The two museums I chose for this week are the Museum of the North here in Fairbanks, and the Fram Museum in Oslo, Norway.
In the About page, for the Fairbanks museum, the Museum of the North specializes in all things Alaska both in natural and cultural history and is primarily known for its research collections as well as its use as a repository for objects and specimens collected in Alaska in public lands over the years. As the collections for the Museum of the North serve as the foundations for different educational programs and research topics, the museum provides resources for the research on genetics, flora and fauna, and environmental sciences.
There is no evidence on an About page for the Fram Museum in Oslo, but the mission statement and history pages reveal that this museum specializes in the history of the Polar Expeditions regarding Greenland’s inland crossing in the late 1800s. The centerpiece of the museum itself is the polar ship The Fram, a name from which the museum inspires its name. Though not a research museum like the Fairbanks museum, the Fram museum does present a history of a northern expedition that took place in the circumpolar north.
What was the first northern museum that you remember visiting?
Fram Museum Polar Explorations Gallery
The first northern museum I visited was the Wrangell Museum in Southeast Alaska, though its located a bit farther south than we typically think of as Northern, as well as being a fairly small local museum. After I came to Fairbanks I visited the Museum of the North several times.
The first northern museum that I would’ve visited would probably be the Anchorage Museum, since I went there in Elementary School and it was most likely the first museum period that I visited.
Growing up in Fairbanks, the First Northern Museum I visited was the UAF Muesum of the North. We went on a field trip in 1st grade!