The Hawaiian Mission Children's Society (HMCS), the parent organization of the Mission Houses Museum, was established in 1852 to support the work of Congregational missionaries in the Hawaiian archipelago and other regions of the Pacific.

Early in the 20th century, the HMCS turned its focus to collecting historical records of American Protestant missionaries working and residing in this region beginning in 1820. Early in 1923, the Society opened a museum in Honolulu on the site of the former headquarters of the Sandwich Islands Mission, which was established in 1820. Membership in the Society has been specifically reserved for the descendants of this group of missionaries.

In 1974, the Mission Houses Museum (MHM) received accreditation from the American Association of Museums. Today, the MHM functions as an historic site, a museum, a research library and a cultural center with rich and comprehensive collections of materials. It remains a primary source of information about the American Protestant missionary experience in Hawai‘i and serves as a time capsule of 19th-century American history. Membership in the museum is open to all.