The Higgins is a national treasure--the only museum outside Europe dedicated solely to the history and cultural significance of arms and armor, and a fine American example of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life." Its 8,000 items, dating from 3000 B.C. to the 1800s, were assembled by John Woodman Higgins, a Worcester industrialist. In 1929 he built a five-story home for his collection, and chartered it as a museum "of historical and modern metal artifacts." On his death in 1961, the museum was "given to the public" under family management; in 1979 a Board of Trustees was elected.

The Higgins attracts 60,000 visitors yearly from around the world, including 27,000 children, to see the collection, historically accurate demonstrations of medieval swordplay and falconry, teachers workshops, and classes in genealogy, historic combat and Shakespeare. The Higgins is often on the History Channel; its Olive Higgins Prouty Research Library is a small, specialized, but world-class, medieval and Renaissance collection. Its KidsQuest is a reading program with the Worcester Public Library, serving the Great Brook Valley housing project (1,000 apartments, 90% single mothers, av. income $8,000).