Collections
Our historical collections are comprised of over one million items, including the personal historical collection of Senator John P. Jones, co-founder of Santa Monica, and the archives of the Santa Monica Outlook Newspaper (1875-1998).
600,000+
rare photographs, the Museum has one of the most extensive image archives in Southern California!
COLLECTION SCOPE & DONATIONS Keeping History Alive
SCOPE
We consider several things when collecting Santa Monica history. The scope of our collecting encompasses living, working and governing in the Santa Monica Bay area; Architecture; Individuals; Artists; Literature; Music and much more.
We are currently seeking materials and stories to document the pandemic (COVID-19). If you have a story or would like to share or donate photos or items, Contact Us or fill-out our form.
DONATIONS
We continuously add to our archival collections and through the generosity of individuals and corporations donations we are able to fulfill our mission and share Santa Monica’s history with everyone!
We would be pleased to hear from you regarding photographs or other materials relating to the Santa Monica Bay area that you wish to share or donate. Contact Us or fill-out our online form.
Santa Monica Airport - Outlook Collection (1998.1.70)
HISTORICAL PHOTOGRAPHS Explore Santa Monica's rich history
Consisting today of over 600,000 prints, negatives, glass-plate negatives and slides, the photo collection is one of the stellar components of the museum’s archival holdings.
In addition to being the most comprehensive collection documenting Santa Monica’s history, most of the images in the collection are unique, rare, and not available anywhere else.
Many of our photos are available as re-prints. Search our archives or find one in our Gift Shop.
HISTORICAL OBJECTS Experience a Part of Santa Monica
In addition to our extensive historical photograph collection, our collection holding contains several pieces of Santa Monica history. Letters from the city founder, John P. Jones, coins, objects from businesses such as Edgemar Farms and so much more.
Our Permanent Exhibition rooms display several items and our Research Library is available with many books about Santa Monica.
Santa Monica History Museum Collection (36.2.4018)
RESEARCH LIBRARY Discover Santa Monica History
Our research library provides historical materials and information to teachers, students, scholars, publishers, the media and a host of others. We have Special Collections (e.g. rare books & periodicals, school yearbooks, telephone directories), Sanborn Maps, street plans, newspapers and more.
Access to our Research Library and Special Collections is by appointment only.
RECENT ACQUISITION Rare Tract Maps
Shortly before the pandemic struck, we were fortunate to receive a realty scrapbook, containing rare tract maps compiled by the Akins Realty Co. of Ocean Park. The approximately 75 maps are in excellent condition and document neighborhood growth in the Santa Monica Bay area from the 1890s to about 1919.
The oversize volume was generously gifted to the museum by local preservationist Margaret Bach.
One of our upcoming projects will be to digitize the contents of this remarkable item so that it can be shared with the community.
Santa Monica History Museum Collection (2019.30)
collections spotlight WWI-Era Dog Tags
This matched pair of round dog tags belonged to Sergeant W.S. Miller and are part of the our Douglas Collection. Dog tags were issued in pairs so that when a soldier died, one tag stayed with the body and the other was removed for identification purposes. Military dog tags have evolved over the years from a round style during WWI, to the rectangular shape used today.
More About our Collections
In the 1990s, the museum’s collection of images was significantly augmented by the accession of major photo collections from within the city of Santa Monica. In 1995, the museum received the photo archives of Outlook newspaper photographer, Bill Beebe, whose collection of over 75,000 images spans the 1930s to the 1960s. This acquisition was followed in 1998 by the accession of the Outlook archives (over 300,000 images covering its 123 years of operation) and by the accession of the personal archives of Bob Smith (over 6,000 negatives, including images of former Presidents Nixon and Kennedy), staff photographer at the Outlook between 1970 and 1997 and the archival collections of the former City Scene newspaper in 1998 (over 6,000 images).
In 1996-1997, the SMHSM was awarded funding in the amount of $75,000 from the city of Santa Monica towards the conservation of its photo collection. In addition, the SMHSM received funding from the Ahmanson Foundation (Los Angeles) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (Washington, D.C.) for photo conservation and digitization.
SMHSM = Santa Monica Historical Society Museum – Our previous name