Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
National Museums of Kenya
The National Museums of Kenya (NMK; Swahili: Makumbusho ya Kitaifa ya Kenya) is a state corporation that manages museums, sites and monuments in Kenya. It carries out heritage research, and has expertise in subjects ranging from palaeontology, archeology, ethnography and biodiversity research and conservation. Its headquarters and the National Museum (Nairobi National Museum) are located on Museum Hill, near Uhuru Highway between Central Business District and Westlands in Nairobi. The National Museum of Kenya was founded by the East African Natural History Society (E.A.N.H.S.) in 1910; the society's main goal has always been to conduct an ongoing critical scientific examination of the natural attributes of the East African habitat. The museum houses collections, and temporary and permanent exhibits. Today the National Museum of Kenya manages over 22 regional museums, many sites, and monuments across the country.
The East Africa and Uganda Natural History Society was founded in 1910–11 by persons with an interest in nature in British East Africa. The group included two canons of the Church Missionary Society: The Rev. Harry Leakey (father of Louis Leakey) and The Rev. Kenneth St. Aubyn Rogers; some government officials: C. W. Hobley and John Ainsworth, doctors, dentists, big-game hunters and plantation owners. In 1911 they established the Natural History Museum and library with an honorary curator. Aladina Visram put up the money for a one-story, two-room building.
In 1914 they could afford a paid curator. They brought in Arthur Loveridge, a herpetologist, who arrived in March 1914. Loveridge concentrated on collections, with the members volunteering to contribute specimens, labour and funds. They also ran the museum while Loveridge fought for the British in German East Africa. He returned for a brief stay after the war, only to go to America, where he eventually became a Harvard University professor.
The next curator was A. F. J. Gedye. The museum moved to a new building at the corner of Government Road and Kirk Road. Among the new volunteers for the society were Sir Robert Coryndon, Governor of Kenya. At his unexpected death in 1925, Lady Coryndon established the Coryndon Memorial Fund to build a better museum for the society in memory of her husband. The government offered matching funds for public donations and in 1928 construction began.
The building was ready in 1929. Unfortunately no workrooms or storage space had been provided and therefore the Natural History Society declined to move in. The government then bought the old museum and the society used the money to add three rooms, gave its collections to the museum trustees, but retained the library. Everything was moved to the museum. Lady Coryndon donated Sir Robert's books to it.
The museum was officially opened on 22 September 1930, as Coryndon Museum, with Victor Gurney Logan Van Someren, a member, as curator. He was given a house on the grounds. In 1930 Evelyn Molony, née Napier was appointed the museum's first botanist after a grant was given to the museum by Ernest Carr to fund her employment. During her tenure she established within the museum a herbarium on East African plants as well as publishing a series of scientific papers on East African flora.
The relationship between the museum trustees and the society became problematic, and as a result the two organisations appointed a committee including Sir Charles Belcher, a Kenyan jurist, to stabilise it. The committee turned everything over to the museum except for the library in exchange for annual payments for 15 years to the society.
The museum now had a staff. Mary Leakey became part of it and then Louis Leakey, as unpaid curator, in 1941. He stepped in when Dr. van Someren resigned after the board (including Louis) refused to dismiss Peter Bally in a personality conflict. The museum was a center for Leakey operations. In 1945 Louis was hired as paid curator with a new house, as the old one had become run-down. He built up the exhibitions and opened them to Africans and Asians by lowering the admission fee. Until then the museum had been "for whites only."
Hub AI
National Museums of Kenya AI simulator
(@National Museums of Kenya_simulator)
National Museums of Kenya
The National Museums of Kenya (NMK; Swahili: Makumbusho ya Kitaifa ya Kenya) is a state corporation that manages museums, sites and monuments in Kenya. It carries out heritage research, and has expertise in subjects ranging from palaeontology, archeology, ethnography and biodiversity research and conservation. Its headquarters and the National Museum (Nairobi National Museum) are located on Museum Hill, near Uhuru Highway between Central Business District and Westlands in Nairobi. The National Museum of Kenya was founded by the East African Natural History Society (E.A.N.H.S.) in 1910; the society's main goal has always been to conduct an ongoing critical scientific examination of the natural attributes of the East African habitat. The museum houses collections, and temporary and permanent exhibits. Today the National Museum of Kenya manages over 22 regional museums, many sites, and monuments across the country.
The East Africa and Uganda Natural History Society was founded in 1910–11 by persons with an interest in nature in British East Africa. The group included two canons of the Church Missionary Society: The Rev. Harry Leakey (father of Louis Leakey) and The Rev. Kenneth St. Aubyn Rogers; some government officials: C. W. Hobley and John Ainsworth, doctors, dentists, big-game hunters and plantation owners. In 1911 they established the Natural History Museum and library with an honorary curator. Aladina Visram put up the money for a one-story, two-room building.
In 1914 they could afford a paid curator. They brought in Arthur Loveridge, a herpetologist, who arrived in March 1914. Loveridge concentrated on collections, with the members volunteering to contribute specimens, labour and funds. They also ran the museum while Loveridge fought for the British in German East Africa. He returned for a brief stay after the war, only to go to America, where he eventually became a Harvard University professor.
The next curator was A. F. J. Gedye. The museum moved to a new building at the corner of Government Road and Kirk Road. Among the new volunteers for the society were Sir Robert Coryndon, Governor of Kenya. At his unexpected death in 1925, Lady Coryndon established the Coryndon Memorial Fund to build a better museum for the society in memory of her husband. The government offered matching funds for public donations and in 1928 construction began.
The building was ready in 1929. Unfortunately no workrooms or storage space had been provided and therefore the Natural History Society declined to move in. The government then bought the old museum and the society used the money to add three rooms, gave its collections to the museum trustees, but retained the library. Everything was moved to the museum. Lady Coryndon donated Sir Robert's books to it.
The museum was officially opened on 22 September 1930, as Coryndon Museum, with Victor Gurney Logan Van Someren, a member, as curator. He was given a house on the grounds. In 1930 Evelyn Molony, née Napier was appointed the museum's first botanist after a grant was given to the museum by Ernest Carr to fund her employment. During her tenure she established within the museum a herbarium on East African plants as well as publishing a series of scientific papers on East African flora.
The relationship between the museum trustees and the society became problematic, and as a result the two organisations appointed a committee including Sir Charles Belcher, a Kenyan jurist, to stabilise it. The committee turned everything over to the museum except for the library in exchange for annual payments for 15 years to the society.
The museum now had a staff. Mary Leakey became part of it and then Louis Leakey, as unpaid curator, in 1941. He stepped in when Dr. van Someren resigned after the board (including Louis) refused to dismiss Peter Bally in a personality conflict. The museum was a center for Leakey operations. In 1945 Louis was hired as paid curator with a new house, as the old one had become run-down. He built up the exhibitions and opened them to Africans and Asians by lowering the admission fee. Until then the museum had been "for whites only."