The Thomas A. Greene Memorial Museum, also known as Greene Geological Museum or Greene Museum, is a

mineral In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid chemical compound with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. ( ...

and

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

museum in

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

, administered by the Department of Geosciences at the

University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee The University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (UW–Milwaukee, UWM, or Milwaukee) is a public urban research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It is the largest university in the Milwaukee metropolitan area and a member of the University of Wiscons ...

Original building

The original fireproof museum building, designed by noted Milwaukee architect,

Alexander Eschweiler Alexander Chadbourne Eschweiler (August 10, 1865 – June 12, 1940) was an American architect with a practice in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He designed both residences and commercial structures. His eye-catching Japonist pagoda design for filling st ...

, held the collection of Thomas A. Greene, Milwaukee druggist and amateur

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althou ...

, plant collector, and fossil collector. In 1913, Greene's heirs, Mrs. H.A.J. Upham and Mr. Howard Greene, had the facility built to house his collection, and it was declared a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

in 1993, in recognition of the collection's significance as a largely intact amateur geological collection. With The collection has been removed from the building, and is now displayed and housed in Lapham Hall on the UWM campus. The building has been renovated and is currently used as academic space for UWM's Sam and Helen Stahl Center for Jewish Studies.Quirk, Kathy. "Center for Jewish Studies Receives $2 Million Gift." ''UWM Today'' v.11 no.2 (Fall 2009), p. 6

Collection

Greene amassed most of the fossils in his collection, totaling about 75,000 specimens, during the 1880s and 1890s. The majority of these specimens come from the Silurian Racine Dolomite Formation and the Devonian Milwaukee Formation in the vicinity of southeastern Wisconsin. Preserved mostly as internal molds in dolomite, these fossils include a wide range of Silurian marine invertebrate groups including trilobites, crinoids, tabulate and rugose corals, brachiopods, cephalopods, and gastropods. Devonian fossils consist mainly of fish and plant remains. All of these fossils were collected from quarry outcrops that no longer exist, making the collection irreplaceable. The mineral collection contains a wide range of minerals and ores from localities throughout North America, as well as some from overseas. It includes exquisite examples of amethyst, apatite, stibnite, copper, tungsten, molybdenum, vanadium, cobalt, nickel, mercury compounds, aluminum compounds, malachite, lapis-lazuli, tourmaline, garnet, labradorite, fluorite, beryl, and turquoise, among others. Perhaps the highlight of the mineral collection is a piece of iron meteorite that landed in nearby Washington County, Wisconsin. It was given to Greene by the scientist

Increase A. Lapham Increase Allen Lapham (March 7, 1811 – September 14, 1875) was an American author, scientist, and naturalist, whose work focused primarily on the what is now the U.S. state of Wisconsin. He made maps of the area and published numerous books o ...

, the namesake of Lapham Hall. Greene collaborated with another amateur, Dr.

Fisk Holbrook Day Fisk Holbrook Day was a physician and an amateur geologist in Wisconsin who developed an impressive collection of Silurian-age fossils. The collection is now at Harvard University. Day was born on March 11, 1826 in Richmond, New York. He gradua ...

, whose home in

Wauwatosa, Wisconsin Wauwatosa (; known informally as Tosa; originally Wau-wau-too-sa or Hart's Mill) is a city in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 48,387 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Wauwatos ...

, the Dr. Fisk Holbrook Day House, has also been designated a National Historic Landmark.

References

External links

Thomas A. Greene Memorial MuseumGreene Gallery virtual tour
{{authority control Museums established in 1913 University and college buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Wisconsin Geology museums in the United States Museums in Milwaukee National Historic Landmarks in Wisconsin Natural history museums in Wisconsin University museums in Wisconsin Paleontology in Wisconsin 1913 establishments in Wisconsin National Register of Historic Places in Milwaukee Museums on the National Register of Historic Places Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in Wisconsin Streamline Moderne architecture in Wisconsin

Original building

Collection

See also

References

External links