Springfield Museums

The Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum

The Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum, the newest museum on the Quad, is devoted to Springfield native Theodor Geisel, aka Dr. Seuss! The first floor features family friendly, interactive exhibits exploring Dr. Seuss’s Springfield roots and providing opportunities to experiment with new sounds and vocabulary, play rhyming games, and invent stories–all in line with Geisel’s revolutionary role in changing how we learn to read.

The second floor, curated by Geisel’s two step daughters and great nephew, recreates Geisel’s studio and living room (with the furniture and art materials he actually used) and features never before publicly displayed art, family photographs and letters, and the original Geisel Grove sign which used to hang in Forest Park.  You can even find Theophrastus, the toy stuffed dog Ted Geisel’s mother gave to him when he was a boy in Springfield.

Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden

More than 3 million people have visited the Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden at the Springfield Museums since it opened in 2002. The sculpture garden celebrates Theodor Seuss Geisel, aka Dr. Seuss, in the city in which he was born and raised. Following Geisel’s death in 1991, his wife, Audrey, authorized the Museums to create the memorial, and since that time, the sculpture garden has attracted crowds of Dr. Seuss fans to frolic alongside his beloved characters. Sculptor Lark Grey Dimond-Cates, who is also Geisel’s step-daughter, created the endearing bronze sculptures. A gallery devoted to the creation of the Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden is located on the second floor of the Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum, which opened fifteen years after the sculpture garden was installed.

Springfield Science Museum

The Springfield Science Museum, founded in 1859 in City Hall, officially opened in 1899 in a classical revival building, expanded in 1932 with an Art Deco addition, and expanded again in 1970 with the Tolman addition that included a public observatory. In 2004, the Welcome Center was added to the Science Museum to serve as the main entrance to the entire campus. The Science Museum houses permanent collections of Natural Science, Anthropology and Physical Science. The Science Museum’s Seymour Planetarium consists of the historic Korkosz Starball, now the oldest operating star-projector in the United States.

George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum

This art museum holds the eclectic collections of George Walter Vincent Smith (1832-1923) and his wife, Belle Townsley Smith (1845-1928) in an Italian palazzo-style building established in 1896. The vast holdingsinclude excellent examples of Japanese lacquer, arms and armor, ceramics and bronzes; one of the largest collections of Chinese cloisonné outside of Asia; Chinese jade and ceramics; and a superb collection of 19th-century Middle Eastern carpets. In addition, the collection contains significant American 19th-century paintings (especially landscape and genre), Italian 19th-century watercolors, a fine assembly of Greek and Roman antiquities, a rare plaster cast collection, objects created for 19th-century International Expositions and examples of lace and early textiles.

Michele and Donald D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts

The Michele and Donald D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts, established in 1933 and housed in an Art Deco style building, includes a comprehensive collection of American, Asian and European paintings, prints, watercolors and sculpture and representative examples of drawing, furniture, metalwork, textiles, glass, and ceramics. The Museum houses a comprehensive collection of European Art (French, Dutch, and Italian) and the Currier & Ives (active 1834-1907) Collection is the largest holdings of lithographs in the nation.

Lyman and Merrie Wood Museum of Springfield History

The Lyman and Merrie Wood Museum of Springfield History is known for its local history research facilities, its comprehensive program of changing exhibitions, its diverse educational offerings, and it’s wide-ranging collections illuminating the history of the Connecticut River Valley.

The Indian Motorcycle Collection is the largest collection of Indian cycles and memorabilia in the world. The Firearms Collection includes more than 1,600 firearms, with the largest collection of Smith & Wesson guns in the world. The Automobile Collection includes an 1899 Knox, a 1901 Crestmobile, a 1925 Rolls-Royce roadster, and a 1928 Rolls-Royce roadster.