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Address:
265 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02139-4307
Opening Hours:
Tues-Fri, 10 am-5pm;
Sat-Sun, noon-5pm
Contact:
Mary Leen, Acting Director
mleen@mit.edu
Phone: 6172589116
Fax: 6172538994
Additional information:
There are two satellite galleries: Hart Nautical Gallery, 55 Massachusetts Ave., and Compton Gallery, for changing exhibitions, at 77 Massachusetts Ave.
Links:
MIT Museum
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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Description:
Mission: The MIT Museum’s mission is “To document, interpret and communicate to a diverse audience the activities and achievements of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the worldwide impact of its innovation, particularly in the fields of science and technology; and to enhance the spirit of community inside the Institute through the promotion of dialog both at MIT and between the Institute and the wider world.” The mission of the parent institution, MIT, is “To advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century.”
History & Collections: The MIT Museum was founded in 1971, originally as the MIT Historical Collections. Renamed MIT Museum in 1980 by the MIT Corporation Executive Committee, the Museum began to develop exhibits and educational programs designed to meet the needs and interests of the MIT community as well as the general public. The Museum’s collections consist of five major departments: Science and Technology, Architecture and Design, Hart Nautical Collections, Holography, and the MIT General Collection. The three curators, registrar & collections manager, and curatorial assistant oversee approximately one million items. They consist primarily of architectural and vessel plans, photographic/film media, print media, and archival records. They largely document electrical, mechanical, architectural, and marine engineering design and construction as well as general communication and engineering technology over the past 150 years—all areas in which MIT has made significant contributions nationally and globally—and chronicle education and research at MIT since its founding.
Further Reading:
"MIT Museum: Gems from the Museum," Technology Review, November 2004, pp. 6-10
Guide to the Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection, MIT Museum, 1997
Earth, Sea and Sky: Charles H. Woodbury, Artist and Teacher, 1864-1940, MIT Museum, 1988
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