The UST Museum's collection dates back to 1687, making it the oldest in the country, although the Museum was formally established in 1871.
The UST Museum’s collection was originally housed in the Intramuros campus, then transferred to the Sampaloc campus in 1936.
The UST Museum owns the finest and largest carved ivory religious image, a Crucified Christ, in the country.
Rev. Fr. Silvestre Sancho, O.P. established the University’s Annual National Painting Competition in 1941 and thereby paved the way for the growth of the UST Museum’s visual art collection.
The nucleus of the UST Museum’s collection was the gabinete de fisica, a collection of animal, mineral and vegetable specimens used as study aids by students of the Faculty of Pharmacy and the Faculty Medicine and Surgery.
The grand staircase leading up to the UST Museum is flanked by murals by Filipino masters Galo Ocampo and Carlos “Botong” Francisco.
While the University was occupied and used as a civilian internment camp for Allied nationals by the Japanese military during World War II, the UST Museum was closed. Only a handful of internees were allowed to work with the collection, cataloguing shells, coins and rare books.
When the International Council of Museums (ICOM) was established in 1949, the UST Museum was one of the first member-institutions.
The UST Museum’s Main Gallery was originally called the paraninfo or paranymphus, a large, multi-purpose function hall that was used for lectures, symposia and other academic activities.
The UST Museum’s Natural History collection is of great interest to researchers and students, because many of the specimens that were plentiful when they were collected are now endangered or extinct.
The UST Museum participated in the 1876 Philadelphia Exposition, the 1870 Exposition Universale, the 1883 Amsterdam International Expo, the 1883 Exposicion Nacional Madrid, the 1887 Exposicion General de las Islas Filipinas, the 1895 Exposicion Regional de Filipinas, and the 1902 Hanoi Exposition.
The UST Museum’s collection includes the Papal thrones used by Pope Paul VI and Pope John Paul II during their visits to the University of Santo Tomas, the Catholic University of the Philippines.
The UST Museum is located in the Main Building, the first earthquake-resistant structure in the country. It is built in 40 separate pieces, with the gaps filled in with tar and gravel.
The UST Museum features a diorama of Philippine endemic species that are either endangered or extinct.