Please Touch : A History of the First Four Children's Museums in the United States (1899-1965)

The Innovation and influence of the first children’s museums in the US When it opened in 1899, the Brooklyn Children’s Museum greeted visitors with a new experience.Rather than carefully ensconcing artifacts and curios behind protective glass, the staff took the unusual step of moving the objects out of their cases and into the hands of the children, inviting them to “please touch.” Born out of the reformist spirit of the Progressive Era, the museum represented a new kind of institution, one whose primary purpose was not to collect, preserve, and display objects but rather to educate a specific audience.Over the next twenty-five years, three other children’s museums opened with a similar mission and approach: the Boston Children’s Museum (1913), the Detroit Children’s Museum (1917), and The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis (1925). At a time when most museums were led by men, women played a critical role in overseeing this first wave of children’s museums.As the number of children’s mu