The Growth of Scientific Collections

The Academy was founded in 1812 by a group of amateur naturalists from a wide range of backgrounds and nationalities. They shared books, specimens and knowledge to better understand the natural world. They also instilled in the Academy a commitment to public education and outreach, offering free lectures and displays in its public galleries and affordable, peer-reviewed publications for the scientific community and the public at large.

The important scientific collections built by the first members of the Academy have grown dramatically through the years and now number more than 19 million specimens, all carefully documented and well preserved for future generations. Many are jaw-droppingly beautiful and have inspiring backstories. All are scientifically significant. Worldwide in scope and representing almost every field of natural history, they serve as the foundation for an active research program that continues to focus on the critical environmental issues of our time, ranging from evolution and biodiversity to human health and climate change.

As our scientists study the organisms and complex natural systems that support life on Earth, we share this information with the public through exhibitions and educational programs. By forging relationships with many other organizations in Philadelphia and throughout the region, the Academy is fostering a new appreciation of how critical it is to understand and protect the environment to enhance our own health and wellbeing now and for generations to come. 

Library & Archives

The Academy Library houses one of the finest natural history book collections in the world, with over 250,000 titles ranging in date from the 16th century to the present day. Our Archive holds 1,000 distinct collections documenting the Academy’s central role in the history of science in North America. The combination of these two makes the Academy an essential starting place for anyone doing research on the history of an Enlightenment worldview of natural history and provides a reservoir of information for anyone doing contemporary research on the environment, our evolving understanding of it and the ways in which it has been altered by humankind.

Freshwater Research

In addition to its critically important systematic collections, the Academy is internationally recognized for its pioneering work in water. These studies have not only advanced scientific understanding of the natural world, but they have also contributed significantly to the quality of human life by helping to shape public policy concerning the environment. Among the best known of these is The Clean Water Act of 1972 and 1977, which was developed with critical input from Academy scientists.

Education and Public Engagement

Like its sister institutions in Europe and elsewhere throughout the 19th century, the Academy provided a public showcase for its ever-expanding scientific collections. Visitors came to view minerals, shells, insects, birds, mammals and fossils from around the globe. A dramatic shift in exhibition technique occurred in 1869, when the museum exhibited the world’s first articulated dinosaur skeleton, Hadrosaurus foulkii. The public’s response was immediate, and the Academy became a “must-see” destination.

In the 1920s, the Academy began to replace its traditional exhibition cases with lifelike dioramas, in which taxidermy specimens were shown in reconstructed natural habitats from Africa, Asia and North America. Recent renovations of several of these dioramas have renewed their appeal and reinvigorated public conversations about habitat loss and biodiversity.

The first public lectures given by the Academy occurred in 1814 on mineralogy and crystallography, and courses in botany were offered. In the years that followed, public lectures on a wide range of subjects were offered both at the Academy and at local colleges and universities. Education at the Academy was formalized with the creation of a Department of Education 1937.

Today our educational offerings reach students of all ages and from all walks of life. The Academy offers multiple Out of School Time programs that provide long-term engagement for audiences over months and years instead of days. This allows our audiences to gain deeper knowledge through our STEAM and literacy programs and form relationships with other participants, staff members and community partners. The Academy also focuses on research with real-world impacts, which allows us to evaluate our programs and share our findings through publications and professional conferences.

In addition to our school and public programs, for more than 40 years the Academy has offered a unique program for high school students from underserved communities with Women In Natural Sciences (WINS). This nationally celebrated program has introduced the sciences to hundreds of young women and has served as a model for similar offerings around the United States since 1982. It has expanded to include Development, Enrichment and Academics in Natural Sciences (DEANS), which aims to provide young men enrolled in Philadelphia high schools (grades 9-12, ages 14-18) with after-school and summer programming rooted in culturally informed approaches to mentoring, youth development and academic and career exploration.