Welcome to the Hearst Museum

The Museum was founded in 1901 by Phoebe Apperson Hearst, a visionary who saw the Hearst as the cultural cornerstone of one of the world’s leading research institutions.

Today, the Hearst Museum houses the oldest and largest anthropological collection in the Western U.S., preserving and interpreting a global record of material culture as represented by more than 3.8 million cataloged objects. The Museum aims to promote the history and diversity of human cultures through research, education, exhibitions and public programs.

We look forward to your visit!

News and Events

Please note that the Museum has instituted a temporary collections access moratorium beginning June 1, 2012. Learn more about the upcoming moratorium.

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The Conservator's Art: Preserving Egypt's Past Explore the results of extensive conservation carried out on pieces including crocodile mummies, statuary, mummy portraits, amulets, and stela collected ca. 1900 through the patronage of Phoebe A. Hearst.

99 Bottles of Beer: Global Brewing Traditions 2500 B.C. – Present is a rich display revealing the striking unities and diversities of human cultures as they come together to celebrate the fruit of the grain.

As part of our exhibition, The Conservator’s Art: Preserving Egypt’s Past, Allison Lewis, Samuel H. Kress Conservation Fellow, is working on Egyptian artifacts in the gallery. She is available to answer questions and explain conservation methods and techniques. Be sure to click through to her blog. Visit Allison 10:30 am – 4:30 pm Wednesdays through Fridays.

Learn more about the Museum’s collections with Delphi, our collections discovery and exploration tool.  Delphi lets you dive into the collections to find the things that interest you, whether or not they have ever been exhibited.

You can explore our collections by geographic location, by how items were used, or even by how they were made or decorated. You can save items you like to your own sets and then share these sets with others. Try it out now:

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