The Odditorium
The Odditorium was a signature gallery experience at the Museum of History that invited visitors to explore the unexpected side of the museum’s collection. Designed like a traditional curiosity cabinet, it brought together unusual and often surprising artifacts that highlighted the diversity of history and collecting.
Objects on display ranged widely in time and purpose, from a 18th–19th century agricultural yoke used to harness draft animals, to a replica death mask of William Shakespeare created in the 19th century, reflecting historical practices of preserving likenesses after death. Natural history also played a role, including a loggerhead sea turtle shell, representing one of the ocean’s most recognizable species and its long coastal presence.
Rather than telling a single story, The Odditorium encouraged visitors to look closely, ask questions, and find meaning in the strange, the rare, and the overlooked pieces of history.