The Davis Museum traces its origins to the collection that Henry Fowle Durant (1822–1881) assembled in the mid-19th century with the aim of providing a liberal arts education to women at Wellesley College. The institution’s successive directors, Alice Van Vechten Brown and John McAndrew, expanded the museum’s collection and even succeeded in establishing it as an independent entity within the college. In 1993, Rafael Moneo was commissioned to design a new building to house the collection.