Scope of the Collection | Information for Researchers | Guidelines Scope of the Collection The Field Museum’s archival collection dates to the creation of the Field Museum of Natural History and its emergence from the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition.  For over a century the museum has enriched its collections of important artifacts and specimens of natural history through expeditionary field work, donations, purchase and bequests from private donors.  The archival collection is comprised of the administrative records of museum departments, the scientific papers of staff members and the museum's corporate records from 1893 to 2000. Its holdings encompass nearly 18000 linear feet of paper material and original museum film holdings. The archives of The Field Museum of Chicago were generated by the institution's collecting, exhibiting, teaching and corporate activities. Not all material is open to research or scholarly use. Current museum organization records groups are identified as: Museum Records Administration and Operations Education Exhibitions Facilities Finance Public Relations Research and Collections Departments Collections and Research Anthropology Botany Geology Zoology Library Institutional Archives Corporate Records Articles of Incorporation Board of Trustees records << Return to Institutional Archives