NOTE: The Sacramento History Museum and its associated facility, the Sacramento Visitor’s Center, are temporarily closed to the public through 3/31/20.

The Sacramento History Museum is proud to announce plans to debut an exciting, timely, and all-new exhibit titled California in Print: Highlights of the Eleanor McClatchy Collection. On display in the museum’s new R. Burnett Miller Gallery, the exhibit will showcase rare items and collectibles from the Eleanor McClatchy Collection that she donated to the City of Sacramento and the Center for Sacramento History. Eleanor McClatchy (1895 to 1980) was the granddaughter of James McClatchy who became editor of The Sacramento Bee in 1857, its founding year. Later, Eleanor went on to preside over the newspaper from 1936 to 1978. In addition to helping to run the family newspaper business (also known as the “three Bees” – Sacramento Bee, Modesto Bee and Fresno Bee), she was also an avid collector of California history. While only a small percentage of her important and impressive collection will be on display, the exhibit will highlight priceless items such as original Gold Rush era maps showing where gold could be found, first-edition rare books printed in California, letter sheets from 1850s miners, a page from the Gutenberg Bible, dime novels from the 1870s and 1880s, and more. Once on display, museum interested guests will also be able to interact with the exhibit by touching and following routes to the gold fields and electronically turning the pages of rare books. In the coming months, the museum will also offer periodic and special programming that will include printing, papermaking, bindery, bookmaking, typing, screen printing, calligraphy, sketching, storytelling and much more.