The Wagner Free Institute of Science, located at 1700 Montgomery Ave,  is dedicated to providing free public education in science. This is fulfilled by offering adult education courses, children’s lessons and programs, and by maintaining a natural history museum open to the public. In keeping with the Institute’s founding mission, all programs are offered free of charge.

The natural history museum contains more than 100,000 specimens illustrating the various branches of the natural world. The Museum includes founder William Wagner’s collection of minerals, fossils, and shells from around the world. It also includes mounted birds, animal skeletons, and taxidermy, much of which was added by Joseph Leidy; an extensive regional entomological collection, curated by Charles Johnson; and fossils collected on Institute-sponsored expeditions.