In addition to the zoological displays, the permanent collection includes works of visual art (many by Northeastern Pennsylvanian artists), ethnological artifacts, and fossils.

His goal was to create an institution that would “educate and delight for generations to come.” Following military service as a surgeon during the Civil War, Dr. Everhart conceived the idea of assembling a comprehensive collection of Pennsylvania's native birds and animals.

Everhart general museum to be built in Nay Aug Park in the City of Scranton, Pennsylvania," and that additional funds were to be used for an endowment to support such an institution.

Dr. Everhart continued to collect specimens and three years after his will was prepared recognized the need to build the museum during his lifetime.

In 1907 he publicly announced that he would provide funds and guidance for the creation of a museum "for the young and old of this generation and for all of those who follow after ... for their pleasure and education."

Plans in the "modern Renaissance" style were made by Scranton architects Harvey J. Blackwood and John Nelson.

During the 1980s the entire upper floor of the museum was renovated to accommodate the permanent collections and to create a suite of temporary exhibition galleries.

The Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, questioned the efficiency of the County Judges as trustees for a public, non-profit institution.

Protocol precluded the judges from raising money from private parties and over the years various auxiliary groups helped in an assortment of ways to bring funding to the Everhart by holding a variety of events.

The PCA, as a major funder for the Everhart, anticipated that they could no longer guarantee continued support without the museum helping themselves through other funding channels.

The PCA encouraged Mr. Lettieri to investigate the possibility of amending the will of Dr. Everhart in order to form a community board of directors.

At the end of the two-year period, board member Robert Munley and his firm drafted the necessary documents to be presented the Orphans Court of Lackawanna County for the amending of Dr. Everhart's will.

In a controversy that aroused national attention in museum circles, in the mainstream press and among certain members of the general public,[4] the Everhart tried several times during the 1990s and early 2000s to sell their lone Matisse painting Pink Shrimps.

Later, a deal was struck with a private buyer for a net amount of $1 million which was placed in a separate endowment fund for acquisitions and exhibitions.

"[citation needed] On November 17, 2005, two works, a Jackson Pollock painting and pop artist Andy Warhol's 1984 Le Grande Passion, were stolen in a robbery involving ladders and a careful plan of attack.

The remaining half of the collection is focused on natural science specimens, including fossils, birds, mammals, reptiles, fish, minerals, insects, shells and herbaria.

In 1913, Alfred Twining, the Associate Editor of the Scranton Times and foremost botanist in the region, donated his Herbarium to the museum that comprises 2100 specimens.

It was in 1934 that Mr. and Mrs. John Law Robertson lent significant pieces of American Folk Art for an exhibition at the Everhart Museum.

The prestige of the factory was enhanced by its reputation for fine tableware that was sought after by eight American presidents, from Abraham Lincoln to Woodrow Wilson, and selected European royalty.