Moving into Modern Times
Focusing on the State:The 1960s
Moving into the 1960s the museum began clarifying the focus of their exhibits on Nebraska flora and fauna. This was characterized by sixteen diorama exhibits focused on displaying the wildlife and terrain of the state of Nebraska. Taxidermied animals, painted backdrops, and recreations of native plants were all featured. Director Schultz stated "The purpose of these displays is to allow visitors to take a tour of the state, in a way that they can see all that it has to offer without extensive travel." Animals that were near extinction, such as the American bison or the passenger pigeon, could be seen by all. Visitors from other states, or even other countries, would be able to view native wildlife and gain a sense for the natural beauty of Nebraska without having a search along backroads.
Another extension of this new focus on Nebraska could be seen in the Highway Salvage Program for Vertebrate Paleontology. This cooperation between the Nebraska state museum and the Nebraska roads department began in 1960. This program allowed for museum archaeologist salvage teams to be notified before a construction project begins. They were provided the location, and any history of past finds in the area. With that information, the team decided whether there would be sufficient grounds for an excavation. If there were, a small excavation unit would be sent, to scour the area for an possible fossils or other historically significaticant items. Through this program, the museum gained many new specimens, as well as geographic data for much of the state of Nebraska. The program continues to operate today successfully, and has been a boon to students of anthropology and paleontology.
Centennial Celebration:The 1970s
In 1971 the museum celebrated its centennial anniversary. This marked 100 years of research in the fields of geology and paleontology in Nebraska. As a result, museum funding recieved a bit of a boost from the board of regents. New collections in the anthropology department expanded the scope of the museum, including cultural artifacts from across the globe.
In 1972, the first of a series thereafter known as the Barbour-Schramm Memorial Lectures began. These lectures were typically over natural history subjects that the museum had provided research on, and were given to honor both E.H. Barbour and E.F. Schramm, both men who had been long associated with the museum. These lectures were typically over natual history subjects, and continue to this day.
A new exhibit brought in crowds in 1976. Morrill Hall hosted a new dianosaur display, including an Allosaurus model and three mounted fossil skeletons, including a stegosaurus. This new exhibit led to massive increase in school field trips and in visitors overall, a boon to the museum. The exhibit took over a year to complete, and required cooperation between many departments of the museum, however, it was well recieved by the public, and some of the cast models still are on exhibit today (with updates on anatomy that were a result of continued research). Dinosaurs captured the imagination of the public and led to an increase in donations to the museum.
The field of anthropology recieved more exhibit room in the museum, including expanded displays on projectile points common to Nebraska, and a new exhibit in 1979 on Native American art. This art exhibit featured everything from ceramics to baskets. Some of the artifacts were historical, others were from modern Native American artists.
New Encounters: The 1980s
A new and exciting addition to the museum began in 1980. The Ecounter Center, a new area dedicated to young visitors of the museum, opened on June 23, 1980. This area involved much more "hands on" opportunities for visitors, by allowing them to experience the content of the museum in a novel way. "Touch boxes" allow for visitors to feel/touch specimens for themselves. The fossil box, a box fillled with sand with hidden invertebrate fossils inside, was a popular attraction. As director B. Shultz put it, "Touching and feeling, whether the specimen is alive or preserved, or inanimate, gives people a much better appreciation for its true nature." Flip cards allowed guests to find answers to common questions about specimens, while a few tanks of live insects were sometimes available for holding under the supervision of museum staff.
The encounter center led to a skyrocket in field trips from local schools, as well as schools across the state. The Nebraska School for the Visually Handicapped began bringing tour groups several times a year, as the encounter center allowed the blind children to enjoy exhibits in ways that would have been impossible previously. Even senior groups enjoyed visiting the new center. However, funding for the center was threatened several times. In the end, several organizations pitched in to secure funding to maintain the center. In 1988 annual attendance to the center topped 61,000 visitors. During much of the 1980s, the focus of the museum was on enhancing the encounter center.
In 1988, the museum failed to recieve their usual ten year accreditation from the American Association of Museums. This struck a heavy blow for Morrill Hall. Lack of long term accrediation meant that without change, the museum would be struck from the association and lose standing in the academic sphere. The association found fault with the museum's low funding, lack of exhibit programs, and lack of parking and issues with climate control and parking for the museum.
However, Schultz also prepared a large document focused on renovations and repairs to be done to Morrill Hall. Having only had patchwork repairs done since its original construction in 1927, the building need much to be done on its ventilation and ductwork. Many of the preservation and exhibit areas did not have adequate heating and cooling, or humidity control to help mainting the displayed specimens. Schultz's proposal involved the majority of the museum, with additional requests for an increase in employees to help in preservation, as well as security. Later in the decade, the museum began the four million dollar renovation, finally adding climate control to the building, vastly improving the condition and aging of the collections.