This text presentes the relation the Museum of the state of Rio Grande do Sul (Julio de Castilhos Museum) have with their visitors, between 1903 and 1925, emphasizing the importance of the study of museums in the perspective of history. From the analysis of the reports produced by the director of the institution and the records of visitors was possible to obtain information about public visitation to the museum. The Museum of Julio Castilhos reconciled function scientific and educational legitimizing it self as an institution to seek scientific form, classifying and exhibiting collections of zoology, botany and mineralogy, and seeking to be open to the public. Thus, it was possible to verify the inclusion of the museum within a broader framework of belief in science and education as a way to reach the progress of civilization. The museum, in this view, was an institution that legitimized in society by providing, through direct contact with their collections, the necessary subsidies to an education grounded in scientific paradigms positivists and empiricists.
Julio de Castilhos Museum; science museum; education
