Higgins Armory Museum

2025-04-28T03:00:25Z

2600:4040:5AB6:F500:F1FD:579A:5839:F080: removed self-referential link

{{Infobox museum
| name = Higgins Armory Museum collection
| native_name =
| native_name_lang =
| image = Complete Armor for Combat, North Italian, last quarter of 16th century - Worcester Art Museum - IMG 7707.JPG
| imagesize = 200
| caption = Complete Armor for Combat, North Italian, last quarter of 16th century
| alt = Armor of the Higgins Armory
| established = {{Start date|1931|1|12|df=y}}
| dissolved =
| coordinates =
| location = [[Worcester Art Museum]], [[Worcester, Massachusetts]], [[United States|USA]]
| type = [[Weapon|arms]] and [[armor]] museum
| accreditation =
| key_holdings = 24 full suits of armor<ref name=BGKnight>{{cite news|title=Knight Moves|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/magazine/2013/12/01/worcester-higgins-armory-museum-the-final-days/N8geBnfY7t0L799df4hlXL/igraphic.html|accessdate=24 December 2013|newspaper=The Boston Globe|date=December 1, 2013}}</ref>
| collections =
| collection_size = 2,000 objects<ref name=BGKnight />
| visitors =
| director =
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| car_park =
| website =
}}

The '''Higgins Armory Museum''' is a collection in the [[Worcester Art Museum]]. It was formerly a separate museum located in the nearby Higgins Armory Building in [[Worcester, Massachusetts|Worcester]], [[Massachusetts]], dedicated to the display of [[Weapon|arms]] and [[armor]]. It was "the only museum in the country devoted solely to arms and armor"<ref name=BGHigginsClose>{{cite news|last=Edgers|first=Geoff|title=Higgins Armory Museum to close|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/2013/03/08/higgins-armory-museum-close-arms-and-armor-worcester-art-museum/3Y4p45OpkfMrQxSGmlP3NP/story.html|accessdate=31 July 2013|newspaper=The Boston Globe|date=March 8, 2013}}</ref> and had the second largest arms and armor collection in the country from its founding in 1931 until 2004, behind the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] in [[New York City]]. The collection consists of 2,000 objects, including 24 full suits of armor. The museum closed at the end of 2013 due to a lack of funding. Its collection and endowment were transferred and integrated into the Worcester Art Museum, with the collection on show in its own gallery. The former museum building was sold in December 2014 and now serves as a local events venue.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Worcester Magazine|title=Higgins Armory building in Worcester sold to New Hampshire man|url=http://worcestermag.com/2014/12/27/higgins-armory-building-worcester-sold-new-hampshire-man/30100|accessdate=22 January 2015|date=27 December 2014}}</ref>

==History==
[[John Woodman Higgins]] was a prominent industrialist in Worcester, Massachusetts who owned the Worcester Pressed Steel Company. He traveled to Europe multiple times throughout the 1920s where he collected arms, armor, and other steel items.<ref name=BGHigginsClose /> One of his most important purchases was eight full suits of armor from the collection of [[George Jay Gould]] in 1927.<ref name=Duckett>{{cite web|last=Duckett|first=Richard|title=Higgins Armory Museum to close after 82 years|url=http://www.telegram.com/article/20130308/NEWS/303089911/1116|publisher=[[Worcester Telegram and Gazette]]|accessdate=8 March 2013|date=8 March 2013}}</ref> Originally, he stored these items in his house, which quickly filled with anything that he could find made of steel, from suits of armor to automatic shoe polishers.<ref name=Roadside>{{cite news|title=Higgins Armory Museum (Gone)|url=http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/12326|accessdate=24 December 2013|website=Roadside America|date=December 1, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211017115817/http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/12326 |archive-date=2021-10-17}}</ref> Higgins incorporated his collection as a museum in 1928;<ref name=Duckett /> the collection grew larger than his house could hold, so he began construction on a steel and glass museum building next to his factory in 1929.<ref name=BGHigginsClose /><ref name=Roadside />

"The Museum of Steel and Glass" opened on January 12, 1931<ref name=Duckett /> with a grand gala. Music was played by members of the [[Boston Symphony Orchestra]] and Higgins' sons dressed in suits of armor.<ref name=MuseumFocus>{{cite journal |last=Truman |first=Malory |title=Museum Focus: Higgins Armory Museum |url=http://www.antiquesandfineart.com/articles/article.cfm?request=230 |journal=[[Antiques and Fine Art Magazine]] |accessdate=26 December 2013 }}</ref> In its original layout, the museum displayed a wide variety of objects constructed of steel including "medieval weaponry, automobile parts, and even ... an [[Piper Cub|all-steel airplane]] suspended from its ceiling."<ref name=Roadside /><ref name=MuseumFocus /> Admission to the museum began with a walk through the armor exhibits and ended with a tour through the [[production lines]] to see modern steel manufacturing.<ref name=Roadside /> The production floor was accessed through catwalks connecting the factory and the armory. Higgins invited visitors to the museum across these catwalks, and he also invited his workers to visit the museum on breaks to get inspired.<ref name=NEPR>Silk, Tema. [http://www.nepr.net/news/whats-next-worcesters-higgins-armory-museum What's Next for Worcester's Higgins Armory Museum?]. [[New England Public Radio]]. 13 December 2013. Retrieved December, 26, 2013.</ref> Higgins died in 1961, leaving the museum a {{US$|17,000}} endowment.<ref name=BGHigginsClose />

