Illinois State Museum

Infobox Museum
name= Illinois State Museum


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established= 1877
location= 502 South Spring Street
Springfield, IL 62706 (United States)
type= Art museum, History museum, Natural History/Anthropology Museum [citation | title= Illinois State Museum: About | publisher=ARTINFO | year=2008 | url= http://www.artinfo.com/galleryguide/21632/8150/about/illinois-state-museum-at-springfield-springfield/| accessdate=2008-07-28]
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director= Bonnie W. Styles [ [http://www.museum.state.il.us/staff/ ISM Staff] ]
curator=
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website= [http://www.museum.state.il.us/ Illinois State Museum] The Illinois State Museum is the official museum of the natural history of the U.S. state of Illinois. The headquarters museum is located on Spring and Edwards Streets, one block southwest of the Illinois State Capitol, in Springfield, the state capital. There are satellite museums in Chicago, Dickson Mounds, Lockport, and Rend Lake.

History

The Illinois State Museum was founded in 1877 as a showcase within the sixth Illinois State Capitol in Springfield, which was completed at that time. As the state's government grew, the museum collection was evicted from the Capitol and moved to the then-new Michael Howlett building, part of the Illinois Capitol Complex, in 1923.

With continued growth in Illinois's natural history collections, and the need to have a dedicated location in Springfield for tourists and school groups, the state constructed its first purpose-built state museum in 1961-63. This building is the current Illinois State Museum.

In the 1980s and 1990s, the Illinois State Museum expanded to also open four satellite museums. The Dickson Mounds museum, near Lewistown, Illinois, specializes in the anthropology of the Native Americans of the Illinois River valley, while the museums in Chicago, Lockport, and Rend Lake largely contain rotating exhibitions of Illinois-based fine arts and crafts.

Governance

Illinois Governor Jim Edgar, by executive order in 1995, made the State Museum part of the new Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR).

The Illinois State Museum is, as of July 2006, a division of IDNR and consists of five museum facilities, in Chicago, Dickson Mounds, Lockport, Rend Lake, and Springfield. The Museum has its own 11-member governing board, appointed by the Governor of Illinois with the advice and consent of the Illinois State Senate.

Mission statement

The Illinois State Museum is charged by state law with the responsibility "to collect and preserve objects of scientific and artistic value, representing past and present fauna and flora, the life and work of man, geological history, natural resources, and the manufacturing and fine arts; to interpret for and educate the public concerning the foregoing." 20 ILCS 801/1-25(19), state law accessed May 1, 2008 [http://ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs4.asp?DocName=002008010HArt%2E+1&ActID=274&ChapAct=20%26nbsp%3BILCS%26nbsp%3B801%2F&ChapterID=5&ChapterName=EXECUTIVE+BRANCH&SectionID=4611&SeqStart=100&SeqEnd=1000&ActName=Department+of+Natural+Resources+Act%2E] ]

External links

* [http://www.museum.state.il.us/ Illinois State Museum]

References