In 1951, Mary and Francis Crane purchased their first American Indian objects. Within the next two decades, they had nearly 12,000 artifacts representing scores of Native American cultures spanning centuries of time. After struggling with their own museum in Marathon, Florida, the Cranes decided to donate their entire collection to another institution. In 1968, four semi-trucks pulled up to the Denver Museum of Natural History, as it was then called, and unloaded the Crane Collection—the second largest donation of a single collection to an American museum.
Big Discoveries, Big Plans
Since the discovery of Folsom points in context with extinct bison in the late 1920s, proving the great antiquity of humans in North America, the Denver Museum of Nature & Science has been dedicated to archaeological research. With the addition of the Crane Collection, the Museum added ethnology, the study of living cultures, to its scientific agenda. Construction on a major, permanent exhibition hall began, and ten years later the museum celebrated the completion of the Crane American Indian Cultures Hall.
Honoring a Legacy
Today, 40 years after the donation of the Crane Collection, and 30 years after the completion of the permanent exhibition, the Museum’s Department of Anthropology continues to celebrate the Cranes’ deep respect and fascination for Native American cultures and histories. While research and exhibition work continues, the Anthropology Department has added new and innovative programs, such as the Visiting Indigenous Fellowship Program and the annual First Nations Film and Video Festival. In this way, the department aspires to honor the Cranes’ unique legacy while expanding the possibilities for museum anthropology in the 21st century.
