California Museum — Attraction in Sacramento

I volunteered with an elementary class. The museum is spectacular with their beautiful paintings and historical pieces but can do so much more as far as elevating the museum historically. They include some games for kids which is great. They can track their scores and get points for participating. There were so many great exhibits and real people who represent specific events in our past. The major downside I saw was that there was some overly biased views that took away from some exhibits.

One alarming comment I found was the idea that the Japanese who came to America were "survivors". They were detained, but to elevate them to "survivor" is a mockery of those refugees who faced actual interment camps across the globe. They should change this wording immediately. Social justice may seek to elevate shame upon America, but not at the expense of truth.

Where are the great feats of California such as the Great Depression and the Donner Party and the dangers of reaching the West. Sutter's Fort, westward expansion? History is not meant to be sanitized in the name of social justice. For example, the gold rush is basically portrayed solely through the eyes of the Japanese that worked the mines. I did not see a mention of James...

Having visited a number of different state museums, I would say this was a little underwhelming. To start, most states offer free admission to their collection for educational/tourism value but this one does have a ticket. Conversely, you can go to the State Capitol or nearby Stanford Mansion for free. Likewise, the Railroad Museum, Crocker Art Museum, or Sacramento History Museum offer a better experience if you do want a ticketed collection.

Additionally, this is more of a curated set of topics that the state department of state wants to focus on rather than a comprehensive state history collection. It focuses on marginalized stories, which are very important to listen to but in the process doesn’t really cover that much holistically compared to other state collections which more comprehensively walk you through eras of history. It feels a bit like paying for the state department of state to basically advertise itself and its priorities.

A much better museum if you are looking for the entire history of California is the Oakland Museum of California which has a fantastic collection ranging from Native American and Spanish/Mexican all the way...

It would be nice to see more actual artifacts than just a bunch of paragraphs all over the walls. If I wanted to do extensive reading I would have checked books out from a library. Other than the guitar and native American exhibits, the whole museum felt very empty. I could have gotten more educational value out of watching a few documentaries. This is supposed to be the museum that represents the entirety of California, what an absolute disappointment. The Sacramento History Museum puts this place to shame. I saw two employees in the whole building, and even they looked less than thrilled to be there. If the tickets costed any more, I would have been asking for a refund. Use your money to visit another museum in Sacramento, you can pretty much see the entirety of this one through pictures on Google Maps. I won't be back, at least not until they make some...