Museum of Us

Specializing in cultural anthropology, the Museum of Us explores the human experience from multicultural perspectives to spark dialogue, self-reflection, and human connections. During your visit, you’ll explore a variety of unique, interactive exhibits that cover a vast range of human history and culture.

Formerly known as the San Diego Museum of Man, the Museum of Us is a new identity for a 100-plus-year-old institution, beloved by generations of San Diegans and tourists alike. Located in Balboa Park, on the ancestral homelands of the Kumeyaay people, our mission is “inspiring human connections by exploring the human experience.” We do that by sharing alternative narratives that challenge peoples’ assumptions and help them see the world from different perspectives.

Whether it’s showing how the power of secrets can make us feel less alone, to helping visitors better understand the science, history, and experience of race in our country; our exhibits and programs present diverse stories that help define us all.

Museum of Us

4.3

Based on 2370 reviews

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C R

00:23 11 Sep 24

Informative cultural museum with exhibits on secret postcards, racism in America, ancient Egyptians, cannibals, California's native people, the Maya, immigrants, beer brewers and pet owners. The postcards and Mayan ruins in particular were fascinating. I spent two and a half hours here.

Cig Guti

22:50 12 Aug 24

I really enjoyed this museum. Its tower can be seen from any point in the park and from other outside locations. A rich arquitectura that deserves time to be appreciated. It's a hallmark. The museum has a rich selection of artifacts from Native American to Egyptian mummies. There is an effort in presenting a diversified view of who we are within its limited space and possible resources.

Tim Balen

06:27 10 Jul 24

Good museum, admission includes access to 8 exhibits (one is across the way with a different entrance). Currently there is an exhibit about Mayan art, culture and history that was made by Maya artists and community members. The admission is a tad high for what the museum offers, it is $19.95 for adults or $16.95 for students, plus the tower tour add-on is $10. The 40-min guided tower tour is interesting and gets good views of Balboa Park

Roxanne Ardary

11:00 15 Jun 24

A lot of food for thought in this museum! Very educational for those curious about the history of cannibalism and humanity. I appreciated all the exhibits and artifacts displayed. I'll admit, trying to imagine being in some of those situations and having to make those specific choices was a bit tuff.

Marco Santa Cruz

02:10 14 Mar 24

This was part of the Parkwide Explorer Pass (recommended for visitors). We did the 7 day pass. Note that Tuesdays are locals "free" day and is extremely busy.We went early on a Wednesday and so it was relatively empty, everything easily accessible. The entrance always made a great impact and this display (on Mayas/ 2024 March) was very good.The museum is laid out easily and even speaks to modern history/studies, like "GEOGRAPHY not race - explains skin color.Across the Prado road was a secondary display about cannibalism that was more interactive. It had pop culture references and some interesting science backed facts.Definitely a go to in Balboa Park.

David Waugh

00:18 09 Jan 24

The Museum of US is a fascinating Museum that seems to focus on the anthropology of humanity and race. It’s a museum in Balboa off the main drag that can take you from one to two hours to enjoy. If you want to climb the tower I suggest you buy first thing when they open as I arrived around noon and they were sold out for the day.

Ranajit Tripathy

00:31 08 Jan 24

Balboa park is my favourite walking spot and the nearby trails are pretty cool. Museum of US located cross the street of Balboa park. Tickets are bit costly.Nice place to roam.

Zaim Jee

03:38 29 Oct 23

My visit to the Museum of Us in San Diego was a captivating experience. The museum's diverse exhibits exploring anthropology, culture, and the human experience were both educational and thought-provoking. The architecture of the building itself is stunning. The highlight for me was learning about different cultures from around the world and their unique traditions. The staff was knowledgeable and friendly, enhancing the overall visit. I highly recommend this museum to anyone interested in exploring the rich tapestry of human culture and history.

Its me

13:31 17 Oct 23

We did the tower tour, and it is well worth it! Lot of history reveled. The views were amazing.

Banger Lo Truglio

16:52 26 Sep 23

I seriously had no idea what they meant when they named it Museum of Us, so I took some time to ask around and get the opinions of the general public. Turns out, nobody knows what it means, and that appears to be a growing concern in some circles. Scientists call this phenomenon 'randomized community-wide amnesia', and it goes a long way to explaining why people seem to forget stuff and then later can't remember it either. Have you been wondering why so many of your peers are upset with you? Perhaps you forgot their birthday or didn't contribute to the sick-leave pool at the office. If none of this sounds remotely familiar, it is probably because you forgot already. Another victim of that amnesia thing I was talking about earlier.

