With regional holdings of plants, animals and geology complemented by a selection of historically important specimens from around the world, these holdings now serve to help the museum establish a sense of place in which human beings are presented as part of nature, not separate from it.

Engagement with nature has been a part of the museum since its origins in 1799, with “natural curiosities” donated by the museum’s founding sea captains among the first objects to enter the collection. PEM’s oldest specimens include a giant clam found in Sumatra, an ostrich egg from the Cape of Good Hope and a coco de mer nut from the Seychelles. Other specimens followed, including the first penguin exhibited in North America — its elongated neck suggesting the taxidermist was unfamiliar with this marine bird — and a rooster from Southeast Asia’s Malay Peninsula, later recorded as the ancestor of the Rhode Island Red.

The natural history collections expanded further with the creation of the Peabody Academy of Science in 1867. Over the next 20 years, the academy became an internationally recognized center for natural science research. It was one of the first American institutions to accept Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution. Essex County has been described as the best-documented area of its size in the United States, supported by the museum’s significant collections of local birds, insects, plants and geological specimens. The founding of the Essex County Ornithological Club in 1916, in partnership with the museum, undoubtedly contributed to the prominence of this collection.

In 2003, as part of the museum’s expansion, PEM inaugurated the Art & Nature Center with the support of benefactors Dorothy Addams Brown, Albert and Hilary Creighton and other generous patrons. Temporary exhibitions have featured works by contemporary artists and included topics ranging from water as art to bioinspired design to tackling climate change. Museum acquisitions and recent commissions such as Laura Kathrein’s iEmbody Nature site-specific movement videos, Wes Bruce’s temporary installation Where The Questions Live: An Exploration of Humans in Nature and Patrick Dougherty’s ephemeral outdoor Stickwork sculpture highlight PEM’s ongoing commitment to presenting nature-related issues and projects, both within and beyond the museum’s walls.