What to do and see in Cambridge, Massachusetts (MA): The Best Specialty Museums

From towering Native American totem poles and large Maya sculptures to precious artifacts of the ancient world, the Peabody Museum is among the oldest archaeological and ethnographic museums in the world with one of the finest collections of human cultural history found anywhere. The Peabody Museum was founded in 1866 and is one of the oldest museums in the world devoted to anthropology, the study of ancient and contemporary peoples and cultures. The museum building adjoins the Harvard Museum of Natural History complex on the north side of the main Harvard campus. With 1.2 million objects, the Museum has one of the largest archaeological and ethnological collections in the world, including extensive archives of documents and historic photographs. The collections are heavily used by researchers, descendant communities, Harvard faculty and courses given by universities throughout the region. The museum also has an Education department that serves primary and secondary school students.

Originally called the "Museum of Vegetable Products" when it was founded in 1858, today this museum focuses on the study of useful plants and economic botany.

Since its inception in 1948, various Harvard departments and private benefactors have added material to the original nucleus of the Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments (CHSI), which now contains over 20,000 objects dating from about 1400 to the present. A broad range of scientific disciplines are represented, including astronomy, navigation, horology, surveying, geology, calculating, physics, biology, medicine, psychology, electricity, and communication. Significant instruments, made obsolete by new technologies, continue to be incorporated. Many of the documents detailing the purchase and use of the instruments have been preserved, and are available for research in the Collection's adjunct library.

PLEASE NOTE: The MIT Museum is closed until further notice as we monitor the rapidly changing concerns associated with COVID-19. Visit our website for updates and stay well! The MIT Museum presents temporary and permanent exhibitions at the nexus of art, science, and technology, as well as events, programs, and weekend demonstrations. People from around the world come to visit and learn about kinetic art, artificial intelligence, and original research that has shaped the world. FebFest and the Cambridge Science Festival fill winter and spring school vacation weeks, while the very fun "Friday After Thanksgiving" chain reaction event is held nearby at an MIT gymnasium, while produced by the Museum. The MIT Museum also has a science-themed store, and the galleries are available for small functions. Located in the Central Square Cultural District the MIT Museum is surrounded by unique restaurants, theaters, music venues and a renowned local ice cream store. Look for our yellow chairs!

The Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East explores the rich history of the region’s cultures. Exhibitions include a full-scale replica of an ancient Iron Age home, life-sized casts of famous Mesopotamian monuments, authentic mummy coffins, interactive displays, and tablets containing the earliest forms of writing. Like the artifacts it displays, the museum itself has a rich and nuanced history.