Randall Museum facts for kids
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Entrance to the Randall Museum in Corona Heights
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| Established | 1937; relocated in 1951 |
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| Location | 199 Museum Way San Francisco, California, US |
| Type | Science, art, crafts, and natural history |
| Visitors | 80,000 (2003) |
The Randall Museum is a super cool place in San Francisco, California. It's run by the city's Recreation & Parks Department, with help from a group called Randall Friends. This museum is all about science, nature, and art! You can see live animals, learn with hands-on exhibits, and even try out a wood shop or art studios.
The museum's main home is inside Corona Heights Park. This park is on a big hill between the Castro and Haight-Ashbury areas of San Francisco. From Corona Heights, you get amazing views of the city, the downtown area, and the beautiful San Francisco Bay.
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Discover the Randall Museum's History
The Randall Museum first opened in 1937. Back then, it was called the "Junior Museum." It was located in an old city jail building. Later, in 1947, the city decided to build a new museum.
In 1951, the museum moved to its current spot. The new building had exhibits, a theater, classrooms, art studios, a live animal room, and gardens. Mayor Elmer Robinson officially opened it on September 23, 1951. He named it the 'Josephine D. Randall Junior Museum' to honor its founder.
How the Museum Building Changed
In 2003, the museum opened its Outdoor Learning Environment. This new area replaced an old parking lot. It gave visitors more space to learn outside.
The museum closed on June 1, 2015, for a big makeover. The goal was to make the exhibit and program areas twice as big! While the main building was being fixed up, the live animals and some programs moved to a different location. The museum had a grand reopening on February 11, 2018, with fun events and music.
Who Was Josephine Randall?
The Randall Museum is named after Josephine Dows Randall. She earned a master's degree in zoology in 1913. After college, she helped start some of the first Girl Scout and Camp Fire Girls groups in the United States.
Later, she became the first Superintendent of Recreation for San Francisco's Recreation Department. She created the Junior Museum and made the department famous for its great services. From 1926 to 1952, Josephine Randall helped get hundreds of acres of open space for playgrounds. This meant more sports and art programs for kids and families in San Francisco.
What Can You Do at the Museum?
The Randall Museum is free to visit! It offers lots of fun things like events, movies, plays, and classes. These activities are for all ages, but they are especially great for kids and school field trips.
You can take classes in the wood shop or pottery studio. The museum also has special themed days, like Bug Day or Mushroom Day. On these days, different clubs and groups join in the fun.
The museum's theater is home to the Young People's Teen Musical Theatre Company. This group puts on amazing shows for everyone to enjoy.
Model Trains and Cool Art
The Golden Gate Model Rail Road Club has a cool train setup in the museum's basement. On "Junior Engineer Day," kids can even run the HO-scale trains themselves! This special day happens on the third Saturday of every odd month.
You can also see some awesome art at the museum. A moving sculpture called "Windswept" is on the outside of the building. It was created by Charles Sowers in 2012. Inside, in the lobby, there's a mobile sculpture of a bird called "Wingspan." This was made by artist Ben Trautman during the museum's renovation.
See Also
