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In 1911, the University of Illinois Board of Trustees approved
the establishment of two new institutions: a Classical Museum and
a European Culture Museum. In 1917, a third institution was added,
The Oriental and Archaeology Museum. All three were located on the
fourth floor of Lincoln Hall, on the west side of the University
Quadrangle.
Each of the original directors, Dr. Neil Brooks (European), Dr.
Arthur Pease (Classical), and Dr. Albert Olmstead (Oriental) was
concerned with acquiring the best possible collections for his museum,
both for historical significance and educational use. It was during
these first years that important pieces in today's collections,
such as a leaf of the Gutenberg Bible and twenty-nine papyri fragments
from the ancient Greek colony of Oxyrhynchus, were acquired. However,
even in the early days of these institutions there was talk about
the need to construct a new building to make the artifacts more
accessible to the public.
In 1929, the Classical and Oriental Museums were combined, to
be joined by the European Museum in 1954. From this solid base,
the museum began to broaden its interests to areas not previously
covered in the collections. Contemporary and non-Western artifacts
were added to the ledgers alongside Greek statues and suits of armor.
One of the first areas of development was in pieces from sub-Saharan
Africa. By 1971, this multicultural focus was reflected in a new
name, the World Heritage Museum.
With the growth of the collections came a change in the look of
the galleries. During the 1980s and 90s the exhibits on the ancient
and Medieval world were completely redesigned and joined by new
permanent exhibits: "An African Encounter" and "Beyond the Himalayas."
Temporary exhibits like "The Carozzis on the Road" and "People of
the Book" greatly increased visitation. The new exhibits inspired
continued donations of important artifacts.
Talk of a new building, where the museum's collections could be
more accessible to the public, again came to the fore. In 1990,
the generous donation of William and Clarice Spurlock made the planning
of a new, state-of-the-art facility a reality. Since their gift,
many other friends of the museum have given generously to assure
that the Spurlock Museum is everything that the original directors
had envisioned... and much, much more.
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