The Rosenbach Museum

Title: Megalonyx jeffersonii
Year: Disc. 1796
Material: Fossilized bone, copy from resin.
Creator: Disc. by Colonel John Stewart, studies initiated by Thomas Jefferson
Collection: Creature Comforts

In the back left corner of the small exhibit that was Creature Comforts at the Rosenbach Museum was a collection of fossils from the Megalonyx jeffersonii (Jefferson's giant ground sloth) specimen that was discovered by Colonel John Stewart in 1796 in the Blue Ridge Mountains, West Virginia. It was sent from Col. Stewart to Thomas Jefferson upon exhuming, who after studying the fossils was convinced that it was not only from a large carnivore (a massive cat) but that the animal was still roaming the largely unpopulated American wilderness. His presentation to the American Philosophical Society beginning his search for this creature and further evidence is what has caused some scholars to consider Jefferson as the father of American vertebrate paleontology. 

The fossils are on display as part of the Creature Comforts exhibition, inspired by the natural history literature collected by the Rosenbach brothers. One of the items collected by them was a letter from Thomas Jefferson to David Rittenhouse pertaining to the fossil and his beliefs in the species remaining extant. The fossils themselves were gifted by the American Philosophical Society to the Academy of Natural Sciences, who have loaned the collection (among other natural history items) to the Rosenbach for this exhibition. 

The collection of objects that create the ground sloth exhibit as a whole are dispersed throughout four different places. The focus of my evaluation (the fossils) are in a single case, raised on two different mounts. The left mount features the forearm, and the right mount the left hand of the ground sloth. Above the case is a quote from Thomas Jefferson's Notes on the State of Virginia, "But all the manna of heaven would never raise the Mouse to the bulk of the Mammoth". To the right of the case is a small pedestal where an exact replica of the largest left claw is available for visitors to touch and examine. As noted in the description of the object (found in the center of the main case) is a reference to the letter that is on display in a separate case, as well as an invitation to utilize the computer kiosk upon which visitors can access the Academy's website.

The point of view of the label and website is mostly that of modern science looking back at the early scientific views of the late 18th century. The other objects in the exhibition are tied into the same focus and point of view, in that the articles are collected from older literature or assist in explaining such, mostly from the late 18th and 19th centuries. 

A closer study of natural history, especially American vertebrate paleontology would help one to better understand the fossils. I personally a brief spent time in my mammology courses studying the ground sloths, so I find these articles quite interesting. Someone not interested in scientific fields, especially those of paleontology or natural history may not be interested in the objects, however. 

Someone who disagrees with the studies of Thomas Jefferson (or the beginnings of American natural history and paleontology as a whole) might tell an opposing narrative in that the description of the item would focus on his misunderstandings of what we now believe today to be the "factual" scientific history of the ground sloth. 

I do not think any more "experiences" are necessary to add to the experience and engagement with the object. What might be useful, however, is to include directions in the item's description as to where the letter is located (I spent several minutes searching and still could not find which case it was in until I was shown), or simply putting the letter into the same case as the fossils.