In 1950 in a small house on Biscayne Boulevard and 26th Street, today's Miami Museum of Science & Space Transit Planetarium was born. Known as the Junior Museum of Miami, women of the Junior League of Miami started it with a little seed money and lots of volunteer hours.

Thousands of kids toured the new museum's exhibits, which included a goat on the lawn and a bee hive in the chimney, according to Sustainer Lamar Adams. Betty Purvis, past president of 1949-50 recalled that the museum was so popular, it quickly outgrew its first home, and then its second.

In 1960, thanks to the vision of Miami-Dade County planners, the museum moved to its current location on the Vizcaya complex at 3280 South Miami Avenue... and is still growing. The Junior League of Miami turned the museum over to its own governing board in 1959, but continued to support the museum with volunteers and funding assistance through the 1960s. The League founded the Museum Guild in 1953, a volunteer museum support group, still going strong today running the entire Museum Store, among other activities.

Today, the Miami Museum of Science is a major center for scientific education, research and exhibition, and a vital community resource. It's a community gem shared by both the community and the Junior League of Miami.