Jamie and list, Funny you should mention this. I was just at the Field Museum this last Friday 3/1/02. I live just 23 miles north of Chicago. One would think that when the Meteoritical Society held it's annual meeting in Chicago several years back, they (the museum) would have pulled out all the stops with new exhibits, etc. The only thing new was one new display case near the top of the stairs. The old display cases were moved around a bit, that's pretty much it.
The museum opened a new "Hall of Gems" with some of the coolest displays I have seen for some years. And oh.......the Sue / T-Rex exhibit does take center stage. There is even a "Sue Store" selling souvenirs located smack-dab next to the meteorite exhibit, selling everything from Sue hats, to Sue pencils. (the only thing missing was Sue lunchboxes) As I have posted before, because one can put face on a fossil, and reduce it to a Saturday morning cartoon or an article of clothing, meteorites will probably never catch and hold the interest of our young people. What's more, the main Museum store on the first floor, does NOT contain one item, book, or any information regarding meteorites. Period. The last time I went was several years ago. I used to make a yearly pilgrimage to the museum, but because the exhibit never EVER changed, I stopped going. Friday was no exception. It also seems that the meteorite display cases have been reduced by at least one, because the specimens are more tightly packed. The labels were also smaller as I remember them. Finally, the specimens have been placed on a different type of shelving within the display case. The white painted shelves have something of an overhang. This caused some of the specimens to be in the shadows of the display light. This made for some real frustrating picture taking, (even with flash and a zoom lens. I also had an interesting experience some years back when the former curator, Ignacio Cassanova ran the program. I had learned about meteorites and was reading any and all books and information I could find about the subject. The meteorite bug really hit me hard (as some of you have admitted in other posts, so you know of what I speak) so I volunteered to work for the department, free, doing any grunt work, cleaning specimens, any assistance I could give, etc. And in return I would try and soak up as much knowledge as I could. I was turned down flat. Never mind that I was a member of the Meteoritical Society, and had hunted for meteorites in the field. Because I was or had not been a student in the field of meteoritics, (criminal justice) or did I have a PhD after my name, they wanted no part of me. Possibly they thought I was just going to spirit away their prize specimens. Was I angry? Well...yes and no. I, along with another person set out to do our own research. The research involved trying to find meteorite specimens from three Eastern states where meteorites have never been found, Delaware, New Hampshire, and Vermont. We wrote close to a hundred letters to weekly newspapers, in different small towns and set up a P.O. Box. We received dozens of samples, letters, photographs, and great press. No meteorites though. The post office box is still up. Interestingly, although the research project was done approximately four years ago, I was still receiving identification inquires as late as last year. The research fills a four inch thick three-ring binder. This research will someday be forwarded to a university (possibly U of Arizona, Tempe) I know I'm rambling, but the frustrations you feel towards the Field Museum, I can certainly identify with. It would seem that when an institution has one of the largest meteorite collections in the free world--the museum curator and research staff could certainly try and advocate for more display room, and / or monetary allocations, grants, at least get something in the museum store! Possibly it's just political. They certainly don't seem to be doing any kind of meteorite-interest outreach program for our young people. I have not met with current curator, nor did I ever have the chance to meet with a former curator, (before Ignacio) Edward Olsen. Who knows...maybe I'll try and volunteer again. If I'm successful, I'll certainly will pass along any new information to the list. Best to All, Steven L. Sachs My collection is at: http://www.geocities.com/gangwise/meteorite.html
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