesota to observe the courting ritual of the Spruce Grouse in the spring of 1931. In his autobiography, My Life in Natural History,…
Well it is Wednesday again, which means it is time to revisit the wilderness adventures of Walter Breckenridge, former preparator, curator, and director of the Bell Museum of Natural History. His description from his autobiography, My Life in Natural History,…
Yesterday we shared the wedding story of former Bell Museum preparator and director Walter J. Breckenridge and his wife Dorothy, who married within a moments notice in order for Dorothy to accompany her new husband on a planned field excursion…
Followers of Exploring may have caught a personal reference in a previous blog post when I mentioned a July camping trip with my husband-to-be in connection with introducing historical photographs of Itasca State Park. In a recent honeymoon brainstorming session,…