San Diego Museum of Man
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| Established | 1915 |
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| Location | 1350 El Prado, Balboa Park San Diego, California, United States |
| Coordinates | 32°43′54″N 117°09′10″W / 32.7317567°N 117.1528655°W |
| Type | anthropological museum |
| Visitors | 220,000 annually |
| Director | Micah D. Parzen, CEO |
| Website | www.museumofman.org |
The San Diego Museum of Man is a museum of anthropology located in Balboa Park, San Diego, California and housed in the historic landmark buildings of the California Quadrangle.
The museum traces its origins to the Panama-California Exposition, which opened in 1915 on the occasion of the inauguration of the Panama Canal. The central exhibit of the exposition, "The Story of Man through the Ages", was assembled under the direction of noted archaeologist Dr. Edgar Lee Hewett of the School of American Archaeology (later renamed the School of American Research, and since 2007 the School for Advanced Research). Hewett organized expeditions to gather pre-Columbian pottery from the American Southwest and to Guatemala for objects and reproductions of Maya civilization monuments.
Numerous other materials were gathered from expeditions sent by anthropologist Aleš Hrdlička of the Smithsonian Institution, who gathered casts and specimens from Africa, Siberia, Alaska and Southeast Asia. Osteological remains and trepanated crania from Peruvian sites were also obtained.
As the Exposition drew to a close, a group of citizens led by George Marston formed the San Diego Museum Association to retain the collection and convert it into a permanent museum, with Dr. Hewett as the first director. Notable additions to the museum’s collection after the Exposition included the Jessop Weapons Collection and a rare collection of artifacts from the ancient Egyptian city of Amarna, donated by Ellen Browning Scripps and the Egyptian Exploration Society.
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