"The Lure of the North"

Renowned polar explorer Robert Peary used these words to describe his consuming passion for the Arctic—a “lure” he characterized as “a strange and powerful thing.”

Like Peary, The Academy of Natural Sciences has felt this strong attraction to the far north. Its “Golden Age” of Arctic exploration spanned from the early 1890s until the early 1930s. During this time, the Academy participated in numerous expeditions to the Arctic, conducting scientific studies and amassing natural history specimens. “The Lure of the North” presents a sampling of this period in Academy historywith a display of books, photo albums, correspondences and specimens from both the 1891-92 Peary Expedtion and from Greenland travels of Harry Whitney.