Meteorite collection to open Saturday
Museum includes Mars rocks, hands-on exhibits
By Braden Howell
Staff Reporter

A project two years in the making becomes a reality at 11 a.m. Saturday when the doors to the museum for the Oscar E. Monnig Meteorite Collection in Sid W. Richardson Building are opened to the public for the first time, said Arthur Ehlmann, emeritus professor of geology.
Ehlmann is responsible for helping TCU acquire the Monnig collection. He said the museum is one of a kind and that no other university has anything comparable.

“The collection is priceless, but for students to have this kind of hands-on environment and this kind of opportunity to learn about space, it is very unique,” Ehlmann said.

Ehlmann said the meteorites featured in the museum were collected by Fort Worth businessman Oscar Monnig, a close personal friend of his. Monnig, who died in 1999, wanted the collection to stay in Fort Worth, and in his will left a considerable donation to TCU to help maintain the collection, Ehlmann said.

“It’s all being done with Monnig money,” Ehlmann said of the museum.
For the design of the museum, Ehlmann said they hired Gallagher & Associates, a design group who did the meteorite exhibit for the Smithsonian Institution.

Chancellor Michael Ferrari said the gallery provides a wonderful opportunity to showcase the collection to the state and the nation.

“There is little doubt the gallery will enable persons from the community and beyond to come to TCU to see the exhibits and that it will also elevate the visibility of the geology program,” Ferrari said.

The museum is located on the second floor of Sid W. Richardson Building, and will not only be a permanent addition to TCU, but is free to students and the general public. You can take a tour through the museum with the help of an audio cassette, written by Ehlmann, or just go at your own pace, Ehlmann said.

Inside the museum there is a large variety of meteorites from all over the world. There is also a special “Texas Hall of Fame” section for meteorites found just in the state. The exhibit includes a video room showing a four-minute video about the collection.

Ehlmann said some meteorites can be touched by the public, as well as a piece of Mars. He said the museum also features a meteorite found in 1492, the year Columbus sailed the ocean.

Students like Beth Pernitz, a freshman premajor, agrees that while not all students know about the museum, those who do believe it will be beneficial in their science courses.

“I think it’s going to help us in our labs,” Pernitz said. “I don’t think they’ve done enough advertising for it. I wouldn’t know about it if I wasn’t in geology right now.”

The museum has received some statewide coverage. Ehlmann said the museum has already been featured in Texas Highways magazine, and The Dallas Morning News is working on a story.

Ehlmann is currently the volunteer director of the museum and the museum curator. Ehlmann said the museum will eventually have a full-time director, but that he will continue being the curator.

The museum dedication takes place today in a private ceremony with the Board of Trustees. Regular museum hours will be 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.

Ehlmann said the museum will also be available for private sessions, and that he expects many groups from local schools to visit the museum on class trips.

Ehlmann said he hopes students will understand what a great opportunity to learn the museum gives them.

Braden Howell
b.r.howell@tcu.edu

credits

TCU Daily Skiff © 2003