Dr. Williard L. Henning

Dr. Willard L. Henning taught biology at Bryan College from 1956 to 1976. The collecting began soon after his arrival. “I just sort of had it in me to do the collecting.” And collect he did. The museum quickly flowed out of his office and into Mercer Hall’s third floor hallway. After his formal retirement in 1976, Dr. Henning continued to work on the museum for many years.

The Fire of 2000

The Fire of 2000, marked a defining moment in Bryan College History. The fire devastated the museum, destroying many specimens, and severely damaging others. Remarkably, however, much of the museum survived the fire, and the remaining specimens are now on display in the Willard Henning Natural History Museum. In the years following the fire, volunteers spent many hours under the direction of Dr. Kurt Wise, cleaning and cataloging specimens.

The Future

In 2002, the Henning Museum received a donation of a collection of African taxidermy from a family in Signal Mountain, Tennessee. Then in summer of 2006, work began on rennovations of the museum exhibit space, under the direction of Dr. Todd C. Wood. The re-opening of the Willard Henning Natural History Museum in the fall of 2006 marked a new beginning for the museum.