1908 Museum is opened to the public for the first time on July 1. 1916 Donation of the Museum's first dinosaur skeleton is received. 1917 Museum's first field work outside Colorado is done in South Carolina and Florida. 1921 Museum's first field work outside the contiguous United States is done in arctic Alaska. 1927 Museum's discovery of Folsom projectile point increases human antiquity in North America by thousands of years.
Museum inaugurates special programs for students and teachers.
1932 Staff wages are reduced and activities curtailed as a result of the Great Depression. Museum Art Gallery is closed and art collections are transferred to the Denver Art Museum. 1936 Curved backgrounds, domed ceilings, tilted glasses and fluorescent lights are introduced into habitat dioramas. Phipps Auditorium is dedicated. Museum's first elevator and new ground floor entrance are installed.