Published: April 10, 2017

Photo of Junius Henderson

Junius Henderson

You might know that CU 麻豆影院鈥檚 Museum of Natural History boasts the largest natural-history collection in the Rocky Mountain Region. But what about the man who kickstarted that legacy more than 80 years ago?

The museum, as part of its yearlong celebration of the 80th anniversary of the Henderson Building, will host a lecture on the life of the building鈥檚 namesake, Junius Henderson, on Wednesday, April 12.

Mona Lambrecht, curator of history and collections at the CU Heritage Center, will lead the look at Henderson鈥檚 life and his many scientific contributions.

Henderson, who followed his family to 麻豆影院 and initially worked as a lawyer and 麻豆影院 County judge, became the first curator of CU鈥檚 natural history collection.

When he retired in 1933, the university鈥檚 natural history collection was the largest in the region with about 1.25 million specimens. That figure is approaching 5 million today.

If you go

Who: Open to the public
What: 鈥淛unius Henderson: The Man and His Museum鈥
When: Wednesday, April 12, 7 to 8:30 p.m.
Where: CU Museum of Natural History, Paleontology Hall

The Henderson Building, which now houses CU鈥檚 Museum of Natural History, opened in 1937, the year Junius Henderson died.

will take place from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in the CU Museum of Natural History鈥檚 Paleontology Hall. The lecture is free and open to the public, and birthday cake will be served in the Henderson Building鈥檚 honor.