Harvard Museum of Natural History Museum

Address: 26 Oxford St, Cambridge, MA 02138, United States

Website: https://hmnh.harvard.edu/

Hours: Tue-Sun 9:30am-5pm, closed Mon

Admission: Adults $15; seniors/students discounts available; children under 3 free

Harvard Museum of Natural History is a university natural history museum in Cambridge, Massachusetts, affiliated with Harvard University and sited on the university campus near Oxford Street. One key fact is that it houses the Ware Collection of Blaschka glass botanical models, a major historic scientific-art collection.

The museum’s principal highlights include the Glass Flowers gallery, a long-term exhibit of botanical glass models created between 1886 and 1936 that serves as the institution’s most famous public attraction. Galleries also present mineral and fossil specimens together with mounted zoological displays that illustrate comparative anatomy and paleontology for general audiences.

The museum’s collections were assembled as part of Harvard’s teaching and research collections and have been displayed to the public through the university’s museum program. The Ware Collection was commissioned for teaching and later gifted to Harvard by its patrons.

The museum sits in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Oxford Street near Harvard Square and the main Harvard campus, within easy walking distance of other Harvard museums and facilities.

• Glass Flowers: The best-known single exhibit is a large set of extremely detailed glass plant models made by Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka over roughly five decades at the turn of the 20th century.
• Campus location: Located on Oxford Street in Cambridge, its galleries are on Harvard University’s campus and are frequently visited by school groups and university-led programs.

What to See#

• Glass Flowers (Ware Collection): The historic Ware Collection of Blaschka glass models of plants, created by Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka between 1886 and 1936, installed in a dedicated gallery and treated as the museum’s centerpiece display.
• Mineral and fossil galleries: Permanent exhibits of minerals, fossils and mounted zoological specimens that illustrate paleontology, comparative anatomy and mineralogy for public and school audiences.

From Harvard Square (MBTA Red Line), walk east on Massachusetts Avenue to Oxford Street - about 5-10 minutes. Local buses and commuter rail also serve Harvard Square.

• Visit on weekday mornings to avoid school groups and university tour spikes.
• Allow time for the glass-housed 'Glass Flowers' collection - it's the museum's most famous exhibit and can be crowded.
• Combine with a walk through Harvard Yard while in Cambridge for complementary history.