Barnum Museum of Natural History

The Barnum Museum of Natural History, now known as Barnum Hall, is a stone building on the Tufts University campus characterized by its Romanesque Revival architecture. Established in eighteen eighty-three, it was the brainchild of the famous circus showman Phineas T. Barnum, who served as a university trustee. Barnum donated fifty thousand dollars to create the museum, insisting on a condition of secrecy regarding his gift and that the building would forever bear his name.