Kingman Museum, Inc. is southwest Michigan's only natural history museum. What began as a small collection donated by explorer Edward Brigham, Sr. in the late nineteenth century expanded into America's first public school run museum. Brigham became the Public School Museum's first director in 1906. In the early 1920s, Brigham convinced Emma C. Kingman to donate $35,000 for the construction of a new museum to be built on Leila Arboretum, an 80-acre stretch of land donated to the city of Battle Creek by Leila Post Montgomery. The newly named Kingman Museum opened to the public in 1933. Edward Brigham, Jr. succeeded his father as director in the 1950s and continued adding to the collections and expanding the museum. In 2003, the museum reopened as a not for profit organization under a board of directors made up of dedicated Battle Creek citizens. Kingman Museum continues to serve the Battle Creek community and strives to promote science education and the love of learning. Public hours are noon to 4:00 p.m. Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. The museum is closed Sundays and Mondays and open from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday for office hours and pre-scheduled groups or special events.