| Description | This series contains files relating to permanent and temporary exhibitions at the Natural History Museum. The files document the progress made during the late 1940s and 1950s in repairing and renewing galleries damaged during the war, and then the slow extension of new display techniques around the rest of the Museum. The Central Hall and the Bird Gallery were the first areas to be dealt with, with the mammal, insect, arachnid and botanical galleries following during the late 1950s and 1960s. The files contain policy papers emanating from the Director and Trustees; internal correspondence with members of the relevant scientific departments; external correspondence regarding models, dioramas and the acquisition of specimens; drafts for labels and scripts, and papers relating to exhibition openings.
The series also contains the records relating to the New Exhibition Scheme (NES), a programme established in the 1970s and running into the 1980s, which established a number of permanent galleries (including the Human Biology gallery and Creepy Crawlies). |
| AdminHistory | The Section was located within the Directorate from 1937, when John P Doncaster was appointed as the first Exhibitions Officer, until 1975, when it was incorporated into the new Department of Public Services. Prior to 1937, the science departments had had complete responsibility for their own exhibitions, while the Director controlled the Central Hall displays through the staff of the Index Museum. |