BROOKLYN CHILDREN'S MUSEUM

educational institution in Brooklyn, N.Y., established in 1899 as the world's first children's museum. The museum was originally a part of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, founded in 1823. In 1977 the Children's Museum opened in a building in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, after nearly seven decades of operation in two Victorian mansions. The museum's more than 50,000 cultural artifacts and natural history specimens combine with a system of permanent exhibits to advance its educational purposes. It is strong in cultural history, natural history, and technology.