The museum was founded in September 1952 and opened on 7 November 1952. The museum is a centre for research, learning and education as well as the storage of material and spiritual culture monuments tied up with the history and nature of the region. There is an exhibition hall and 6 exposition halls, a library and an archive in the museum. The exposition narrates about the history of the Slutsk region from the ancient time to present days. The main exposition themes are: "The History of the Slutsk Principality", "The Oldest School of Belarus - Slutsk Gymnasium", "The Way of Town Life in the 19th - early 20th centuries", "the Region during the Great Patriotic War", "Cosmonautics and Slutsk", "Sport in Slutsk", "Homeland Nature" and others. The exposition includes objects of archaeology: women's decorations, unique chess pieces made of bone and wood, tableware (the 12th-13th centuries), fragments of the Slutsk oelts and Urechye glass, documents and materials about the Slutsk gymnasium, and its famous graduates - the astronomer V. Terassky, the medical branch founder - A. Krassovsky, the space engineering constructor S. Kosberg and others. The main fund includes 31 740 items (2016).

There are several branches: the Ethnography Museum (the exposition: "Life and Labour of Slutsk. Peasants in the 19th - early 20th centuries", with national costumes, household articles, weaving, wickerwork, woodwork items; the excursions: "Trade and Crafts in Slutsk" "Interior of the Traditional Peasant House", "Linen in Peasant Life"); the art gallery. About 30 exhibitions of paintings and graphic works of the contemporary Belarusian artists are annually held in the gallery.

The First National Forum "Museums of Belarus". Museum Catalogue. The Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Belarus, 2012.