Museum history is an incredibly diverse area of scholarship that encompasses all aspects of museum practice: collecting, curating, teaching, research, and administration. It has long shaped museum practice and continues to do so today, even as it expands into new fields such as edutainment and socially engaged art. It is important for all museum professionals to have a working knowledge of the origins and development of museums. This will help them to understand the motivations that underlie the goals and best practices of their own institutions.
Museums have evolved from private collections of art and rare or curious natural objects and artifacts displayed in so-called wonder rooms and cabinets of curiosities. These early collections were usually open to the public for viewing on request, but at the whim of the curator. They were often based on the premise that looking at “good” and “virtuous” art would civilize the citizenry. Museums grew to be one of many modern state institutions that were able to shape a citizenry’s values and identity, along with universities, libraries, and other cultural centers.
The modern museum is tightly bound up with several institutions that arose simultaneously in 18th and 19th-century Europe: nationalism fused with colonial expansion; the Enlightenment; and democracy. These are the roots that shaped today’s museum as a secular space for community engagement and instruction through the presentation of objects.
While museums are often associated with European history, the history of this institution has also a strong indigenous and international component. The impact of the modern museum on communities beyond Europe, particularly as a tool for education and self-definition, is an understudied aspect of the field.
As the world opened up to European exploration and trade, a new class of collectors developed. They gathered natural specimens, art, and other artifacts from all over the globe to create systematic collections that became known as museums. This new form of a museum was tied to a new kind of learning that combined art and science. The word derived from the Greek mouseion, which were sites of worship for the Muses (patron goddesses of the arts) and later came to refer to a place where artistic and intellectual works were collected and displayed.
The first American museum was founded in 1829 when John Varden created the first private art museum in Washington, DC. This museum was based on the 18th century British model and displayed both artistic and scientific items. By the mid-19th century, the Smithsonian and other large public museums were established in America. Museums in this period were still largely private and affluent, but the public was becoming more familiar with their existence. The public’s acceptance of these new institutions accelerated with the rise of democracy. Museums became part of a democratic culture that promoted the equality and dignity of every human being. Museums now play a vital role in educating and entertaining more than 850 million visitors each year, with the goal of enhancing society through the discovery, preservation, exhibition, and interpretation of cultural and natural objects.
