About the Richmond Museum of History & Culture
The Richmond Museum of History & Culture is run by the Richmond Museum Association, a nonprofit incorporated in 1954 and one of the oldest organizations devoted to preserving the history of Contra Costa County. The museum occupies the city's former Carnegie Library at 400 Nevin Avenue in downtown Richmond. The association's mission is to encourage the study of Richmond and the greater Richmond area, to disseminate that history, and to collect and maintain places of historical interest. It has two paid professional staff and relies on volunteers for most of its work.
The permanent exhibit moves from the Ohlone people through the city's early growth to the World War II Homefront, when the Kaiser shipyards drew tens of thousands of workers to Richmond. Seasonal exhibits rotate several times a year. The museum also preserves a Work Projects Administration mural, Richmond — Industrial City, painted by Victor Arnautoff in 1940. Field trips for kindergarten through twelfth grade are free and run Tuesday through Thursday, with themes that include the Ohlone, California ranchos, industry, agriculture, World War II, and civil rights.
The association's second site is the SS Red Oak Victory, a World War II Victory ship berthed at 1337 Canal Boulevard, Berth 5, in the Port of Richmond. The ship is open Saturdays and Sundays, with self-guided audio tours at $15 and docent-led tours of the upper decks or the engine room at $20 and $25. Boarding requires climbing a gangway of roughly forty steps.
Collections and Research Services
The museum's research room is the best local source for Richmond house and family history. Its holdings include Richmond city directories dating back to 1907, which record residents, occupations, businesses, and property ownership; runs of the Richmond Independent from 1912 through 1945 and the Record Herald from the 1940s; a clippings collection drawn mostly from the Independent; a map collection; school yearbooks; oral histories; and photographs. The archive is limited to Richmond and the neighboring Contra Costa County cities of El Cerrito, El Sobrante, and San Pablo.
The room is open Thursday through Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m. by appointment only. Book at least a week ahead by emailing the museum with your topic, the names you are researching, a date range, and any addresses, so staff can pull materials in advance. Staff will not conduct research on your behalf except as a paid service under the museum's fee schedule, and photographs published for profit incur reproduction fees. Backpacks and pens are not allowed inside; lockers are provided. Our guides to using old city directories and dating your house show how to combine directories like these with county records.
Planning Your Visit
The museum is open Thursday through Sunday, 1 to 4 p.m., and closed Monday through Wednesday. Admission is pay what you can, and free passes are available through the Bay Area library Discover & Go program and Museums for All (bring a SNAP EBT card and photo ID). The public entrance is on the ground floor on the east side of the building, and an elevator reaches all levels; a section of blue curb in front is reserved for vehicles with disability placards. Current exhibits and the program calendar are posted at richmondmuseum.org. Two other Bay Area institutions in our directory are the Oakland Museum of California and the Chinese Historical Society of America in San Francisco.
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