The GBGBC is a historical collection with some objects dating back to before Wesleyan University was founded. These bones were displayed in the original Wesleyan Natural History Museum in Judd hall until 1957 when the museum was closed to make room for more research labs. After the closure of the museum, the osteology collection was stored haphazardly in tunnels under Foss Hill, in faculty offices, or sadly, sold off or thrown away. Some materials ended up in the Anthropology and Archaeology Collections (AAC) on the third floor of Exley Science Center. In 2019, when Dr. Wendi Field Murray began working as collections manager for the AAC, she noted that these materials should be available to faculty and students for teaching comparative anatomy. The materials were moved into the Environmental Archaeology Lab where they are now stored long-term.
Although the skeletons that survived the closure of the old museum remained remarkably intact, nearly all of their identification labels were lost. Written records on specimen cards, or attached labels are rare among this collection. However, some museum workers had the foresight to write in ink directly on the bone. As such, in tandem with the antique texts of the Wesleyan Natural History Museum accession books held in the Special Collections and Archives, we have been able to re-identify many specimens, catalog them, and add them into our growing database on Specify7. With much of the collection catalogued, we are now working in earnest to properly photograph – and 3D scan where possible – each specimen for more accurate identification and record keeping. Today we have bones ranging from the enormous molar of an African elephant, to the marvelous mount of an echidna skeleton – with a shiny new 3D printed skull.
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