Exhibits, Shows and Displays

Why is it that there are no exhibits of european history or culture displayed in the AMNH?

In the Natural History Museum i have not seen anything on European history in the culture exhibits. Come someone explain why? Michael, you silly billy, the AMNH has exhibits of all things, from nature to astronomy to Culture. You must not have been there but trust me its there. They have the history of all these cultures in Asia the Americas and Africa on display but nothing on European culture and its beginnings.

Public Comments

1. The answer to that question should be quite apparent in the name of the museum: The American Museum of Natural History 1) That's AMERICAN museum, not EUROPEAN museum; 2) That's NATURAL HISTORY, not cultural history. That's like saying, "I visited the White House but the Pope wasn't home." HUH?
2. i really dont kno
3. I think you know why. When the academics that control such exhibits get over their self-hatred, their cultural relativism and post modernism, then we will have even handed exhibits again.
4. It is largely due to the location of the AMNH - meaning, the West - and the time of its founding. For the former, it's presumed that visitors to a museum in New York were already plenty familiar with Western culture, either living in it, or being in the midst of it. Exhibit space was devoted to other cultures in order to educate museum visitors about people and places they have most likely never visited. Franz Boas, the most pre-eminent proponent of cultural relativism and respect for all cultures, was a leading figure at the museum. He said about museums in general, and also surely specifially thinking of the AMNH: "Museums may serve three objects. They may be institutions designed to furnish healthy entertainment, they may be intended for instruction and they may be intended for the promotion of research... The value of the museum as a resort for popular entertainment must not be underrated, particularly in a large city, where every opportunity that is given to the people to employ their leisure time in healthy and stimulating surroundings should be developed, where every attraction that counteracts the influence of the saloon and of the race-track is of great social importance. If a museum is to serve this end, it must, first of all be entertaining, and try to instill by the kind of entertainment offered some useful stimulant." Mind you, he was saying this 100 years ago, and it's still applicable today. But also given the time when the museum was founded, there's a large portion of its exhibit space devoted to animals Teddy Roosevelt shot and stuffed. That was the museum paradigm of the day. But a notable step forward for the AMNH was organizing its cultural artifacts within context (presenting an entire culture) and not just as objects (as anthropology museums of the previous era had done) with a room of arrow heads from around the world removed of cultural context, e.g.