[1] The society continued to expand its areas of study and its membership, eventually establishing commissions in several cities.

The Soviet era also saw the museum move several times, first to a former bishop's residence in 1920, then a former haberdashery factory in 1931, then to the hostel of a former medical institute in 1941.

However, the museum was gradually granted properties including mothballed buildings and grounds formerly belonging to the church.

The institution survived the dissolution of the Soviet Union and thrived in the Russian Federation, collaborating with the State Historical Museum in Moscow to host a major exhibition on Perm in 2000.

The museum acquired a number of archeological and cultural artifacts (some donated by prominent locals), as well as an extensive collection of fossils and bones.