Kate Porter

18:35 04 Aug 23

Great museum! Super great bargain for the amount of fun we had. Definitely check out the Monster room on the lowest level!

Kath M

02:47 10 Jul 23

Superb and unconventional museum. The Musuem of Us is a thought provoking experience. It provides a unique perspective of history and what it means to be human. It challenged me to be open-minded and to question some of my beliefs. It’s not your typical museum where you just look at the pictures or artifacts. It also inspires you to look inside yourself. I can see why some people don't like it - it takes some humility to self-reflect. But I love it!

Pablo Gonzalez

18:12 21 Jun 23

Didn’t go inside due to time constraints but the outside is beautiful to stop by and take pictures! Beautiful park grounds all around.

Pamela Manassian

04:14 20 Jun 23

An absolutely delightful and educational experience. We did not know what to expect but we were surprised and thrilled with the different exhibits. The beer exhibit was interesting and informative, the exhibit on race was fascinating and truly educational, thought disturbing and sad. finally the cannibal exhibit was intriguing and insightful. I HIGHLY recommend visiting this fantastic museum. DO NOT MISS OUT on this fabulous gem.

Follower of christ Arevalo

20:30 29 Apr 23

The entry is $18 per adults children not sure, but the whole park is beautiful, and the weather today was amazing, is cool for nice and interesting walk, with nature ,

D Barnes

13:25 18 Apr 23

Used to be museum of man but its now so much more inclusive! Do the tower tour. Mayan artifacts are cool, not certain about how they came to be in museum, or maybe they are replicas, but see them b4 they get "disappropriated" back to the jungles.

Diego Salgado

06:19 22 Feb 23

Very interesting and informative experience. Non white-washed historical facts. For instance, I didn't know how anti-Asian San Diego had been in it's heydays. I thought the hate had always been towards Latinos over here. Apparently, Asians have been able to get over such hate to become the preferred race by Whites. Good for them! Maybe local Latinos can follow suit. The tower tour is highly recommended, especially on nice sunny days. The views from up there are worth the price of the tour itself.

Silp Udomthaveedej (iamhere13270)

21:20 30 Jan 23

Appreciated the Postsecret exhibition at the museum. It was a good experience to see the physical postcards in person instead of on the online blog.However, overall - the exhibits felt quite small and can be completed in a rather short amount of time.

Timaree Schmit

05:47 06 Nov 22

It's been a few days and I can't stop thinking about these exhibits. I had been looking forward to it but this place more than exceeded my expectations. The exhibits are well curated and laid out. While I enjoyed exploring this place at the time, I wasn't even conscious of how incredibly interactive everything was and how that helped me understand concepts more deeply and made me think about them later. The cannibals: myths and realities exhibit is a unique one, especially, with pop culture references to draw folks in and thought provoking historical context that remains relevant.

its.me.lil.t *

18:28 12 Oct 22

Had the best weekend. Went riding around balboa park. My boyfriend was skateboarding and I rode my bike. It was a nice ride. Took the free tram back, it comes by every 15 min. This made parking super easy. Stopped by the Marston house. The grounds are gorgeous. We also did a virtual scavenger hunt. Which took us to places around the park we have never seen. Definitely stop by the Balboa park visitors center and grab a park map. I would also recommend going to their website to take advantage of the free entry on Tuesday's to one meusem.

Lorena Velazquez Magdaleno

21:05 28 Sep 22

Front desk folk were very helpful.The exhibitions were so beautiful and thought provoking.Over all learned a lot from the exhibitions and about myself.A great experience over all.You can definitely see all exhibitions in one day but make sure you take your walking shoes.

Dimitris Alexiou

20:31 18 Jul 22

Not a museum at all! I have been to almost all museums in the park and ve been happy except for this one. Ιt is not a museum because it mainly deals with politics rather than history. Small exhibits and completely unrelated with each other. They haven't take advantage of the wonderful building that houses the Museum. disappointment.

Niloofar Noori

00:40 12 Jun 22

I had visited museum of man back in 2016 for my anthropology class project and it was so amazing back then. It was like going back in time with the mummies section and seeing the actual Neanderthals skulls and Luci’s skeleton, the DNA structure and so much more. But today I had to ask for a refund as I could google everyone they have there.kids play section is closed, no actual statues and skeletons,Photos of historic pieces. Now it’s more like a library than a museum. My kids were so excited since I had told them what to expect but none was there. Just google on what you want to know, don’t waste your money and time. Very disappointed on the content they have there.

