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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.

4 exhibitions:

California Cultures: African Americans
California Cultures: Asian Americans
California Cultures: Hispanic Americans
California Cultures: Native Americans

Read related essays (6):

Before 1768: Pre-Columbian California
1768-1820s: Exploration and Colonial California
1821-1847: Missions, Ranchos, and the Mexican War for Independence
1848-1865: Gold Rush, Statehood, and the Western Movement
1866-1920: Rapid Population Growth, Large-Scale Agriculture, and Integration into the United States
1921-present: Modern California - Migration, Technology, Cities

Just for teachers: lesson plans (8):

Los Californios:
California's Spanish, Native American, and African Heritage
Children in the Fields:
The Life of the Hispanic Child Laborer During California's Agriculture Explosion
"How Do Men Like You Become Great?":
The Early Years of Dr. Ralph J. Bunche
Stealing Home:
How Race Relations, Politics, and Baseball Transformed Chavez Ravine
The Prints of Self Help Graphics:
The Chicano Movement in California — Culture, Causes, and Community
Views and Voices from Within:
The Art and Writing of Estelle Ishigo, Heart Mountain Relocation Center, 1942-1945
Are We Americans Again?:
A Portrait of Japanese American Internment
Beauty Behind Barbed Wire:
The Relocation Camp Experience of Estelle Ishigo

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.