Young Museum Curator Earns World Record in Illinois

CAMBRIDGE, Illinois — Anderson Taylor is helping visitors explore fossils, minerals, artifacts, and more at the Cambridge Natural History Museum. At age 11, he is already a Guinness World Record holder.

Anderson became interested in opening a museum after his family visited a small dinosaur museum in Scotland when he was 7. He had been collecting fossils since finding one in his driveway at age 3.

Village leaders in Cambridge let him use an old building temporarily. On August 9, 2024, Anderson opened his museum with one display case. He was 9 years and 340 days old, earning the record for the world’s youngest male museum curator. A curator is a person who cares for and organizes a museum’s collection.

The museum has since grown to 13 display cases. Its collection includes fossils, minerals, Native American artifacts, taxidermied animals, a dinosaur bone, and a large mastodon leg bone. Mastodons were ancient relatives of mammoths.

Anderson balances museum work with school and shares the museum’s visiting hours online. He also gives talks about science and has received advice and donated items from experts.

Anderson and his parents have raised more than $20,000 to buy the building for the museum. He hopes to raise more funds to repair and expand it. He also dreams of becoming a paleontologist, a scientist who studies ancient life.