The American Indian Resource Center was established in 1979 by the County of Los Angeles Public Library to address information needs for and about American Indians. With over 10,000 items, AIRC is the largest collection of its kind in an American public library. Our clientele is local, national, and international. The scope of the collection is the continental U.S. and Alaska from pre-Columbian…

The California State Library, comprising sections including California History, Information Services, Government Publications, and the Witkin Law Library in Sacramento and the Sutro Library in San Francisco, holds a wide variety of materials relating to the history of Los Angeles, including manuscripts, rare books, maps, photographs and other visual resources, ephemera, vertical files, and more. …

Camarillo State Hospital Collection. In 1932, 1500 acres located within the City of Camarillo, County of Ventura were acquired for a state hospital. The hospital was expected to house 7000 patients and over 700 staff. At completion, it was the largest mental hospital in the world. CAM officially closed in June of 1993, but, it was reacquired by the CSU in 1996 as the first university in the…

Childrens Hospital Society of Los Angeles was established in 1901 by a small group of women who recognized the need for a hospital that could serve ill, crippled, and under-privileged children. The original hospital, opened in 1902, was a modest two-story, canary-yellow, clapboard house. It had nine beds, was served by one volunteer doctor and treated fourteen patients its first year. By 1905, the…

The Lanterman House Archives preserves and makes available a wide range of materials pertaining to the history of the Crescenta-Cañada Valley for the historical and cultural education of the City of La Cañada Flintridge, the Greater Los Angeles Area, and the State of California. Major collections include the Lanterman Family Papers, the Frank D. Lanterman Sheet Music Collection, and the Local…

The Los Angeles Unified School District’s (LAUSD) Art & Artifact Collection/Archive and Museum has amassed objects since the opening of the first district school in 1855. Artifacts and artworks are located at both schools and administrative sites.

The Santa Monica Historical Society was founded in 1975 as part of the city’s centennial celebration with the mission of collecting and preserving the history, art and culture of the Santa Monica Bay Area. In 1988, a Museum was established to house the Society’s growing collections of artifacts, documents, rare books, newspapers, textiles, artwork, and photographic images. Currently, the Museum’s…