About the Collection

This online portal allows visitors to view and learn about items from our permanent collections. Like any collection, we are working with inconsistent legacy data and a backlog of items. Because of this, the data and information on this portal is being consistently updated and improved. Due to copyright issues and the size of our collection, not all our collections are currently available for online access. If you are looking for something that you can’t find here, please contact the NHM Collections & Archives Department.

At its heart, the National Hellenic Museum is dedicated to holding significant memories of the Greek American experience and Hellenic legacy. We use stories to teach about who we are as a community through these preserved artifacts. The NHM Collections & Archives have a significant place at the center of our past, present, and future.

The National Hellenic Museum accepted the first artifact into its Collections in 1993 – a dowry cedar chest that is currently on display in the core exhibition, The Greek Story in America. Since then, the NHM Collections have grown to include more than 10,000 artifacts, over 100 archival collections, more than 450 oral history interviews and an extensive reference library with a significant holding of Greek American newspapers. The bulk of the museum’s holdings date from 1890 – today.

The NHM Collections & Archives represent the Greek experience in America by preserving the items and artifacts that the Greek American community has carried with them, saved, treasured and eventually donated into our custody. Our job as a museum is to care for every item in our Collections, providing storage, preservation when possible, and permitting appropriate access to Museum archives for researchers and educators.