However the idea of a language museum did not gain hold until 1985, when the linguists from the NSA exhibition met again to discuss the possibility.

The linguists were unable to establish exhibits at that time, but an organizing committee was formed and a board of directors were elected in 1997.

In 2011, it displayed Bibles and liturgical manuscripts on loan from the Alphabet Museum in Waxhaw, North Carolina.

Among its current online features are a Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE) virtual exhibit,[8] and the Greek language Philogelos comic strip.

The NML owns the world's only International Flag of Language,[9] the result of a contest sponsored by the museum in 2008.