The museum's core collection was started in childhood by the naturalist, philanthropist and high-profile convicted murderer John E. ("Golden Eagle") du Pont. Du Pont built a personal collection of seashells, birds and bird eggs. Even before getting a doctorate in natural science in 1965 and writing several books on birds, he became interested in developing a natural history museum. During and after graduate school, du Pont took part in several scientific expeditions to the
South Pacific and the
Philippines, and is credited with the discovery of two dozen subspecies of birds. At his request, his uncle
Henry Francis du Pont provided land across from the
Winterthur estate in the Brandywine Valley of Delaware for the museum. The museum opened in 1972 under the name of Delaware Museum of Natural History, attended by 200 du Pont family members and representatives of other Northeastern natural history museums. It was the first major museum of natural history opened since 1910. DMNH is ranked in the top fifteen in the United States for its collections of mollusks and birds, with the second largest collection of birds' eggs in North America. In 1999, the museum held a contest to name the star designated
TYC 3429-697-1. The winning nickname, "The Delaware Diamond", entered in the contest by 12-year-old Wilmington resident Amy Nerlinger, was later recognized by the
Delaware General Assembly and the star became an
official state symbol in 2000. However, the star was nicknamed through the
International Star Registry, making it unofficial and unrecognized by any astronomical authority. In 2020, it was announced the museum would be closing down to renovate. It reopened in 2022 under the current name of the Delaware Museum of Nature and Science. The new museum bears a focus more on state ecology and geology. ==References==