The California Museum

The California Museum
	Location within Sacramento, California The California Museum (California) The California Museum (the United States)
Established	August 10, 1846
Location	Sacramento, California
Coordinates	38°34′28″N 121°29′43″W / 38.57456°N 121.49528°W
Director	Amanda Meeker, Executive Director
Website	www.californiamuseum.org

The California Museum is the state history museum of California, located in its capital city of Sacramento. It is dedicated to Californian history and the stories of California. The museum is home to the California Hall of Fame and has more than 20,000 square feet (1,900 m²) of exhibits, event facilities, and museological archives.

History

Originally called the Golden State Museum, the museum opened in June 1998 as a public/private partnership. It was developed under the Secretary of State's office with state bond funding for the facility and the opening exhibits. However, the museum's long-term management and financial support are the responsibility of a nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation, no direct funding from the state supports the museum. Private contributions, augmented by proceeds from admissions and the Museum Store, fund the Museum's programs and operations. In May 2004, former First Lady Maria Shriver, working with the Secretary of State and California State Parks, presented an exhibit titled “California’s Remarkable Women.”

Shriver led a bipartisan effort to create this revitalized museum which operates as a nonprofit, non-partisan historical and cultural institution dedicated to telling the complete history of California, including the stories of California's women and under-represented groups in history. A revitalized Board of Trustees oversees the operations and has launched a multimillion-dollar capital campaign to design and develop the new Museum.

As of March 2011, Governor Jerry Brown and First Lady Anne Gust Brown are Honorary Chairs of both the Museum and the California Hall of Fame, along with an Honorary Board including former Governors George Deukmejian, Gray Davis and Arnold Schwarzenegger and former First Ladies Nancy Reagan, Gloria Deukmejian, Gayle Wilson, Sharon Davis and Maria Shriver.^{[citation needed]}