Museum of Man

San Diego’sMuseum of Manis a museum of anthropology that is the only one of its kind in the city. Located at Balboa Park within the California Quadrangle, the museum draws much of its legacy from this historic setting which dates back to 1915 during the Panama-California Exposition. The Quadrangle complex is a landmark in San Diego and houses buildings of architectural styles that lend the place an air of opulence and magnificence most popular of which is the California building which is designed in the style of a Spanish-colonial church complete with its polychrome tile dome and ornate tower.

Beginning in the 1980s, the Museum of Man has invested a lot of money in the renovation and rehabilitation of the area opening up more gallery space to house their priceless collections for the public to enjoy. The Museum has vast collections on the Pre-Columbian history of Western America with over 100,000 documented ethnographic items drawn from the Native American cultures of Southern California, Mexico, and western South America. Comparative collections from a worldwide assemblage of early weapons can also be viewed as well as physical anthropological collections as represented by skeletal collections of early and modern bone diseases and casts documenting human evolution.

These exhibits are a major resource for the San Diego community and have served to entertain visitors as well as educate students in the area on matters such as local history, indigenous cultures, and health sciences. Alongside these permanent exhibits are a series of changing exhibits on display throughout the building that all contribute to main goal of creating and brining to people a dynamic and educational exhibits about people and places throughout the Americas and the rest of the world.

Museum of Man