Field Museum of Natural History

The Field Museum of Natural History, also called the Field Museum, is a private-public natural history museum in Chicago, Illinois, and one of the largest such museums in the world. It is named in honor of its first major benefactor, the department-store magnate Marshall Field, and its collections originated from the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition and the artifacts displayed at that fair. The museum is a private nonprofit run by a board of trustees in partnership with the Chicago Park District, which owns the land and building. Its professional staff maintains collections of over 24 million specimens and objects that support its scientific research programs, and its permanent exhibitions include fossils and living cultures from around the world.