Ceramic Studios - Camps

In the midst of the Great Depression, Palo Alto resident Josephine O’Hara proposed that the community create a small museum to occupy the area’s young children. A “leisure time” committee existed for adults, but there were hardly any activities or engagements for children. O’Hara had visited children’s museums in Brooklyn and Boston and decided that a similar institution would appeal to the Palo Alto community. In January 1934, O’Hara presented the idea of a children’s museum to the community center commission and the public. A nine-member committee was formed to study the feasibility of such a scheme and to prepare a small exhibition for a spring fair.