- Illinois State Museum
Infobox Museum
name= Illinois State Museum
imagesize= 300x250
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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=
publictransit=
website= [http://www.museum.state.il.us/ Illinois State Museum] The Illinois State Museum is the officialmuseum of thenatural history of theU.S. state ofIllinois . The headquarters museum is located on Spring and Edwards Streets, one block southwest of theIllinois State Capitol , in Springfield, the state capital. There are satellite museums in Chicago,Dickson Mounds , Lockport, andRend 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 theanthropology of the Native Americans of theIllinois 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 newIllinois 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 theIllinois 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 andflora , 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
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