Una etapa de la historia reciente del Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (1970-1985) contada por sus protagonistas

Abstract

The article presents a singular study highlighting how oral sources can be a fundamental tool in historical reconstruction. The stage in which the study is located is that of the 70s and 80s of the 20th century and the protagonist is the National Museum of Natural Sciences. It will be shown how the data provided through interviews with Museum professionals or those related to it, once contrasted with those obtained from conventional sources (archive and bibliographic material), serve to complement and/or ratify situations of special relevance in the history of the institution. Two cases are tested, the general state of the Museum, its collections, exhibitions and research in the aforementioned period, and its reunification at the end of 1984 incorporating the Spanish Institute of Entomology, the Institute of Geology and the Museum itself into a single center.