California Historical Society

Library & CollectionsThe CHS Collection represents the environmental, economic, social, political, and cultural heritage of the entire state of California, including materials from outside California that contribute to a greater understanding of the state and its people.The collection comprises a diverse body of materials documenting the history of the state, including: books and pamphlets; manuscript collections; photographs; printed ephemera, periodicals, posters, broadsides, maps, and newspapers; the Kemble Collection on Western Printing and Publishing; works of art, including paintings, drawings, and lithographs; and artifacts and costumes.

we continue to host our live webinars and produce our newsletters, blogs, and social media content. Recent popular programs have included John A. Todd: Photographing Mining Pollution in Gold Rush California; My biography is the history of California: Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo and his Recuerdos; We Are Not Animals: Indigenous Survival and Rebellion in 19th Century Santa Cruz; Emily and Matilda Bancroft: Women Writers in Their Own Rightall available for free on our YouTube channel.Upcoming programs include California, a Slave State with Jean Pfaelzer on July 11; George Melndez Wright: The Fight for Wildlife and Wilderness in the National Parks with Jerry Emory in August; and Set the Night on Fire: L.A. in the Sixties with Jon Wiener in September.