Mount Saint Mary's University was founded by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet in 1925 as the first Catholic women's college west of the Mississippi. It comprises two historic sites, the Chalon Campus high above Brentwood (1930), and the Doheny Campus, which occupies the former estate of Edward and Estelle Doheny, including the Doheny Mansion at 8 Chester Place (1899).

Gregor Piatigorsky, the great master cellist of the 20th century, left a legacy of great music through his concerts, recordings, and films, and through his students. He also left a personal collection of approximately 19,000 items including photographs, music manuscripts, correspondence, concert programs, clippings, test pressings, commercial recordings, books, and ephemera. After his death in…

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…

The Salvation Army Museum of the West houses materials of the Western Territory of the Salvation Army. The Southern California Division is headquartered in Los Angeles proper but services all of Southern California, including Salvation Army churches, Adult Rehabilitation Centers, shelters, and other programs run by The Salvation Army. The collection chronicles the developments and changes of The…

UCSB professor David Gebhard (1927-1996) founded the Architecture and Design Collection in 1963. Today it is one of the largest architectural archives in North America with more than 1,000,000 drawings, as well as papers, photographs, scrapbooks, models, decorative objects, and furniture. The focus of the collection is the design and architecture of southern California from the late 19th through…