Raymond M. Alf Museum: About the Museum

The Hall of Footprints

The Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology was established in 1936 and its present building was constructed in 1968. Since its inception, the museum has been dedicated to serving the public as well as The Webb Schools community. The museum has two large circular exhibition floors: the Hall of Life and the Hall of Footprints.

The Hall of Life traces the history of life on earth through exhibits spanning the first cells through human civilization. A few highlights include:
• specimens that represent some of the oldest known single-celled and multicellular organisms
• fossil invertebrates, including beautifully preserved trilobites and crinoids
• casts or models of the dinosaurs Monoclonius, Allosaurus, T. rex and Velociraptor
• dinosaur eggs from China and Mongolia
• a giant fossil alligator skull from the Amazon
• a large collection of fossil mammals from North America

The Hall of Footprints is the largest, most diverse collection of animal footprints on display in North America. Dozens of trackways are on exhibit that represent ancient camels, dinosaurs, spiders, reptiles, and other animals. Also on display is a skeletal cast of the giant bear-dog, Amphicyon, mounted directly above its trackway. This and other unique fossil footprint specimens make the museum's collection of tracks its most significant scientific asset. Newly renovated in 2002, the Hall of Footprints now includes many informative and interactive exhibits, including a children’s activity area. It is one of the most spectacular fossil footprint exhibits in the world.

Museum History

In 1929, nationally acclaimed sprinter Raymond Alf arrived in Los Angeles to run for the L.A. Track Club. After the track season ended Alf found a teaching job at Webb School of California, a boarding school on the outskirts of Los Angeles; he stayed for 70 years. Alf’s paleontology career began in 1932, when he spotted a fossil horse jaw at a store in Claremont Village. After learning that the jaw was found near Barstow, Alf gathered together some students and went to Barstow to search for fossils. In 1936 they hit the jackpot as Bill Webb ’39 spotted a peccary skull. Alf and Webb excavated the skull and took it to paleontologist Chester Stock who identified it as a new species of peccary or fossil pig. Inspired by this discovery, Alf traveled to Nebraska in 1937 to hunt for fossils with Bill Webb and Art Clokey ’39. This first Summer Peccary Trip began the long-standing museum tradition of offering annual summer trips to fossil-rich areas in western North America. From Nebraska, Alf, Webb, and Clokey traveled to South Dakota and accidentally met Professor John Clark from the University of Colorado. This chance encounter inspired Alf to become a paleontologist and he went on to attend the University of Colorado to earn his masters degree in geology the next year.

Upon returning to Webb, Alf taught science once again, but added paleontology into his curriculum. This and the growth in interest for Alf’s peccary trips were the foundation of a student paleontology program at Webb. In the summer of 1939, Alf returned to Nebraska with Webb and Clokey on the 2nd Summer Peccary Trip. That year the lower level of the library became Alf’s museum and classroom and soon thereafter public tours began. This marked the beginning of what was to become a permanent Alf Museum. Spurred by Alf’s inspirational teaching there was tremendous student interest in paleontology at Webb and a number of students went on to become distinguished paleontologists, such as Malcolm McKenna ’48, Dwight Taylor ’49, David Webb ’53, and Daniel Fisher ’67. Some students received national science awards and Alf earned wide recognition for his teaching and fossil collecting activities. During this period, thousands of specimens were collected and Alf’s classroom museum quickly filled with fossils. By the 1960s, it was clear that a larger space was needed to house “Ray’s Museum.” Also, Alf dreamed that one day there would be a permanent museum at Webb, and in 1968 his dream came true, as the current museum was constructed and dedicated to him. Alf then designed and constructed displays for the new two-story museum. In the upstairs Hall of Life, Alf developed the exhibit theme of “From Stars to Early Civilization,” an amazing journey through the history of life on earth. On the lower floor, Alf built displays for the many tracks and trackways that had been collected and called this space the Hall of Footprints. Alf also expanded his efforts to provide public tours of the museum.

Soon thereafter, Alf retired from teaching, yet remained active and often gave tours. After his retirement, some of Alf’s former students ran the museum on a temporary basis. In 1975, Grant Meyer ’53, another former student, became the second director of the museum. Throughout the 1980s, Meyer’s efforts were focused on modernizing exhibits and beginning the process of gaining accreditation from the American Association of Museums (AAM). Meyer left in 1990 and Don Lofgren was hired as the museum’s third director. With a new director, the museum intensified its effort to become accredited. The museum worked to organize and document its very large specimen collection. Computer databases for accession, locality, and catalog files were developed and over 100 metal storage cases were installed to house fossils. Also, the long tradition of peccary trips was expanded and in 1997, a summer peccary crew discovered a partial dinosaur skeleton with skin impression in Montana that received national media attention. A year later (1998), the museum achieved AAM accreditation. Thus, the Alf Museum became one of only 9% of museums nationwide to gain accreditation. In 1999, the Webb community was saddened by the death of Raymond Alf, but Alf’s legacy continues on with the growth of the museum he founded over 65 years ago.