MISSION

The purpose of the Material Culture Section of the History Department is to document American life from the sixteenth through the twentieth centuries, focusing on the history of Los Angeles and the West. In addition, the Department collects artifacts relating to the broader history of the United States. The U.S. collections are used for exhibition purposes in the Museum's California and United States history halls and help place regional materials within the context of the larger American experience. The Natural History Museum is the only institution west of the Mississippi River to address American History through permanent exhibitions.

COLLECTIONS

Motion picture industry artifacts (particularly pre-1940) including costumes, props, cameras, projectors, editing equipment, models and miniatures, set models, lighting equipment, and special effects devices.

California history artifacts from the Spanish, Mexican, and early U.S. statehood period, including rebozos, santos, mission vestments, saddles, branding irons, art, and jewelry.

Medals and fraternal orders from the United States; and the Honeyman Collection of orders and medals from Europe, Russia, Asia, Central and South America.

Arms and armor including Spanish conquistador arms and armor, European polearms and firearms, Civil War equipment and accoutrements, Colt and Remington firearms, knives, and machine guns.

Business machines and office equipment including typewriters, telephones, and telegraph keys.

Dolls and toys dating from the 1800s through the 1990s including dolls handmade by residents of Los Angeles, souvenir dolls from around the world, doll houses, toy trains, Hopi katsina dolls, and puppets and marionettes.

Scientific and medical instruments, dating from 16th through 20th centuries.

Tools including cooper's tools, woodworking tools, blacksmith tools, automotive tools, and a furrier's tool kit.

Household appliances such as sewing machines, clothes washers and dryers, stoves, and refrigerators.

Costumes and textiles including rugs, drapes, quilts, clothing, and military uniforms.

Cameras including still cameras dating from the 1890s through the 1970s, light meters, home movie cameras and projectors, and film developing equipment.

Paintings including some of the earliest portraits painted in Los Angeles in the 1840s. The collections also include paintings of the California missions, including the Edwin Deakin series; and Alexander Harmer's historical paintings of the 1880s depicting romanticized scenes of rancho life. There are also paintings of landscapes, ten of which are in the California Plein Air style.

Lighting devices such as mining lamps, candlesticks, kerosene lamps, and fairy or miniature lamps.

Transportation devices including automobiles, aircraft and aviation engines, railroad tools and equipment, and baby carriages.

As of March 31, 2000, the majority of these collections have been relocated to an offsite facility rendering them inaccessible for research or loan purposes for the immediate future. For general questions regarding the Material Culture collections or the accessibility of specific artifacts, please call 213-763-3351.

– William S. Hart Museum - Material Culture and Anthropology jointly supervise and maintain this historic house museum which contains the most extensive and significant collection of historical artifacts and objects anywhere that deal with William S. Hart. The collection documents California's fledgling cinematic industry, especially western films. Though photographs and manuscripts from the William S. Hart collection are managed by the Seaver Center for Western History Research, the original furniture, artwork, interior decoration, Native American artifacts, and other personal belongings of Hart are the purview of Material Culture and Anthropology. Visit the William S. Hart Ranch and Museum Web Site, a family Member of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County Foundation.