Institutions that acquire, preserve, research and exhibit permanent and/or traveling collections of objects including documents, tools, implements and furnishings that have significance in helping to interpret or understand the past. History museums may specialize in a specific era such as early Greece or Rome, a particular geographic region such as California or Appalachia, a particular ethnic or cultural group such as Northwest Native Americans, a designated subject area such as civil rights or the history of immigration or a specific event such as the Holocaust; and may contain any of a wide variety of items created or used by contemporary or historical figures or other individuals.