Olga Khusid

22:48 29 May 22

Not worth it! $19.95 per adult to read a few fun facts on the walls. Beerology is a joke, Egypt exhibit… I had seen better and more interesting than a few coffins. Not much on culture besides the burial part. The Mayan exhibit supposedly is getting rebuilt. But I suspect will be the same disappointment.Save money and time, take pictures of the beautiful historical building from the outside and read books insteadRip off!

David Dominguez

01:48 17 May 22

The most iconic emblem of Balboa Park. Formerly known as Museum of Man, is a rich piece of art, resembling Spanish architecture. You can even climb the staircase of the California Tower to get a better view of the surroundings.

Alec Rodney

18:35 07 May 22

The Museum of Us took a longtime and went through an extensive process in renaming/rebranding themselves and it shows. The exhibits I looked at - Examining Race, the US Mexico Border, Secret Post Cards, and Cannibalism - raised questions that made me truly consider the exhibits. It felt like a modern, refreshing experience in an old, historical building. The museum has given space to a spectrum of voices that had been missing from the former Museum of Man. kudos to the organization. I will definitely go back as they curate new exhibits and recommend the MOU to friends and family.

Jackson Fulcher

02:16 06 May 22

Amazing collection of art and historical artifacts that’s overshadowed by one-sided political messaging.The exhibits themselves do spark thought and have fun and quirky labels. The flow of the museum can be a little hard to follow with few (and small when in existence) signs directing you to the beginning of chronologically organized exhibits. The displays would greatly benefit from simple arrows, or some other visual cues.While tickets start at $20 for adults I didn’t think this was absurd given its location and the prices of other attractions in the park.Overall, worth a visit if you have the time, but beware that many exhibits will have severe interpretations rather than translations.

Trevor Haar

02:57 17 Apr 22

What a great educational place. Wish we had more time there. The food vendors were great and the nature trails were amazing.

Joseph Stalin

00:41 08 Apr 22

Museum of men or Museum of us is not a great one in the Balboa park. But if you go there then make sure to visit the cannibalism museum across the street. Same ticket covers both places.The cannibalism museum has some interactive ones for kids and adults. It may be disturbing for some of you especially the video.

Jessica Darwich

00:38 30 Mar 22

Visiting this museum was impactful. There is a section of the museum dedicated to the lives of those who crossed into the borders and sadly lost their lives in the process. There are hundreds of tags indicating their path and their final resting place. It was so powerful to see. On the 2nd floor there is an interesting exhibit regarding race and prejudice. This museum brings to light the topics that are difficult to discuss but do so in a respectful way. I would highly recommend visiting the museum. There is an additional exhibit across displaying the feature exhibit Cannibals. I didn't have the opportunity to visit that one, but it sounded quite interesting.

Jose Macias

03:58 17 Mar 22

I understand it's a history of "us" but what does it have to do with locals. There are items from everywhere around like Egypt and central and south America but what about local culture... California culture, native American, the first settlers from Europe in California stuff like that idk keep it local. Regardless it was a cool and the building omg the building are old and need a story behind them.

Rachel S

18:55 16 Mar 22

Pretty cool museum. Feels like there is something for everyone in there. I felt the flow of some of the exhibits was wonky and not very user friendly,. There could be better way finding. Also, lockers would be really great. Def worth the visit. The postcard confessions exhibit was very moving

Sheila Wilson

23:16 06 Mar 22

A few of the displays were interesting. I especially enjoyed the one of the Mayan culture. Many of the displays seemed to be promoting a particular social viewpoint rather than a factual historical accounting of that time period.

Danny Arredondo

20:58 04 Mar 22

Great meseum to visit while in San diego. If the History of Human kind interest you this measuem if full of Ancient artifacts and its inside a beautiful building!! Masks are now optional its $19.99 entrance fee and $29.99 that includes access to the Tower!!

