Exhibits
Discover Idaho’s story through exhibits across the Idaho State Museum, Old Idaho Penitentiary, Idaho State Archives, and the Idaho State Capitol—ranging from permanent galleries to rotating, online, and traveling displays drawn from extensive statewide collections. At the Museum, explore core galleries like Origins and Idaho: The Land & Its People alongside fresh features in the Syringa and Treasures rotating spaces. The Old Idaho Penitentiary interprets incarceration history through exhibitions such as Disturbing Justice, Faces of the Idaho State Penitentiary, and the J. Curtis Earl Memorial Exhibit. The Archives highlight A. Lincoln: His Legacy in Idaho and regularly curated temporary shows, while the Capitol showcases Governing Idaho, Winged Victory, the Washington equestrian statue, and historic portraits. You can also browse online offerings like the Digital Textile Collection, with new traveling and virtual exhibits added periodically—part of a unique collection that embodies the story of Idaho.
Contact
(208) 334-2682
The Idaho State Museum offers 80,000 square feet of exhibits with over 500 artifacts and immersive technology that share the story of Idaho’s land and people. From northern lakes and forests to southern deserts and canyons, visitors explore how the state and its people have shaped one another over time. The Museum also features two rotating galleries, Syringa and Treasures, which showcase additional artifacts and national exhibits.
Origins
The Origins gallery introduces you to Idaho’s five federally recognized tribes. The tribal theater illuminates each tribe’s Origin Story, while the rest of the gallery identifies tribal roles in contemporary land stewardship and provides an introduction to the diverse landscapes throughout Idaho.
Idaho: The Land and its People
- Lakes and Forests: North Idaho
- Learn the rich history of mining, forestry, and transportation and how some of Idaho’s natural resources are used around the world today. Watch a spark turn into the blaze that became the Big Burn of 1910, and how this historic fire continues to influence forest management today.
- Mountains and Rivers: Central Idaho
- Central Idaho’s mountains are a recreational paradise.
- Experience what it’s like to ride a chairlift up Mt. Baldy, or sit around a campfire where you’ll learn about the first group to urge protections for our wilderness areas.
- Deserts and Canyons: South Idaho
- Discover the hard road travelers faced on the Oregon Trail, the challenges of developing agriculture in the desert, and Idaho’s atomic past and high-tech future. Take a virtual bike ride through historic Pocatello or downtown Boise.
History Explorers Gallery
The History Explorer Galleries encourage exploration into the process of doing history, connecting your story to the inspiring stories of Idahoans, and placing yourself in variety of professions.
- Boomtown
- Children of all ages will enjoy hands-on experiences based on early professions and trades in Idaho. You’ll also want to visit Deja Moo, the famous two-headed calf in the Penny Arcade!
- History Lab
- Have fun learning how to do history through activities you may encounter in your own life, such as organizing family photos or building a new home using historic architectural styles.
- Stories from Idaho
- Connect with the personal stories of Idahoans spanning our state’s history. Take a personality quiz to discover connections you may have with Idahoans
you learn about.
- Connect with the personal stories of Idahoans spanning our state’s history. Take a personality quiz to discover connections you may have with Idahoans
Syringa Gallery
Sagebrush & Brushstrokes
Open: May 17, 2025 to January 4, 2026
Explore historic Gem State landscapes from the Idaho State Historical Society collection in Sagebrush & Brushstrokes. From John Henry Hill to Archie Boyd Teater, Emma Edwards Green to Cecil Smith, meet a selection of artists who have found inspiration in Idaho’s terrain. Their work brings you on a journey through our state’s natural beauty and history.
Treasures Gallery
Hidden in Plain Sight
Open: July 19, 2025, to January 4, 2026
In the late 1800s and early 1900s, a tightknit group of immigrants left their homeland in the Basque Country to seek opportunity in America. Unified by the distinct and ancient language of Euskara, many made their home in Idaho. The Gem State now boasts one of the largest Basque communities outside of the Basque Country.
Created in partnership with the Basque Museum and Cultural Center, discover the history of this remarkable culture through the Idaho State Museum’s new exhibit, Hidden in Plain Sight. Explore the impact of Idaho’s Basque community just in time for the return of the Jaialdi festival!
This curated selection of clothing and accessories reveals how culture, individual values, technology, and function combine to create fashions that help to visually define our lives. Using multiple levels of detailed photography and 3D modeling, this catalog makes viewing delicate textiles possible in ways not usually accessible to the public.
The Old Idaho Penitentiary features nearly a dozen exhibits across its historic buildings, exploring daily life, young offenders, architecture, and the evolving system of incarceration. These exhibits highlight the human experiences of residents, employees, and the broader history of Idaho’s prison system. Visitors can also explore the J. Curtis Earl Weapons Exhibit, showcasing arms and armaments from the Bronze Age to the Vietnam War. This world-class display, included with admission, highlights global military technology and history but is not directly related to the penitentiary’s story.
Disturbing Justice
Discover the stories and circumstances behind the major riots and disturbances at the Idaho State Penitentiary through new, locally designed graphic novel style artwork. Featuring over 60 illustrations and thought-provoking questions that ask visitors to consider how these events shaped the current state of corrections in Idaho, guests will decide whether those involved were disturbing justice, or if the justice system itself can be disturbing.
With generous support from the Boise City Department of Arts & History, and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Faces of the Idaho State Penitentiary
Explore the untold and often overlooked stories of people of color, different religions, various ethnic backgrounds, and more. While the Idaho State Penitentiary population was predominately white men, diversity has always existed in Idaho. We hope to demonstrate that everyone who visits will be able to see a part of their own past in this exhibit.
