About the Archives

The Museum of Vertebrate Zoology houses an extensive collection of historic field notebooks, correspondence, annotated maps, images, and artwork in addition to its vertebrate specimen collections. Thanks to a three-year grant in 2012 from the Council for Library and Information Resources, the Museum cataloged and made more accessible its archival materials, uncovering a hidden collection for users.

The original purpose of this site was to document the progress and stories of the Hidden Archives CLIR project. Since then, an IMLS Museums of America grant allowed us to rehouse and secure with facility improvements the historic materials. We continue to use this site to highlight some of the rich historical materials we discover along the way. Our guest posts feature apprentices and special researchers to our Archives, who share their perspectives and insights about the collection.

For more information, please visit the MVZ Archives Collection page.