Preserving Santa Cruz History
In 1904, Santa Cruz lighthouse keeper and naturalist Laura Hecox gifted her vast collection of fossils, seashells, and other unique finds from the Monterey Bay region and beyond to the City of Santa Cruz, and within one year, the first Museum in Santa Cruz opened to the general public. Laura expressed her investment in making her collection available to the general public because she wanted it to inspire others to develop an interest in the natural world. One hundred and twenty years later, the Museum, now an independently run nonprofit, continues to provide Santa Cruz County residents and visitors alike with access to local natural history and culture.
Community Cornerstone
Since the 1970s, the Museum has provided school field trips to school districts across the County and provides an array of K-12 and lifelong learning programs in addition to permanent and pop-up exhibits. Over 40,000 people engaged in Museum exhibits and activities last year according to Director of Visitor Experience Liz Broughton, who just celebrated her fourteen year anniversary at the Museum. “That’s equivalent to about 65% of the population of the City of Santa Cruz,” says Broughton, adding that “year over year, we see visitors of all ages returning–there’s always a reason to come back.”
“Visitors share their stories with me on almost a daily basis,” says Broughton, adding that “parents and grandparents who attended school trips as kids come back with their own children and grandchildren, and long-time volunteers who have participated in Museum programs for decades share Museum history–it’s a really special educational center that has fostered collective memory for the whole community.”
Rotating exhibits that feature local natural history and culture are a major attraction for visitors. The Museum’s annual science illustration exhibit, The Art of Nature, which began in 1989, features artwork by local artists in a variety of mediums. Accompanying the exhibit is a line-up of art workshops led by many of the artists themselves.
Temporary exhibits featuring significant regional natural history also bring local organizations, historians, artists, and storytellers together. In 2020 following the catastrophic CZU fire and in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Museum curated the 2020 Vision exhibit that fostered community connection as people sought healing and solace through nature photography highlighting climate disaster and regrowth. More recently, the Museum’s 2024 Cotoni-Coast Dairies: Monumental Steps exhibit provided Santa Cruz with an environmental and cultural preview to the soon-to-be public open space.
Environmental Stewardship
If you have ever taken a stroll through one of Santa Cruz’s many magnificent parks, you have probably stumbled across a group of frolicking young students, teens clearing trails after a big storm, or a multigenerational group of naturalists led by nature guides providing scientific commentary on the group’s observations. “We provide educational programs for people of all ages and backgrounds, from north to south County,” says the Museum’s Public Programs Manager Ross Johnston. Pop-up mobile museums, an environmental science “Naturalist Night” lecture series, art and horticultural workshops, and volunteer beach clean-up and garden days provide opportunities for everyone to develop meaningful connections with nature and science.
The Museum’s reach has continued to grow in the past years through collaborations with with organizations and parks that extend environmental science education from K-12 to the general public. In September, Lookout reported on the Museum’s involvement in the Neary Lagoon Wildlife Refuge Interpretive Trail improvement project. New interpretive signs designed by the Museum now enhance the experience of all visitors and provide the Museum’s elementary Neary Lagoon “Wetland Walk” and “Watershed Walk” field trips with tools that support students’ learning. “The Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History was so excited to be able to expand our mission beyond our Museum walls,” says Museum Executive Director Felicia Van Stolk of the Neary Lagoon project, “and we are excited to announce that another interpretive signage project is already underway.”
Stewarding Collections for the Community
When the Tara Redwood School kindergarten class stumbled across a fossilized bone in a Santa Cruz County creekbed, they called their friends at the Museum to help with the identification process. These school children had unearthed a Jefferson’s ground sloth fossil–the first of its kind to be found in the region. “It’s very significant, and extra special of course that little kids found it,” says Van Stolk. Featured in 2024’s The Art of Nature exhibit alongside illustrations of prehistoric giant sloths and mastodons by Museum intern Mason Schratter, the sloth fossil gained the attention of news outlets including NPR, Insider Edition, and the San Francisco Chronicle. The young naturalists who discovered the fossil featured prominently in this media campaign that recently won the prestigious Association of Science and Technology Center’s Leading Edge Award.
Ice age specimens are just one example of the vast collections that the Museum stewards for the community; in all, the Museum currently is home to over 16,000 specimens and artifacts. “Our collections are unique because they tell the story of Santa Cruz from prehistoric times to present by preserving the natural history collections of prominent historical figures in Santa Cruz including Laura Hecox–a woman naturalist and lighthouse keeper, who was really ahead of her time as a woman in STEM–and also the collections of Humphrey Pilkington, the first warden of Big Basin,” says Collections Manager Kathleen Aston.
Bright Future:
The building that houses the Museum’s important collections is itself historically significant. Built in 1915, the former Carnegie Library that has been the Museum’s permanent location since 1954 is a unique building that has withstood the test of time. At nearly 110 years old, the Museum is about to undergo a much needed renovation and expansion, including repairing important infrastructure such as the foundation, improving accessibility, and creating a dedicated classroom and community space. Improvements will also extend to the surrounding Tyrrell Park. Van Stolk announced the Museum’s master plan to the general public in the Summer of 2024, hosting a series of conversations with the local community to inform the public and solicit suggestions. In the coming months, the Museum will launch its Bright Future campaign to provide community members with the opportunity to support the project.
In the interim period when the Museum is closed for renovations, there are plans to continue serving the community. “We will continue to provide environmental science education programs for students and lifelong learners throughout the building process,” says Van Stolk.
So what can the community expect upon the reopening? “All new exhibits featuring previously unseen collections specimens will advance the Museum’s mission in exciting new ways,” says Van Stolk, adding “and with an expanded temporary exhibition space there will always be reasons to visit again!”
How to Get Involved
Volunteer:
The Museum provides volunteer programs for all, including Saturdays in the Soil (a volunteer gardening program in Tyrrell Park and Pilkington Creek) and fun opportunities to support public events and school programs.
Membership:
Membership packages starting at $20 for students and seniors provide community members with benefits including free admission, discounted tickets, K-6 camp discounts, and access to special events.
Giving:
This year, supporting environmental education is more important than ever. The Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History, an independent nonprofit museum, relies on donations from community members to financially support the school programs, lifelong learning programs, and educational exhibits that align with its mission to connect people to nature and science to inspire stewardship of the natural world. This year, give the gift of supporting environmental education so we can secure the bright future of the next generation.
