Museum of Comparative Zoology
Address26, Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA, United States of America, 02138
Site Number635
Building Root Number
04765
Architect (Original)
Henry Greenough
Architect (Original)
George Snell
Constructed
1859
Building Acquired 1888
Building Acquired 1888
StatusActive
Site Name HistoryThe site is named after its function.Historical NotesThe Museum of Comparative Zoology is the first section of the University Museum Complex to be constructed. It was designed and constructed in phases by Boston architects Henry Greenough and George Snell. The first section constructed was known as Agassiz Hall after the Swiss naturalist Louis Agassiz. The building has had many additions and alterations.The building was funded by a bequest of Francis Calley Gray (A.B. 1809), a $100,000 appropriation by the Massachusetts Legislature, and public subscriptions.
Additional Information
Placed on the National Register of Historic Places September 12,1986. National Register Information System ID: 86002081
Hurlbut, Byron Satterlee. A Guide Book to the Grounds and Buildings of Harvard University. Cambridge: U, 1898. Print.
Harvard University Archives. Construction Management Records, ca. 1953-1986. Harvard University Archives call number UAV 298.8000
Mayr, Ernst. Museums and Biological Laboratories. Cambridge, Mass., 1973. Ernst Mayr Library call number MCZ-M474.
Records of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, 1860-1985. Harvard University Archives call number UAV 298.xx.
Annual Report of the Director of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College. Harvard University Archives call number HUF 298.xx and Museum of Comparative Zoology call number MUS 4890.4.
Report of the Trustees of the Museum of Comparative Zoology. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/62946#/summary.
Lurie, Edward. The Founding of the Museum of Comparative Zoölogy, 1959. Available at multiple locations with various call numbers consult HOLLIS for details.
Memoirs of the Museum of Comparative Zoölogy, at Harvard College, Cambridge, Mass. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/7537#/summary.
General Information by and about the Friends of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, ca. 1975-1980. Harvard University Archives call number HUD 3409.3000.
General Information by and about the University Museum. Harvard University Archives call number HUB 1864.2.
"Agassiz Museum." [A clipping from the Boston Herald], 1911. Ernst Mayr Library call number MUS-A.-2624.
Pennisi, Elizabeth. "Shaking the Dust off Agassiz's Museum." Science. Vol. 313:5788, August 11, 2006, p.754.
"The Agassiz Museum at Cambridge." Science. Vol. 6:14, November 13, 1885, p.421-4.
"The Agassiz Museum is a Hundred." Harvard Alumni Bulletin, vol. 62:5, Nov. 1959, p. 203-204.
Museum of Comparative Zoology Library, Harvard University, 1983. Ernst Mayr Library call number Z733.H38 H4 1983.
The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Photography Collection, The New York Public Library. "Museum of Comparative Zoology." The New York Public Library Digital Collections. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e0-6bc5-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99
“Museum of Comparative Zoology.” Cambridge Chronicle, 25 June 1859, p. 4.
“Museum Renovation.” The Harvard Crimson, 2 Mar. 1979, https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1979/3/2/museum-renovation-pthe-museum-of-comparative/.
“An Addition to the Agassiz Museum.” The Harvard Crimson, 10 Feb. 1888, https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1888/2/10/an-addition-to-the-agassiz-museum/.
This building has been designated by the University Planning Office as having a Notable Interior.
Agassiz Room
Whitney Library