Roam Under the Dome

Our blog for the stories behind the exhibit, inside the film and beyond the museum.

Long live the extinct mastodon!

Long live the extinct mastodon!
Glenn Storrs
The American mastodon (Mammut americanum) is the iconic “Ice Age” creature of the Pleistocene epoch (2.58 million to 11,700 years ago) for North America, and an example of its extinct megafauna.
painting

The hummers are coming!
Emily Imhoff
So wrote John James Audubon, noted ornithologist and artist (and first official employee of our predecessor institution, the Western Museum), on the spring migration of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds (Archilochus colubris).
Bob Genheimer Ask a Curator

#AskACurator with Bob Genheimer, George Rieveschl Curator of Archaeology
Bob Genheimer
Bob Genheimer, our George Rieveschl Curator of Archaeology, answers your questions about the job of a curator and archaeologist.
Portrait of Four Prominent Unidentified Men_SC17

Early Photography – Part 1 of 4
James DaMico
The daguerreotype was invented by Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre and was introduced to the French Academy of Sciences on January 7, 1839. A silver-plated copper plate is polished on the silver side to a mirror-like sheen and exposed to iodine vapor.
Audio cassettes

Irish Tape and Our Sound Recording Collections
Jim DaMico
One of the collections I get to manage is the Sound Recordings, and, as you can imagine, we hold a pretty diverse spectrum of recording technology.
Dr. Stewart Observation Post Korea

Dr. James A. Stewart, Captain, U.S. Army, Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (M.A.S.H.)
David Conzett
James Antenen Stewart graduated from Hamilton High School in 1941 and the University of Cincinnati in 1945. He later served as the Chief Surgeon of a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (M.A.SH.) near Seoul.
Woodrat habitat

Woodrat Hunting With CMC’s Zoology Curator
Heather Farrington
During the second week of last November, I spent a couple of days at the Museum Center’s Edge of Appalachia preserve looking for my newest study organism – the Allegheny woodrat (Neotoma magister).
model train rail road crossing sign

The Stuart Shuster Train Story
David Conzett
Created using original and reproduction Lionel trains and accessories, Stuart’s layout has all the bells and whistles that our visitors, young and old, have come to expect at Museum Center during the holidays.
A close-up view of a portion of the slab after preparation

A World-Class Crinoid Fossil Assemblage
Brenda Hunda
This slab is covered with complete and nearly complete specimens of one species of crinoid, Glyptocrinus decadactylus, and is one of the largest and most spectacular examples of fossil crinoid preservation ever found in the Cincinnatian Series (Late Ordovician Period, 450 million years ago).
The Road to Prohibition

The Road to Prohibition
Jill Beitz
The Queen City is built on a foundation of beer, wine and whiskey. At its peak in the 19th century, there were 36 breweries and more than 300 vineyards within a twenty-mile radius of the city.
Koch portrait

The Poetry of Felix J. Koch Exhibition
Jim DaMico
Cincinnati Museum Center's Cincinnati History Library and Archives holds the Felix J. Koch Collection (SC 116). This treasure trove of 5,238 negatives document Cincinnati and the surrounding area between 1902 and 1933. The collection, which was donated by Felix's brother, Herbert F. Koch in 1968 and 1969, is arranged by subject.
Bird count map

The Christmas Bird Count
Heather Farrington
One of the largest and longest-running citizen science programs in the country is the Christmas Bird Count (CBC).
rookwood ice cream parlor 1980

Touring Rookwood Pottery with Cincinnati Heritage Programs
Chris Dobbs
Chances are, if you step into an old-enough house in Cincinnati, Ohio, it features Rookwood Pottery. Whether it’s a colorful pot passed down, a kitchen backsplash lined with avian tiles or a fireplace’s hearth, Rookwood Pottery has left its mark on Cincinnati’s – and the world’s – cupboards, homes and monuments.
First all female space walk

First all-female spacewalk
Whitney Owens
Last week on October 18, NASA astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir accomplished the first-ever all-female spacewalk. For nearly eight hours, they worked outside the International Space Station to replace a broken power unit. It was Koch’s fourth spacewalk and Meir’s first.
dna tubes and scientist

DNA Sequencing Urban Artifact’s Union Terminal Beer
Emily Imhoff
In late 2016, Urban Artifact brewers collected yeast from Union Terminal grounds. A few months later, at a 21+ Curiocity (now Museum on Tap) event, they premiered a new, fruity brew, Union Terminal Bock, made from the National Historic Landmark's yeast! As a part of the event, we were asked in zoology to determine the yeast's species. This is how we did it.

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