In 1912, the museum expanded its focus to include archaeology through the acquisition of artifacts produced by Native Americans in the region.

These artifacts dated from the prehistoric and historic periods as well as from New Jersey's populations during the Colonial and post-colonial eras.

In 1922, the museum was one of the first on the east coast to exhibit, as art, a collection of objects from Native Americans of North America.

The State Museum has collected over 12,000 works of art including paintings, prints, drawings, sculpture, and photographs.

Sub-collections include pinned insects, fluid-preserved fauna, taxidermy mounts, and glass lantern slides.

School groups attend museum-based classes, workshops, exhibition tours, and planetarium programs, as well as access classroom resources such as curriculum guides.

Exhibits include displays of constellations, Solar System models, and space exploration experiences.

The planetarium presents public shows on weekends, during school vacation periods (spring and winter), and during the summer.