Randall Museum

Mission:

The Randall Museum offers youth and adults opportunities for active involvement and recreation in an integrated program of arts and sciences. Focusing on the cultures and environment of the San Francisco Bay Area, the Museum strives to inspire creativity, curiosity, and appreciation of the world around us.

History:

The Randall Museum was the inspiration of a remarkable woman, Josephine D. Randall. Ms. Randall received her Masters degree in zoology from Stanford University in 1910. By 1915, she had organized one of the first Girl Scout troops in the United States as well as one of the first Camp Fire Girl troops. She went on to become San Francisco's first Superintendent of Recreation, a position she held for a quarter of a century. In 1948 she received an honorary Doctorate from the University of California. Under her direction, the San Francisco Recreation Department achieved national recognition as one of the most outstanding services of its kind.

One of Ms. Randall's long-term goals was the establishment of a museum for children. In 1937 her vision came to fruition. Simply called the "Junior Museum," it originally opened in the city's old jail on Ocean Avenue. In 1947, Ms. Randall shepherded a $12,000,000 bond issue for recreation capital projects, including a new museum. In 1951, the museum opened in its current facilities on a 16-acre park over looking San Francisco Bay and was renamed the Josephine D. Randall Junior Museum in honor of its founder.

Ms. Randall intended the museum to be "a place that would foster a love of science, natural history, and the arts." As part of this mission the museum provides exhibits, classes, workshops, presentations, special events, and many other hands-on learning experiences for children and adults.