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California Cultures

Overview

California Cultures documents California's rich history of diversity and multicultural contributions. The California Cultures project was specially charged with correcting the historic lack of digitized primary source materials for four major ethnic groups: African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Native Americans. More than 20,000 photographs, documents, and other materials tell their stories, struggles, and contributions.

Explore California Cultures by jumping into each of the four themes; or read the six historical essays to learn how California's diversity has evolved over time.

Read related essays (6):

Just for teachers: lesson plans (8):

About this theme:

California Cultures was created by the scholars and curators of the University of California in response to H.R. 1905, an appropriation from the US Congress through Library of Congress’s American Memory program, which made funds available to digitize archival materials relating to the ethnic groups of California.