in Mexico City, an offshoot of the National Museum of Anthropology (founded 1825). In 1940 the National Historical Museum became a separate institution specializing in Mexican history from the Spanish conquest in the 1500s to the promulgation of the constitution of 1917. The museum moved to Chapultepec Castle, Mexico City, in 1941, opening in 1944.

By the late 20th century, the museum housed more than 150,000 items of clothing, documents, flags, jewelry, weapons, and other objects relating to Mexico's social and cultural history. Among its holdings were a battle standard used by the conquistador Hernán Cortés and an 18th-century sculpture, “Virgin with Child,” attributed to the artist Luisa Roldán, who was Spanish royal sculptor to King Charles II.