A request to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., for some specimens to support academic disciplines at the new university resulted in the first recorded donation, consisting of minerals, sea invertebrates, fish, and plants.

While objects of a scientific nature are no longer a part of the museum, the MMAC's Permanent Collection has grown to include close to 11,000 works of art and cultural artifacts.

In 1912, the museum space was abandoned altogether to make way for a Law Library and the collections remained dormant until the conclusion of World War I.

As the original several hundred minerals and objects from the sea became a teaching collection for the sciences, the museum's holdings expanded to include a vast treasury of fine art, sculpture, ceramics, textiles, furniture, and other important works from various cultures, countries, and periods.

A pivotal moment came in 1948 with the receipt of two significant donations of fine art by collector Stella Louise Duncan and Montana artist Fra Dana.