The I.S. Turgenev Museum is dedicated to the life and work of the classic of Russian literature, born in Oryol in 1818 and passed away in 1883. The literary museums of the city are united under the common name "Oryol United State Literary Museum of I.S. Turgenev," as they share a common origin and history.

In honor of the 100th anniversary of the writer's birth, by the order of the museum council of the People's Commissariat of Education of the RSFSR, the state Museum-Library named after I.S. Turgenev was opened on November 24, 1918. The foundation of the exhibition consisted of items from the house in the former estate of the writer in Spasskoye-Lutovinovo and his personal library. The museum was visited by Red Army soldiers, workers, and peasants. The first director of the museum, literary scholar and founder of the "Turgenev Society" M.V. Portugalov, wrote that the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of Turgenev's heroes came to touch the source of spiritual purity and generosity, as well as to pay tribute to the great writer.

During the Great Patriotic War, the museum was evacuated to Penza, where it continued to exhibit its collections. Two railway cars were allocated for this purpose, into which Turgenev's relics and valuable exhibits from the local history museum were loaded. In November 1943, the museum returned from Penza to Oryol. The People's Commissariat of Education of the RSFSR awarded the museum a banner "For Excellent Work During the War." The united museum includes: the I.S. Turgenev Museum, the Museum of Oryol Writers, the N.S. Leskov House Museum, the T.N. Granovsky House Museum, the I.A. Bunin Museum in Oryol, and the L.N. Andreyev House Museum.