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| Autry National Center | |
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| Location | 4700 Western Heritage Way, Los Angeles, California |
| Type | Western and American Indian |
| Website | www.autrynationalcenter.org |
The Autry National Center of the American West is an intercultural center and museum in Los Angeles, California that celebrates the diversity and history of the American West through three important institutions: the Southwest Museum of the American Indian, the Museum of the American West, and the Institute for the Study of the American West. The Autry's mission is to explore the experiences and perceptions of the diverse peoples of the American West, connecting the past with the present to inform our shared future. All of the exhibitions, public programs, K-12 educational services and publications are designed to further this mission.
The Southwest Museum's 238,000-piece collection is one of the most significant and representative of its kind in the United States, second only to the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of the American Indian. Comprising 14,000 baskets, 10,000 ceramic items, 6,300 textiles and weavings, and more than 1,100 pieces of jewelry, the collection represents indigenous peoples from Alaska to South America, with an emphasis on cultures from California and the Southwestern United States. The Southwest Museum was founded in 1907 and is the oldest museum in Los Angeles.
The Museum of the American West was established in 1988 by Gene Autry to explore and share the comprehensive story of the American West and the multiple cultures, perspectives, traditions, and experiences–real and imagined–that make the West significant. Its collection is composed of 21,000 paintings, sculptures, costumes, textiles, firearms, tools, toys, musical instruments, and other objects.
The Institute for the Study of the American West is a research and publishing enterprise that produces and supports scholarly work in Western history and the arts. In 2002, the Women of the West Museum of Colorado merged with the Institute, infusing the Autry’s focus with a scholarly and educational emphasis on gender issues and women’s experiences in the American West.
The Autry National Center is spread over two locations, about 8 miles (13 km) apart:
- Museum of the American West
- 4700 Western Heritage Way
- Los Angeles
- Southwest Museum (galleries closed for renovation; ethnobotanical garden and gift shop open on weekends)
- 234 Museum Drive
- Los Angeles
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Museum of the American West
This museum is the original museum dedicated by Gene Autry to those who lived and shaped the American West. The museum presents thought-provoking contemporary and historical exhibitions, year-round programs for children, intellectual forums, and the acclaimed Native Voices at the Autry performing arts series. The museum is located at the Autry National Center in Griffith Park.
Southwest Museum of the American Indian
| Southwest Museum | |
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| U.S. National Register of Historic Places | |
 Southwest Museum from Sycamore-Grove Park
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| Location: | 234 Museum Dr Mt. Washington, Los Angeles, California |
| Added to NRHP: | March 11, 2004 |
| NRHP Reference#: | 92001270 |
The Southwest Museum is a museum, library, and archive located in the Mt. Washington area of Los Angeles, California. Its collections deal mainly with the American Indian. However, it also has an extensive collection of pre-Hispanic, Spanish colonial, Latino, and Western American art and artifacts.
Major collections include rooms devoted to 1) American Indians of the Great Plains, 2) American Indians of California, and 3) American Indians of the Northwest Coast.
The museum is located at:
- 234 Museum Drive
- Los Angeles
History
Charles Fletcher Lummis was an anthropologist, historian, journalist, and photographer who created the Southwest Society, which was the western branch of the Archaeological Institute of America. He gained the support of city leaders, and with the financial backing of attorney Joseph Scott opened the Southwest Museum in 1907. The museum moved from Downtown Los Angeles to its current location in Mt. Washington in 1914, and has been there ever since.
The 1914 building was designed by architects Sumner P. Hunt and Silas Reese Burns. Later additions to the museum include the Caroline Boeing Poole Wing of Basketry (completed 1941), by architect Gordon B. Kaufmann, and the Braun Research Library (1971), by architect Glen E. Cook.
Frederick Russell Burnham, the highly decorated military scout and father of the international scouting movement, was an early president.[1]
Current status
Because the 93-year-old building did not meet current seismic standards, the galleries at the museum were closed to the public, although the museum's store is still open on weekends. Extensive rehabilitation of the building and conservation of its rare collection of Native American artifacts is underway, with the goal of moving some of the collection to an updated home at the Autry National Center's Griffith Park campus by 2011.
See also
- Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments on the East and Northeast Sides
- List of Registered Historic Places in Los Angeles
Institute for the Study of the American West
The Institute for the Study of the American West is the research arm of the Autry National Center. It includes the Autry Library and Braun Research Library.
External links
Coordinates: 34°08′55″N 118°16′55″W / 34.148572°N 118.28181°W
References
- ^ Dan L. Thrapp (1991). Encyclopedia of frontier biography. University of Nebraska Press. pp. 195. ISBN 0-80329-418-2.
- "Your guide to Gene Autry, America's Favorite Singing Cowboy" pamphlet from the Autry National Center
- "Pocket guide: Explore the past, present, & future of the American West" pamphlet from the Autry National Center
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