Many members of Puppeteers of America have a strong interest in collecting and preserving puppets of every variety. This list had its start in 2003 when Steve Abrams did extensive research finding museums, libraries and theatres with puppets in their collections. American Puppetry: Collections History and Performance, edited by Phyllis T. Dircks, Foreword by Steve Abrams, McFarland Publisher is an excellent resource for more detailed information on important puppetry collections.   Most puppets in museum collections are in storage. It is best to check a museum’s website, and then call to verify days and hours when a museum is open. To see a puppet collection it is best to contact a curator or keeper of collections several days before visiting a museum.

COLLECTIONS – more than 500 puppets

• American Museum of Natural History – NY, NY
• Aurora Valentinetti Puppet Museum – Bremerton, WA
• Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry University of Connecticut – Storrs, CT
• Bread & Puppet Theatre Museum – Glover, VT
• Gary Busk Collection-Carrollton, TX
• Center for Puppetry Arts – Atlanta, GA
• International Puppetry Museum – Pasadena, CA
• Detroit Children’s Museum – Detroit, MI
• Detroit Institute of Arts – Detroit, MI
• Harvard Theatre Collection – Cambridge, MA
• Museum of International Folk Art – Santa Fe, NM
• Northwest Puppet Center – Seattle, WA
• Pittsburgh Children’s Museum – Pittsburgh, PA
• UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History – Los Angeles, CA

COLLECTIONS – Natural History, Archeology, Anthropology, Ethnography, Folk Arts

• Bishop Museum – Honolulu, HI
• British Columbia Provincial Museum – Victoria, Canada
• Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture – Seattle, WA
• Chinese Temple – Oroville, CA
• The Field Museum – Chicago, IL
• Mingei International Museum – San Diego, CA
• Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia – Vancouver, Canada
• National Museum of the American Indian, George Gustav Heye Center-Smithsonian – NY, NY
• National Museum of African Art-Smithsonian – Washington, DC
• National Museum of Natural History-Smithsonian – Washington, DC
• Phoebe A Hearst Museum of Anthropology – Berkeley, CA
• Royal Ontario Museum – Toronto, Canada
• University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology & Anthropology – Philadelphia, PA

COLLECTIONS – Art Museums with collections from traditional cultures

• Asian Art Museum – San Francisco, CA
• Cleveland Museum of Art – Cleveland, OH
• Metropolitan Museum of Art – NY, NY
• Peabody Essex Museum – Salem, MA
• Seattle Asian Art Museum/ Seattle Art Museum – Seattle, WA

COLLECTIONS

• American Museum of the Moving Image – Queens, NY
• Boston Public Library-Dwiggins Collection – Boston, MA
• Brooklyn Historical Society – Brooklyn, NY
• Broward County Library-Bienes Center (WPA puppets) – Fort Lauderdale, FL
• Canadian Museum of Civilization – Hull Canada (Ottawa area)
• Charles H MacNider Art Museum – Bil Baird Collection-Mason City, IA
• Chicago Historical Society – Chicago, IL
• Chicago Institute of Art – Chicago, IL
• Children’s Museum of Utica – Utica, NY
• Circus World Museum – Baraboo, WI
• Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum – Smithsonian Institution-NY, NY
• Columbia University Rare Book and Manuscript Library-Brander Matthews – NY, NY
• Denver Museum of Nature and Science – Denver, CO
• Jim Henson Legacy – NY, NY
• Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden – Smithsonian-Washington, DC
• John Heinz History Center – Pittsburgh, PA
• Holland Museum – Holland, MI
• McGill University Library- Rosalynde Stearn Collection – Montreal, Canada
• Mercer Museum-Bucks County Historical Society – Doylestown, PA
• Michigan State University Museum, Special Collections (David Lano Puppets) – East Lansing, MI
• Museum of the City of New York – NY, NY
• Museum of Jewish Heritage – NY, NY
• Museum of Modern Art – NY, NY 
  
• Museum of Science and Industry – Chicago, IL
• Nantucket Historical Association – Nantucket, MA
• National Museum of American History – Smithsonian-Washington, DC
• Newark Museum – Newark, NJ
• Oakland Museum – Oakland, CA
• Principia College-School of Nations Museum – Elsah, IL
• Puppetry Arts Institute – Independence, MO
• Santa Barbara Museum of Art – Santa Barbara, CA
• Santa Fe Museum of Fine Arts-Gustave Baumann Collection – Santa Fe, NM
• Southern Illinois University – Edwardsville, IL
• University of California at Santa Cruz (Lou Harrison Collection) – Santa Cruz, CA
• University of Texas, Austin -Harry Ransom Center, Performing Arts Collection – Austin, TX
• Vent Haven Museum – Ft Mitchell, KY
• Whitman College – Walla Walla, WA
• Whitney Museum of American Art (Calder Circus) – NY, NY
• Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum-Rutgers University – New Brunswick, NJ

COLLECTIONS ASSOCIATED WITH THEATRES

• Bob Baker Marionette Theater – Los Angeles, CA
• Bob Kramer Marionette Theatre – St Louis, MO 
• Chinese Theatre Works – Jackson Heights, NY
• In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre – Minneapolis, MN
• Magic and Movie Hall of Fame – Las Vegas, NV
• Northwest Puppet Center – Seattle, WA
• Olde World Puppet Theatre – Portland, OR
• Open Hand Theatre – Syracuse, NY
• Puppet House Theater-(Sicilian) – Stony Creek, CT
• Puppet Showplace Theatre – Brookline, MA
• Puppet Works – Brooklyn, NY
• Puppetry Arts Center of the Palm Beaches – Delray Beach, FL

COLLECTIONS OF PUPPET VIDEOTAPES

• Puppeteers of America Audiovisual Library – Storrs, CT
• New York Public Library for the Performing Arts – NY, NY
• Paley Center for Media – New York City, Los Angeles
• Library of Congress – Washington, DC
  
• Museum of Broadcasting and Communications – Chicago, IL

OTHER COLLECTIONS

• George Mason University (some WPA material) – Fairfax, VA
• C.V. Starr East Asian Library (Bunraku)-Columbia University – NY, NY
• East Asian Library (Chinese)-Princeton University – Princeton, NJ
• Article about East Asian Library Collection – Princeton University