Initially housed in the First Executive Mansion on Ashmun Street of the city which is now used as a library, it was established by an Act of the National Legislature in 1958 under the administration of Liberia's 18th President, Dr William V.S.

Partly funded by UNESCO,[1] in coordination with the Department of Public instructions (what is now the Liberian Ministry of Education), its primary goal was to obtain, preserve and display cultural artefacts and other historical items which depict the country's heritage.

In 1981 this detached to form the National Bureau of Culture & Tourism of which the museum operated under through much of the 1980s until June 1987 when it was dissolved and returned to the control of the Department of Information.

[2] The museum is classified in three tiers, where on the ground floor there is a histographical gallery containing presidential papers, private documents and memoirs of past important executives of the Liberian government and photographs and cartographical resources related to its culture.

[2] Other museum facilities include a portable video system, editing and archival materials, cassette recordings and slides of visual and oral arts many of which offer an insight into Liberian cultures such as dance and the use of masks in the country.