Milwaukee Public Museum facts for kids
Current museum building on West Wells St
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| Established | 1882 |
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| Location | 800 West Wells Street Milwaukee, Wisconsin  United States |
| Type | Public museum |
| Collection size | 4 million |
| Visitors | 446,000 (2023) |
| Owner | MPM, Inc. |
| Public transit access |  MCTS 12, 30, BlueLine, Connect 1 |
The Milwaukee Public Museum is a fantastic place to learn about natural history and human history. It is located in Downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The museum was officially started in 1882 and opened its doors to the public in 1884. It is a non-profit organization, which means it works for the public good, not to make money. The museum has three floors of exciting exhibits. It also has the very first Dome Theater in Wisconsin.
In May 2024, the museum began building a brand new, five-story home. This new building is located at the corner of N 6th St and W McKinley Ave. It is expected to be finished in 2027. The museum also announced that it will change its name to the Nature & Culture Museum of Wisconsin.
Contents
History of the Museum
How the Museum Started
The Milwaukee Public Museum (MPM) is one of many big American museums that began in the late 1800s. Its story actually goes back to 1851. That's when the German-English Academy was founded in Milwaukee. The school's principal, Peter Engelmann, loved taking students on field trips.
On these trips, students collected all sorts of interesting things. They found plants, rocks, and old artifacts. These items were kept at the academy. Later, former students and other people donated more items. These included historical objects and things related to different cultures.
By 1857, the collection had grown very large. Engelmann created a natural history group to help manage it. Soon, the collection, which people called "The Museum," became too big for the academy. A city leader named August Stirn helped pass a law. This law allowed the City of Milwaukee to take the collection and create a free public museum.
Early Years and Growth
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The museum's new leaders hired Carl Doerflinger as the first director. They rented space for the exhibits. The Milwaukee Public Museum officially opened on May 24, 1884. Doerflinger believed the museum's exhibits should be used for both learning and public education. He also wanted the city to build a new home for the museum and the Milwaukee Public Library. He left his job in 1888. The new museum building was finished in 1898.
In 1890, Carl Akeley created something amazing. He was a taxidermist and biologist. He is known as the "father of modern taxidermy." Akeley built the world's first complete museum habitat diorama. It showed a group of muskrats in their natural home.
Henry L. Ward became the museum's fourth director in 1902. Before him, the museum focused only on natural sciences. But Ward started a new section for history. To help with this, Samuel A. Barrett was chosen to lead the anthropology-history department. Anthropology is the study of human societies and cultures.
Barrett later became the museum's director. He guided the museum through the Great Depression in the 1930s. He used government programs like the Works Progress Administration to keep the museum running. These programs also created jobs for people beyond the museum's regular staff.
Modern Times
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Construction on the museum's current building began in 1960. It was finished in 1962. This building is at 800 W. Wells Street. It is one block north of the old museum building. The old building is now the Milwaukee Central Library. Some exhibits stayed in the old building until 1966.
In 1976, the museum was sold by the City of Milwaukee to Milwaukee County. This happened because of a disagreement about charging visitors who did not live in Milwaukee. Later, in 1992, the museum faced financial challenges. A plan was made where the county still owned the museum. However, a non-profit group called Milwaukee Public Museum, Inc. took over running it. This group was controlled by local businesses.
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In 2010, Jay B. Williams became the new director. He focused on raising money and getting more people to visit the museum often. In 2014, Dennis Kois became president and CEO. During his time, the museum had some of its busiest periods ever. Plans for a new museum building were also announced.
In August 2018, Kois resigned. Dr. Ellen Censky was named the interim president and CEO. After a search, Dr. Ellen Censky officially became the president and CEO in June 2019.
The Museum's Future
In 2017, the Milwaukee Public Museum announced plans to move. A study showed that the old building needed very expensive repairs. In 2020, the museum shared the location for its new building. It is a 2.4-acre site on North Sixth Street. Designs for the new building were released in 2022. It will be a five-story building, about 200,000 square feet in size. The construction of the new museum began in Spring 2024. It is expected to open in early 2027.
Permanent Exhibits and Collections
The Milwaukee Public Museum has both permanent exhibits and special traveling exhibits. One of the first big exhibits in the current museum was Streets of Old Milwaukee. It opened in January 1965. This is one of the most popular exhibits at MPM. Millions of people have visited it since it opened.
The museum has more than 4 million artifacts in its collections. Some of the most notable items include:
- A 14,500-year-old woolly mammoth skeleton. This mammoth, called the Hebior Mammoth, was found in Kenosha County in the 1990s. The real bones are too delicate to display. So, a fiberglass copy is shown at the museum. The real bones are kept safe for research.
- A collection of over 10,000 bird eggs from all over the world. Many of these eggs are from birds that live in Wisconsin. The museum also has a digital archive of these eggs.
Images for kids
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Streets of Old Milwaukee exhibit
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A Tyrannosaurus rex eating a Triceratops as a Dromaeosaurus and Struthiomimus watch in the Third Planet exhibit
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The Hebior Mammoth, found in the town of Paris, Kenosha County, in the 1990s
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See also
In Spanish: Museo Público de Milwaukee para niños
