Field Museum,museum inChicago,Illinois, U.S., established in 1893 as the Columbian Museum of Chicago with a gift fromMarshall Field, from whom in 1905 it derived its present name. It was established to house the anthropological and biological collections of the 1893World’s Columbian Exposition. On Field’s death in 1906, hebequeathed generous sustaining funds and a sum to erect a new museum building (completed in 1921) to house exhibits, research collections, and a library primarily devoted toanthropology,botany,geology, andzoology.

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The American naturalistCarl E. Akeley, a member of the staff from 1895 to 1909, invented new methods of taxidermy and began the practice of displaying stuffed animals in dioramas—painted and modeled scenes of their natural habitats. The Field Museum’s research library contains more than 250,000 volumes. The museum houses some 20 million items in its research and display collections. Exhibits includeSue, the most completeTyrannosaurus rex skeleton in the world; Inside Ancient Egypt, which includes mummies and artifacts; Underground Adventure, a walk-through display onsoil and underground life; and the Grainger Hall of Gems. The museum also engages in research and education programs.