The Institute for Baseball Studies is the first humanities-based research center of its kind associated with a college or university in the United States. The Institute is a collaborative effort of Whittier College administrators and faculty members, and the Baseball Reliquary.

Collections include pamphlets and ephemera documenting the growth, industries, transportation, and social organizations of Los Angeles and greater southern California; photograph collections; thousands of books related to southern California; and numerous archival collections related to indiviuals, the citrus industry, and businesses in the Inland Empire.