Highlights of “Faces” include inmates from each of the 50 states, inmates from 45 different countries, as well as the history of religious persecution and other discrimination in Idaho.
With generous support from the Idaho Humanities Council.
J. Curtis Earl Weapons & Armaments Memorial Exhibit
Open daily until 4:30pm.
Prepare to be amazed as you visit one of the nation’s largest collections of historic arms and military memorabilia at the J. Curtis Earl Memorial Exhibit: Arms and Armament through the Ages, located in the Old Idaho Penitentiary. The wide-ranging collection and dramatic settings illustrate the development of weapons throughout history. Visitors can walk through a World War I trench and begin to understand the difficulties soldiers faced during that conflict or they can experience the drama of an American GI sneaking up on German soldiers in a bombed-out European house. The collection includes ancient Luristan bronzes, medieval arms and armor, Revolutionary War firearms and swords, Civil War artifacts, and an 1883 Gatling gun on its original carriage. Pistols, rifles, machine guns, mortars, and cannons from many of the countries involved in World Wars I and II are also featured.
J. Curtis Earl dedicated the exhibit to “the memory of all those who served and fought, and especially those who paid the supreme sacrifice, in the defense of our great country in order to preserve our freedom and ideals as a free people.” Mr. Earl hoped his collection would encourage “kids both young and old whose insatiable curiosity and interest in ‘stuff’ and ‘things’ of God’s creation and man’s ingenuity will be an inspiration to collect, keep and preserve certain and varied special treasures for posterity.” He worked closely with Idaho State Historical Society staff members to ensure his gift would be of great educational benefit to the people of Idaho.
Women’s Ward
Between 1887 and 1968, the Idaho State Penitentiary housed 214 women incarcerated for Idaho crimes. Before 1905, the penitentiary kept female inmates in a cell house inside the main prison yard. The 1920 Women’s Ward, located outside the Old Idaho Penitentiary entrance, features a new exhibit chronicling the lives and crimes of Idaho women who found themselves at odds with the law. Discover scandalous stories and escape attempts, and learn about daily life for female inmates.
The temporary exhibition space and A. Lincoln: His Legacy in Idaho exhibit is located in the Merle W. Wells Research Center at the Idaho State Archives. The exhibits in this space are curated and assembled by Archives staff to showcase the unique materials within our collections and educate visitors on various topics. The temporary exhibit space is rotated approximately three times a year, with each display in place for about three months. To encourage further research on the selected topics, Archives staff also assemble a collection of related readings available in the research center.
Abraham Lincoln: His Legacy in Idaho exhibition at the Idaho State Archives features over 200 artifacts and documents that reveal the intriguing and significant connections between the 16th president and the 43rd state.
Creating & Conserving the Constitution
This exhibit is currently unavailable.
Research Center Temporary Gallery
The Idaho State Archives presents an immaculate collection of original hand-drawn sketches, presentation drawings, elevations, and photographs detailing a number of projects produced by the Hummel Architectural Firm and it’s historical partnership, Tourtellotte & Hummel. The collection has been recently acquired by the Idaho State Historical Society.
Visit the Research Center Tuesday through Saturday, 11 am to 4 pm for the next several months to see the history the Archives collects and preserves for future families to enjoy.
The Capitol Curation Program is the product of a partnership between the Idaho State Historical Society (ISHS) and Idaho Capitol Commission. The Capitol Curator preserves and promotes the historic character of Idaho’s statehouse and manages a collection of over 1,000 artifacts and historic furnishings connected to the Idaho State Capitol. Through permanent and temporary exhibits within the capitol, the program provides context for this iconic monument and the place of government in the lives of Idahoans.
Governing Idaho: How People and Policy Shape Our State
Governing Idaho: How People and Policy Shape Our State, located in the Garden Level Rotunda, is the Idaho State Capitol’s signature permanent exhibit. In 2011, the project won the American Association of State and Local History Award of Merit. Learn how the Idaho State Capitol came to be. Explore the history of state government with interactive challenges. Become inspired to actively participate in leadership and governance of the Gem State. Brochures accompanying the exhibit can be found in the Idaho State Capitol Gift Shop.
Winged Victory of Samothrace
Winged Victory of Samothrace was gifted to the state of Idaho by the people of France as part the Merci Boxcar Train following World War II. The statue is a magnificent replica of the Louvre’s 2,000-year-old marble masterpiece. Discover more about Winged Victory’s journey to Idaho and the Merci Boxcar Train at the 4th floor rotunda entrance to Statuary Hall.
The George Washington Equestrian Statue
The George Washington Equestrian Statue was presented to the Territory of Idaho by artist Charles Ostner in 1869. Learn about this Idaho pioneer and his iconic work at the 4th floor rotunda entrance to Statuary Hall.
The Lincoln Auditorium
The Lincoln Auditorium is a functional space within the capitol enriched by artifacts and ephemera connected to President Abraham Lincoln. Displays at the entrance and back of the auditorium were created in partnership with David Leroy to honor President Lincoln’s legacy in the Gem State.
Portraits of Idaho Governors and Legislators
Portraits of Idaho Governors and Legislators have been reproduced and displayed throughout the capitol. Governors’ portraits from 1890 to the present hang outside the 2nd floor entrance to the Governor’s Office. Legislative composite photographs can be viewed throughout the Garden Level East and West Wings, as well as the 3rd and 4th floors of the capitol.
Statuary Hall
Idaho’s Capitol building is truly the “People’s House.” Temporary galleries throughout the statehouse tell the story of the many ways Idahoans shape the Gem State.
Currently in Statuary Hall:
Check back soon for updates on upcoming exhibits at the Idaho State Capitol.