Historical photographs and information on the history of Los Angeles and the Southern California area. Archive specializes in the history of the television and motion picture industry (studios) in the U.S. and Los Angeles specifically.Archive also has in it architectural history of the Los Angeles area as well.

The California Historical Society collects materials of enduring historical and cultural value in support of its mission to inspire and empower Californians to make the past a meaningful part of their contemporary lives. In our North Baker Research Library, we hold some fifty thousand books and pamphlets, four thousand manuscript collections, half a million photographs, as well as ephemera,…

The archaeological site material in the museum’s collections dates from approximately 8,000 thousand years ago to the early 1800s. This material includes artifacts from the  indigenous people known as the Tongva who were living on Catalina Island - which they called Pimu - when the Spanish arrived in 1542. Also in the collections are approximately two thousand items dating from the 1880s to the…

History of early California, the Dominguez family and early Aviation

The Skirball Cultural Center explores the linkage between American Jewish life and American democratic values through cultural programs and museum exhibitions for all ages and backgrounds. Designed by internationally renowned architect Moshe Safdie, the Skirball comprises a museum, a discovery center, an educational resource center, classrooms and various meeting and social facilities. On…

Since 1912, Western Costume Company has supplied costumes for film, television, stage, and school productions. In 1915, this costume house established the first production research library. Today the library’s holdings document what people around the world have worn throughout the ages. The library’s archival holdings consist of costume sketches, historic costumes, and the Twentieth Century Fox…