PHILADELPHIA, March 2, 2015

The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University is offering pay-what-you-wish admission on Monday, March 23, to celebrate the founding of the nation’s oldest natural history museum.

For history buffs, the official day the Academy was established by seven amateur naturalists was March 21, 1812. Initially meeting at one founder’s home, these men pulled together their specimen collections and other resources and created the Academy of Natural Sciences for “the encouragement and cultivation of the sciences and the advancement of useful learning.”

Today the Academy is a leading natural history museum and the place to discover towering dinosaurs, experience a working fossil preparation lab, stroll among live butterflies, see live animal shows, participate in hands-on activities, see special exhibits, and much more.

On March 23 visitors can decide what admission they would like to pay. Regular admission is $15.95 for adults; $13.95 for children 3 through 12, seniors, college students, and military personnel; and free for members and children under 3. There is a $3 fee for the special exhibit Titanoboa: Monster Snake.

For a list of the day’s special activities, visit ansp.org.

Pepper Hamilton LLP is the Academy’s Community Access Partner for Founders Day.

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