Harvard University

A Real Mermaid? Not Exactly…

Harvard University's Peabody Museum is preparing for a one-day exhibit to showcase the so-called Feejee Mermaid

On Harvard University's campus, where students and faculty uphold the virtues of academic integrity, some still want to believe that mermaids are real.

Whether you believe they're part of myth or reality, Harvard's Peabody Museum is preparing for a one-day exhibit to showcase the so-called Feejee Mermaid.

The mermaid is an 18-inch long skeleton with jagged teeth, furry arms, and a long fish tail.

"It's not a mermaid," museum curator Diana Loren said. "It's actually a sculpture made out of part fish, part wood."

She said it once belonged to famed showman P.T. Barnum, traveling with his collection of curiousities.

"They'd come, they'd pay their money, and this is what they see," Loren said.

The Peabody Museum actually owns two of these examples, but rarely brings them out because they don't fit into their regular exhibits. But they're still cherished because the "mermaids" have been in the museum's collection for over a century.

The Feejee Mermaid will be on display on Saturday, Oct. 8, at the Peabody Museum. Admission is free.

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