H. H. Nininger Master of Meteorites

Harvey H. Nininger is considered by many to be the “Father of American Meteoritics” - the study of meteorites. He was a pioneer and innovator in the field. When he began to search for meteorites, he was told by the head curator of geology at the Smithsonian Institution: “Young man, if you live to be 100 and find one meteorite, you will have done well.” Despite this discouragement, by 1941, it was acknowledged that his personal meteorite collection, from 226 meteorite falls, represented one-half of all the meteorites know at the time in the world. He was the Curator of Meteorites at the Denver Museum of Natural History from 1930 to 1943. He established the American Meteorite Laboratory in Denver in 1937.After moving to Arizona, he established the American Meteorite Museum on the famous Route 66, north of Meteor Crater, from 1946 to 1953, when the museum was moved to Sedona’s Main Street where it operated until 1960. The collection was eventually sold to the British Museum of Natural History and to Arizona State University. During his career he wrote 10 books and over 140 scientific and popular articles. Harvey Nininger passed away in 1986 at the age of 99, shortly after the arrival of Haley's Comet, that he had been looking forward to see. Read more