| Displays of dinosaurs have become a staple of modern natural history museums, but these did not emerge until the turn of the twentieth century. Through the work of Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh in this field (despite their intense rivalry), paleontology grew as a discipline and, after losing federal funding, found a new home in museums and universities. Recognizing the potential of large dinosaurs for display and education, major natural history museums such as the American Museum of Natural History in New York under Henry Osborn began competing for their own specimens. Much work has been done on the efforts of these emerging large museums. Smaller museums such as the University of Wyoming Museum, however, have been much less studied. Through its proximity to immense, rich fossil fields, the university became directly connected to the major events shaping paleontology at the time. Yet differences in the pedagogy and intentions behind its formation---a sense of state pride rather than the concerns of wealthy, elite sponsors---served to set it apart from larger, more well-known institutions. |
