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…

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…

A digitized and hard copy JPEG, DOC, PDF, DVD collection of photo albums, oral history DVD's (approximately 50) from personal albums and interviews of valley residents including WWII veterans, policeman, fireman, actors, housewives, cowboys, farmers and business leaders from 1930s to present. Books and letters on the entertainment industry, history of the San Fernando Valley.