Enter a Golden State of enlightenment at this Californiana treasure trove, featuring themed exhibitions drawn from the museum's million-plus California photographs, paintings and ephemera. Past exhibits have unearthed Prohibition-era wine labels, protest posters from the Summer of Love and 1971 instructions for interpretive-dancing your way through San Francisco by dance pioneer Anna Halprin. Events are rare opportunities to discuss 1970s underground comix, 1940s SF gay bars and gold rush–era saloon menu staples (whiskey, opium and tamales).

If there's a Californian topic you'd like to pursue, call the research library ahead so that librarians can pull related materials from vaults full of rare manuscripts and ephemera.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby attractions

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0.02 MILES

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3. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

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6. Lotta's Fountain

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7. One Montgomery Terrace

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8. Crown Point Press

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