Bailey Archives at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science

10/01/2026

Meet the Museum’s next president and CEO.

Kirk Johnson will return to the Denver Museum of Nature & Science as our next president and CEO after 14 years leading the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History.

A former Museum scientist and leader and a gifted science storyteller, Kirk brings deep Colorado roots and national leadership experience to the Museum’s next chapter.

George Sparks will remain president and CEO until he retires at the end of January 2027. We are deeply grateful for the extraordinary progress the Museum made under George’s leadership and the continuity he will provide through the transition.

Read the announcement: https://www.dmns.org/press-room/press-releases/kirk-johnson-named-president-and-ceo/

09/03/2026

We will be showing off some fun collection items - join us on Sept. 24th!

What makes an object worth keeping? 👀 A button found on a sidewalk. A handwritten note tucked in a drawer. A tiny treasure with a story waiting to be discovered.

Join us Thursday, Sept. 24 for An Evening of Wonder: Office of Collecting and Design Fall Tour 2026 and explore the curious, unusual and overlooked objects that find their way into museum collections.

You’ll get a sneak peek inside the Office of Collecting & Design’s 42-foot mobile museum, plus a look at surprising treasures from the Museum’s own Archives.

Come curious. Leave seeing everyday objects a little differently. ✨ https://bit.ly/4iF0f2r

08/03/2026

06/05/2026

The Denver Museum of Nature & Science is hiring an intern (paid) to digitize select portions of a large image collection! View the full posting and apply here: https://dmns.volunteerportal.org/?nd=intake&entry_point_id=100&unit_id=2&chapter_id=undefined.

05/19/2026

05/15/2026

Postcard of summertime at the Colorado Museum of Natural History, circa 1928-1939. The caption on the back reads: “The museum occupies a commanding position at the east edge of City Park, with City Park and the distant Rockies spreading out before it. Within the building are numerable exhibits in life like settings of the wild life and botany of the Rocky Mountain region”

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04/24/2026

Robert Rockwell with young Long-billed Curlew, 1937
 
Rockwell was an investment banker, ornithologist and Colorado Museum of Natural History trustee who served the museum from its first decade. He was recruited him as a volunteer in 1906 to unpack, mark and systematize the Edwin Carter collections. This began Rockwell’s lifelong affiliation with the museum, where his own extensive collections were later exhibited.
 

04/03/2026

“Museum Records Five Millionth Visitor”

This short film commemorates the Museum’s five millionth visitor since 1941, Marjorie Wagner. Likely filmed sometime between 1946-1947 by photographer Jean Dubois. You can still see this exact diorama in the Northern and Rare Birds hall!