UNIVERSITIES, MUSEUMS, AND CIVIC FORMATION A Case Study of the University of Toronto Museum of Natural Science, 1840-1890

With the opening of architect Daniel Libeskind's Crystal extension in 2007, the Royal Ontario Museum invites reconsideration of the official history that dates it to 1905. Campus museum efforts began with museum plans of the 1820s, collections formation in the1840s, and the purpose-built museum opened in 1860, modeled on United Kingdom examples. Although the museum ended in a fire in February 1890, it left a museum legacy that brought about the partnership of the province and university that resulted in the ROM legislation of 1912. In this tale, the role of the educational museum is raised as an missing part of the Canadian museum story; imported from Europe, they start early in the history of colonial settlement and need to be considered in how museums have been and are still being articulated as pedagogical and civic locations of collections, display, and cultural encounter.