==Collection in Worcester Art Museum==
The collection today is spread throughout the museum by time period, uniting period armor with artworks depicting armor, such as paintings and sculpture. Each first Saturday of the month demonstrations of armor in various fighting styles from the collection are given, to enable visitors to better place the artifacts in historic context. The museum continues the collection's educational programs on medieval history and arms and armor, ranging from school workshops and teacher education to scholarly lectures. The Olive Higgins Prouty Research Library, founded in 1997 with an initial collection of "several thousand books on arms and armor" also remains in the collection.<ref name=Duckett />

The Higgins Armory [https://web.archive.org/web/20130305145616/http://www.higgins.org/academy-sword was a major center] of study for [[Western martial arts]]. Scholars associated with the museum such as curator [[Jeffrey Forgeng]], William Short, and Ken Mondschein produced monographs and translations, gave papers and sponsored sessions at scholarly conferences, and lectured and demonstrated both in the US and Europe. The Higgins Armory Sword Guild was a study group founded in part by [[Patri J. Pugliese]] that conducted research into Western martial arts and demonstrated at the museum and in the community. The former museum also held historical fencing and martial arts classes.<ref>{{cite web|title=Higgins Armory Academy of the Sword |url=http://www.higgins.org/academy-sword |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130305145616/http://www.higgins.org/academy-sword |archive-date=March 5, 2013 }}</ref>

The collection consists of 2,000 objects, making it the second largest arms and armor collection in the country behind the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] in [[New York City]]. The collection includes 24 full suits of armor, a [[gladiator]] helmet, and "Helmutt," a dog mannequin dressed in reproduction [[boarhound]] armor. The oldest object in the collection is an Eastern Mediterranean dagger from between 3000 and 1500 B.C.<ref name=BGKnight />

The collection includes gladiator and Corinthian helmets, gauntlets from the [[Renaissance]] period, and the helmet of a 19th-century French [[cuirassier]]. There are also pieces that depict the courtly life: helmets for [[jousting]] tournaments, a [[crossbow]] for hunting, a ceremonial [[gorget]], and an anvil that was used to manufacture such pieces.

There are knives and axes from [[Africa]], bow case covers from ancient [[Islam]], a horned ''kulah khud'' (helmet) from [[India]], and [[samurai]] armor from [[Japan]], among others. The collection also includes examples of armor for dogs and horses. There are also full-scale models of [[jousts]] and foot tourneys.

<gallery>
File:Maximilian field armor with visor for ceremony and tournament, south Germany, 1510-1520 - Higgins Armory Museum - DSC05651.JPG|alt=Full suit of armor|Maximilian field armor with visor for ceremony and tournament, south Germany, 1510-1520
File:Conch helmet - Higgins Armory Museum - DSC05525.JPG|alt=Helmet in the shape of a conch shell|Helmet embossed in the form of a [[conch shell]] (awabi uchidashi kabuto), Japan, 1618. Made by Nagasone Tojiro Mitsumasa; signed "Echizen no kuni ju Mitsumasa; Nagasone Tojiro saku"
File:Spetum (folding), Italy, c. 1550 - Higgins Armory Museum - DSC05682.JPG|alt=Arge folding Spetum|Folding [[spetum]], Italy, c. 1550; once owned by the Rothschild family.
File:Smallsword by Josiah Wedgwood - Higgins Armory Museum - DSC05629.JPG|alt=silver hilt of a smallsword.|[[Smallsword]] c. 1790 by [[Josiah Wedgwood]] and perhaps [[Matthew Boulton]]
File:Carabinier armor, France, 1863-1865 - Higgins Armory Museum - DSC05702.JPG|alt=Gold colored breastplate and helmet|[[Carabinier]] armor, France, 1863-1865
File:Mail coat, probably Ottoman Turkey, perhaps 1550-1650 - Higgins Armory Museum - DSC05562.JPG|alt=Chainmail shirt|[[Mail (armour)|Mail coat]], probably Ottoman Turkey, perhaps 1550-1650; the word "[[Allah]]" is embossed on each link
File:Reproduction field armor of Archduke Siegmund of Austria 1485 (reproduction 1911-19) with armor for boar hound, German style 16th century, reproduction US 1942 - Higgins Armory Museum - DSC05439.JPG|alt= A full set of armor and a manikin of a dog in armor.|Reproduction field armor of Archduke Siegmund of Austria 1485 (reproduction 1911-19) with armor for boar hound, German style 16th century, reproduction US 1942. The dog is Higgin's mascot "Helmutt"
</gallery>

==In popular media==
[[Norman Rockwell]] drew an imagined scene in the Higgins armory museum entitled ''Midnight Snack'' for the November 3, 1962 cover of [[The Saturday Evening Post]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2012/01/13/art-entertainment/rockwell-60s-part-ii.html |title=Rockwell in the 1960s – Part II |last1=Denny |first1=Diana |website=[[The Saturday Evening Post]] online |accessdate=26 December 2013}}</ref>

Higgins Armory Museum has been featured on the [[History (U.S. TV channel)|History Channel]] on multiple occasions, including a special DVD extra that focused solely on the museum.

In April 2011, the TV show ''Ghost Hunters'' filmed an episode at the museum to see if the ghost of Mr. Higgins haunted the building.<ref name=Duckett />

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Higgins Armory Museum}}
* [http://www.higgins.org/Calendar/acadsword.shtml Classical fencing and historical swordsmanship classes at the Higgins]
* {{HABS |survey=MA-1236 |id=ma1383 |title=Higgins Armory, 100 Barber Avenue, Worcester, Worcester County, MA |photos=16 |color=3 |data=1 |cap=2}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Armour collections]]
[[Category:Defunct museums in Massachusetts]]

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Higgins Armory Museum