Museum of the City of San Francisco facts for kids

The Museum of the City of San Francisco is a special place that collects and shows historic items from San Francisco. It's a nonprofit museum, which means it uses its money to help its cause, not to make a profit. The museum was started by Gladys Hansen, who used to be the official record keeper for the city. Today, her son, Richard Hansen, is in charge as the executive director.

The Museum's Story

How the Museum Started

The Museum of the City of San Francisco began in 1991. It was founded by Gladys Hansen, right after she retired from her job as the city's official record keeper, known as the city archivist. In 1995, the city's leaders, called the Board of Supervisors, officially recognized it as San Francisco's historical museum.

Early Exhibit Spaces

For a while, the museum had a small area to show its collections at a place called The Cannery. This building used to be a fruit-canning factory for Del Monte, but it became a shopping center. The museum stayed there until 2000, when it had to leave. After that, it set up temporary exhibits in different spots, like Pier 45 near Fisherman's Wharf and even at San Francisco City Hall.

A Big Change: Merging Museums

In February 2002, the Museum of the City of San Francisco joined forces with another group called the San Francisco Historical Society. Together, they formed a new organization named the San Francisco Museum and Historical Society. Because this new group was a continuation of the original museum, the San Francisco city government also recognized it as the official historical museum. One main reason for this merger was to try and fix up the Old San Francisco Mint building and turn it into a history museum. However, this plan did not work out.

The Virtual Museum and Its Return

Even after the merger, Gladys Hansen kept her own website for the Museum of the City of San Francisco running independently. In 2003, she changed its name to the Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco. Gladys also kept her personal collection of items from the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.

Later, in 2013, the Virtual Museum started working with the Bethlehem Shipyard Museum on different exhibits. It also showed some of its items at the San Francisco History Museum, which is located near Union Square.

In 2019, the Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco decided to go back to its original name, dropping "Virtual." This happened after the San Francisco Museum and Historical Society also changed its name back, removing "Museum" from its title.