William Mitchell

03:22 19 Feb 22

Not worth it.Poor value for money. $19.95 for adult tickets and $16.95 for kids and seniors means a four-person family will spend almost $75 just to get in the door. What do you get for that? 10-12 small exhibits which each take up a small room's worth of space. Even you take the time to read all the placards and displays, you'll get through each one in 5-15 minutes. At most, you'll spend an hour or two in the museum before wandering off to find something better to do.Missed opportunities. The museum has exciting collections hidden away in its archives AND plenty of space to display them. For example, it has the 6,000-item Jessop Weapons Collection, one of the largest collections of exotic weapons in the world. If you're lucky, you might see one or two objects from the collection on display. But don't worry, the Museum of Us has plenty of space for inscrutable modern art exhibits.The Mayan statuary exhibit, the crown jewel of the museum, has been updated ... with neon-toned graffiti spray-painted on the walls around it. I suppose the attempt to include modern Mayan artists is admirable ... but nothing has been done to help guests better interpret the stunning statues and the culture which made them. No dioramas. No VR or augmented reality goggles. No displays explaining Maya society or religion. No light displays to pick out interesting features on the statues. Just the same decades-old placards.The museum's much-diminished one-room Ancient Egyptian exhibit can only be described as a bitter disappointment. You won't learn anything meaningful about Egyptian gods and goddesses, how mummies were made, or much else about Ancient Egypt. You'll see remarkable objects like a shaduf yoke on display, but you won't learn anything about how this simple tool made agriculture possible in an arid desert. Oh, and you won't see any mummies.Messaging. From the moment you walk into the museum, you'll be bombarded with apologies, acknowledgements, and other pablums. If you hadn't guessed from the name change, the Museum of Us has no problem making charged political statements whenever possible. Half the exhibits at the Museum are now partly or wholly about race and racism. These are topics worth learning about, but the Museum of Us does it in the most ham-handed and inept way possible. The Cannibals exhibit, for instance, dedicates a quarter of its space to lambasting Columbus. It barely mentions the Aztecs, who are the subject of an intense academic debate about cannibalism. Were they industrial-scale human slaughterers who treated prisoners as "marching meat," as Marvin Harris argued? Or were those trumped-up charges that overplay the limited, religious nature of Aztec cannibalism? For a museum supposedly interested in centering itself on indigenous stories, giving more space to conquistadors than the Aztecs is pretty damning move.The effort to "decolonize" the museum has also caused many of its best exhibits to vanish, never to be seen again. One of the best parts of the Museum of Man was the mummy displays. Visitors could see Peruvian mummies and learn about how their high-altitude ritual burials had naturally preserved their remains. And visitors could learn about how these remains revealed secrets about ancient diets, healthcare, and much more. But it's all gone forever now, victims of the Museum's policy not to show human remains. You'd never knew they even existed. There aren't even mock-ups or images or the remains to take their places in the exhibits. The whole exhibits are just gone. In trying to decolonize, the Museum's gormless curators have managed to eliminate one of the few places Western audiences could learn about the Inca mummies and the Inca people they came from.The Museum of Man was one of the best anthropology museums in the world. I suppose the Museum of Us is a museum.

Daphne Swiateck

05:16 20 Jan 22

Museum was ok. For the price I was expecting a lot more. It seemed rather empty, and It definitely has a political agenda behind many of the exhibits. I found many of the information cards to have opinions rather than actual facts.The coolest part was going up to the tower, the views, and the architecture outside of the museum itself. Don’t waste your time with the exhibit itself. It’s just full one sided politics rather than true anthropology.

Alex

23:20 07 Jan 22

The main draw of the Museum of Us is the beautiful, historic building it is in and the scenic tower that is the highlight of the structure. If your goal is just to get to the top, you will have to pay a supplemental fee in addition to your ticket.The main museum itself has some interesting features but it falls a bit short in really being a full museum experience for the price of the ticket. It seems more interested in telling a story of cooperation and social justice than being a comprehensive educational institution. Some people will find this experience much needed whereas others may think it’s a bit much. I think it was cool but I wish there was more substance. I didn’t feel like I gained much after my visit; if I had to describe my highlight, it was just getting to experience the inside of the building. That being said, they will give you membership for a year with your ticket so it’s great for SD residents and snowbirds. Also a worthwhile stop if you get the Passes that let you visit multiple museums.

Cynthia Dumbauld

04:46 31 Dec 21

So much thought put into a diverse collection of exhibits. Great info. Great displays that are thought provoking. Beautiful historic building, but bring a warm coat.Years membership free with price of admission.

J E

18:51 10 Nov 21

overall it was a nice museum but not that many exhibits. Most of the facts and features on display were common sense. I didn't learn anything new after leaving here. i think its more applicable to younger adults or teens

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