Education and Culture
About a dozen universities and colleges are in San Francisco They include San Francisco State University, the University of San Francisco, Golden Gate University, and a medical branch of the University of California. Scattered throughout the Bay Area are more than 40 other four-year institutions of higher learning, including the University of California at Berkeley and Stanford University at Palo Alto.
San Francisco has several museums of fine arts These include the California Palace of the Legion of Honor, the M. H. de Young Memorial Museum, the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
Items relating to the history of the city are exhibited in the California Historical Society's Whittier Mansion. The National Maritime Museum, in Aquatic Park, has models of old ships and various relics from the city's early years as a port. The museum also maintains several permanently moored historic ships that can be boarded by the public. At the Palace of Fine Arts is the Exploratorium, a science museum with more than 600 hands-on exhibits.
Other collections are exhibited at the Cable Car Museum, the Old Mint, and the Navy/Marine Corps/Coast Guard Museum.
Among the several musical organizations are the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra and the San Francisco Opera. There are also a number of dance companies, including the San Francisco Ballet. Chief among the many professional theatrical groups is the American Conservatory Theatre. Japan Center, which includes shops and restaurants, a kabuki theater, and the Japanese consulate, reflects the heritage of San Francisco's thousands of Japanese-Americans.
