The History Department's activities are spread out through five locations/buildings which include the History Museum, the Observatory Museum, Fort Selwyn, The Old Provost military prison, and the Drostdy Arch. Temporary exhibitions are mounted in the History Museum in which three of the galleries are solely used for art exhibitions.

Originally the department focused on collecting material connected with the 1820 British Settlers and their descendants and, therefore, has fairly extensive collections of material culture, photographs and primary documents associated with that particular group. In addition, the department has a significant art collection, an Africana library, the Bowker Library and a well-established genealogical archive which provides a service both local and internationally.

Although these collections have attracted local, national and international interest, they are very euro- and anglo-centric. Aware of the problem of not being fully representative of all the people of the community, the department amended its policy in 1985 and is now actively focusing on being more representative of all the peoples who have lived in the Eastern Cape. Examples of these policy changes have been reflected in recent exhibits; "Contact and Conflict" - focusing on East Cape history till 1910 and "Shadows of India" - focusing on the Eastern Cape Indian community. The history displays will be updated to 1994 and will focus on the liberation struggle as well as the documented history of the Eastern Cape and its peoples.

The geographic scope of the collection is for the most part confined to the borders of the new Eastern Cape Province. However, in the process of research, documentation and collection every attempt is made to contextualise the material and place it into its national and international perspective.

Staff in the History Department are dedicated to working in tandem with the Archaeology and Anthropology departments to develop more inclusive collections, representative of all the peoples who have inhabited the Eastern Cape.