The institute was established on the decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine on July 23, 1936 and the Presidium of Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR on July 27, 1936 based on several departments and commission of the Academy and the All-Ukrainian Association of Marx-Lenin Institutes. Original it was composed of three departments: history of Ukraine in feudalism epoch, history of Ukraine in epoch of capitalism and imperialism, and history of Ukraine in Soviet period. After the Soviet annexation of eastern Poland during the World War II, in Lviv, Western Ukraine was established a branch of the institute, which was headed by Ivan Krypiakevych. After the war in 1946, the branch was liquidated. In 1951 the Lviv's branch was revived as part of the UkrSSR Academy of ScienceInstitute of Social Studies. During World War II, the institute was evacuated to Ufa, Bashkir ASSR where it along with the UkrSSR AS Institute of Archaeology became a department of history and archaeology of the UkrSSR AS Institute of Social Studies. It returned to Kiev on 25 March 1944. On 17 July 1944 the institute was reconstituted with four departments: history of feudalism, history of capitalism, history of Soviet period, history of archaeography. In 1945 the Institute of History of Ukraine had staff of 13 scientists, including 3 doctors of sciences and 7 candidates of sciences. On 9 June 1944 the All-Union Committee in affairs of Higher School confirmed its pre-war decision for providing the faculty council of the institute the right to accept for review candidate dissertations and award based on thesis defense a science degree of candidate of historical sciences specializing in "History of Ukraine" and "History of the USSR". In 1950 the institute had eight departments history of feudalism, history of capitalism, history of Soviet society, military history, history of countries of people's democracy, historiography and historical funds, worldwide history and international relations, archaeography. In the spirit of the 1947 Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine guidelines there was prepared a dual volume book "History of Ukrainian SSR". In connection with celebration of the 300th Anniversary of Ukraine annexation to the Russian state there were prepared collection of documents "The Union of Ukraine with Russia", written texts to collective monograph "the 1648-1654 Liberation War and union of Ukraine with Russia". Since 1955 the institute had six departments history of Soviet society, history of capitalism, history of feudalism, history of countries of people's democracy, worldwide history and international relations, archaeography. In 1960 the department of history of Soviet society was split in two history of the Great October Socialist Revolution and civil war, history of socialist and communist development.
On 17 May 1944 director of Ukrainian branch of the Marx-Engels-Lenin Institute of Central Committee of the All-Union Communist PartyFedir Yenevych wrote a memorandum "about shortcomings in work of the UkrSSR AS Institute of History of Ukraine". At the institution were thrown existence of important flows or inadequate elucidation of certain problematic issues
completely not highlighted political history before times of Kievan Rus;
in disorder highlighted issue of emergence and formation of the Ukrainian nation;
some historians adhere to a false statement about "annexation of Galicia by Poland";
historians use inaccurate terminology such as 1st, 2nd, and 3rd partitions of Poland is characterized one-sidedly, historians do not follow the instructions of Friedrich Engels that "tendency on creation of national states, which acts more clearly and more consciously, is one of the most significant levers of progress in Middle Ages" and did not reveal internal motives of emergence of the Ukrainian Cossack State; they failed to stress that emergence of the Ukrainian Cossack State in those days was a progressive step forward compared to previous Lithuanian and Polish state arrangements in Ukraine;
one-sidedly highlighted the reason of Ukraine annexation to Russia, the 1654 act was "not the beginning of union of Ukrainian and Russian nations, but political and legal arrangement of de facto existing through the ages union of those people which one day was intentionally broken by foreign invaders;
inadequately highlighted the issue of two pre-Revolutionary Russia
inadequately motivated victory of Socialist revolution in Ukraine;
inadequately highlighted historiography of Ukraine;
others.
On 29 August 1947 Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine adopted a statement "About political mistakes and unsatisfactory work of the UkrSSR AS Institute of History". In the statement the institute was accused in "serious mistakes and rough distortion", "remnants of bourgeoisie nationalistic views" in works of selected staff workers and next to that was placed a "combat mission", to prepare Marxist–Leninist "Short course of history of Ukraine".
Beside the Institute of History of Ukraine, the building also houses two other research institutes of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, the Shevchenko Institute of Literature and the Potebnya Institute of Linguistics. During the events of Euromaidan in winter of 2014, near the building were erected the Hrushevsky Street barricades.
