The Museum of Us (formerly the San Diego Museum of Man) sits on the unceded homelands of the Kumeyaay Nation. Founded in 1915, it began as a traditional anthropology museum defined by ethnographic collections presented through a Western academic lens. In 2012, the Board adopted a new strategic vision encouraging visitors to challenge assumptions and explore what it means to be human through immersive, interactive experiences. Our new name, announced in August 2020, reflects a public commitment to equity, antiracism, and decolonization.

Current exhibitions include “Hostile Terrain ’94,” “PostSecret,” “BEERology,” “Cannibals: Myth & Reality,” “Maya Peoples: Heart of Sky, Heart of Earth,” “Kumeyaay: Native Californians/Iipai-Tipai,” “Ancient Egypt,” and “hapa.me: 25 Years of The Hapa Project.” The Museum also offers daily guided tours of the iconic California Tower.

We steward more than 75,000 ethnographic materials, 300,000 archaeological resources, and 51,000 photographic images, guided by a decolonial framework. We work in partnership with Native American and Indigenous communities worldwide to support the repatriation of ancestors, sacred objects, and other materials acquired through colonial practices.

In November 2025, “Race: Power, Resistance & Change” opened to the public following a multi-year, community-driven process, replacing “Race: Are We So Different?” as our signature exhibition. Looking ahead, the Museum is launching Community Project Galleries, an initiative from our five-year visitor experience plan, to transform key spaces into platforms for community voices and storytelling.

In 2023 and 2024, the Museum was named a finalist for the Institute of Museum and Library Services National Medal, the nation’s highest honor for museums.