The University of Arkansas Museum traces its beginnings to an early geology teaching collection, which is documented to 1873. From a modest beginning, the collections grew to more than 7.5 million of objects encapsulating the fields of archeology, ethnology, history, geology, and zoology. The museum continues to accept curator-approved donations that enhance existing collections.
Photo credit: U of A Libraries, Special Collections
Collections today are housed in a climate-controlled facility on Hatch Avenue off of Garland Avenue. The museum, now a part of Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, exhibits items in loaned spaces on campus and in the community. The museum’s database allows learners to access thousands of items online.
The museum’s original home was University Hall, now called Old Main. Museum exhibits were moved to Hotz Hall in 1981 and then to a building near the Arkansas Union now called the Faulkner Performing Arts Center.
From the first computer used on campus to a meteorite that fell near Fayetteville in 1934, the museum is home to millions of items that reflect earth’s diverse cultural and natural history. Regardless of its location, the museum provides endless opportunities for researchers, scholars and anyone who treasures the past.
Fulbright College Land Acknowledgement Statement
The University of Arkansas Museum is an administrative unit of the Fulbright College of Arts & Sciences.
“The Indigenous history of the land the University of Arkansas campus sits on goes back to time immemorial, and across that expanse of time, many successive groups have lived here and created sacred legacies in this area. Fulbright College acknowledges Indigenous peoples were forced to leave their ancestral lands, including the Osage, Caddo and Quapaw Nations with ties to Northwest Arkansas. We further recognize that a portion of the Trail of Tears runs through our campus, and that the Cherokee, Choctaw, Muscogee (Creek), Chickasaw and Seminole Nations passed through what is now Arkansas during this forced removal. We acknowledge all Indigenous teachers, researchers and all other residents in our community and region today. We proudly offer Indigenous Studies in our college and seek continuity and connection to the past as we look to the future with increased collaboration with Indigenous governments and entities.”
Statement of Acknowledgement and Commitment to Indigenous Peoples
The University of Arkansas Museum acknowledges all Indigenous cultural materials held within the collections, which represent those with ancestral lands in Arkansas, over 70 other Native American groups across the United States, and multiple communities around the world. We recognize that our institution has contributed to a long and complex history of colonialism in museums through the collection of certain sensitive cultural materials and burial remains, sometimes acquired from unethical sources by today’s standards. Starting in 1990, in accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, we began efforts to repatriate these materials back to the tribal entities in which they truly belong. These efforts continue today. We are committed to ongoing transparency and acknowledgement of our past to further progress in decolonizing the Museum and making it a space sincerely for all.
Approved March 2022