Professor A.M. Wilcox, head of the Greek and Latin departments at the University of Kansas and professor of Greek from 1865 to 1915, established the classical museum in 1886 for the enrichment of the students at KU. The collection at first consisted of a few artifacts acquired through travel. In 1888, the museum purchased six plaster casts of sculptures from the Parthenon: three metopes, two frieze slabs, and the reclining god from the east pediment. These were housed in the newly established department of Ancient Languages and Literatures on the second floor of Old Fraser Hall. The collection soon grew with the addition of casts of Roman emperors (including the empress Faustina), the life-size statue of "Germanicus," and artifacts sold by the Italian state.