California Historical Society
California Historical Society
- Location: Stanford, CA
- Phone: (650) 512-6308
- Email: chscollection@stanford.edu
- Website: https://library.stanford.edu/libraries/special-collections
The CHS Collection represents the environmental, economic, social, political, and cultural heritage of the entire state, including materials from outside California that contribute to a greater understanding of the state and its people.
As of January 28, 2025, California Historical Society collections have been transferred to Stanford University Libraries, following the CHS Board of Trustees resolution to dissolve the organization. SUL is committed to carrying on CHS’s core mission of preserving and sharing the history of California and the West. The agreement between CHS and SUL, which was unanimously supported by the CHS Board of Trustees and reviewed by the California Attorney General’s Office as part of the California nonprofit dissolution process, provides that the collection will remain intact under the expert care of SUL’s extensive preservation and archives staff. This ensures that the CHS Collection will continue to be publicly accessible for future generations to appreciate.
Read the entire press release here: https://library.stanford.edu/news/stanford-university-assume-stewardship-california-historical-society-collection
CHS Collections will be temporarily unavailable as SUL works to accession them and transfer and update records.
Collections at this institution
1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire Digital Collection: Selections from the California Historical Society
The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire Digital Collection is a compilation of selected holdings from collections housed in the archives and special collections of The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley; the California Historical Society, San Francisco; The California State Library, Sacramento; Stanford University, Stanford; The Huntington Library, San Marino; and The Society of California Pioneers, San Francisco. Presenting approximately 14,000 images and 7,000 pages of text, the digital collection makes accessible material related to the history of the earthquake and fire in San Francisco, as well as presenting material on other areas affected throughout the state. The project …
Institution: California Historical Society Collection at Stanford
3,426 Items
Adolph Petsch collection of photographs of Pasadena and Southern California
Consists of 51 cabinet photographs of Pasadena, California and other Southern California cities, including Long Beach and Los Angeles. The photographs document many of the houses, churches, hotels, schools, and businesses in Pasadena between the years 1881-1888. Some photographs show the Long Beach Hotel, Mission San Gabriel, and two bird's eye views of Los Angeles.
Institution: California Historical Society Collection at Stanford
51 Items
Alfred A. Hart Stereographs of the Central Pacific Railroad
Contains seventy stereographs depicting views of the construction and surrounding landscape of the Central Pacific Railroad in northern California and Nevada. Includes a downtown San Francisco view, a photo of the interior hallway of E.B. Crocker's Sacramento residence, and a group portrait of Paiute people. Images in this collection were photographed and published for the Central Pacific Railroad Company. Backs of stereographs are labeled with advertising for various photographic series taken and published by Alfred A. Hart including: Scenes in the Sierra Nevada Mountains; Scenes in the Washoe Range; Scenes in the Valley of the Sacramento; Scenes on the Humboldt …
Institution: California Historical Society Collection at Stanford
70 Items
Anton Wagner photographs of Los Angeles, 1932-33
Consists of photographs of urban, suburban, rural and waterfront areas of Los Angeles County. Many photographs show neighborhood streets and houses, including ethnic enclaves and communities of Mexican Americans, Japanese Americans, Chinese Americans, African Americans, Russian Americans, Irish Americans, Jewish Americans, and Slavonian Americans. Includes images of businesses, buildings, oil rigs in populated areas, hydraulic structures, railyards, industrial and construction sites, and agricultural land. A small portion contain people. Includes six photographs of damaged buildings in Compton and Long Beach from the Long Beach earthquake of 1933, three photographs of maps of Los Angeles, and a section of map showing …
Institution: California Historical Society Collection at Stanford
438 Items
Audio from the Peoples Temple Publications Department
The sound recordings from the Peoples Temple Publication Department records include recordings of Jim Jones’ sermons and his amateur radio broadcasts from Jonestown. Others document commercial radio appearances by Temple members and associates, including Marceline Jones, Mark Lane, and Jim McElvane. There is a long recording of an interview with Jim Jones by Phil Tracy of New West Magazine. This series will be of interest to researchers who are curious about how the Temple represented itself both to outsiders and insiders, as well as the religious doctrines that informed members’ thinking. Though heavily mediated, they provide an in-depth look into …
Institution: California Historical Society Collection at Stanford
46 Items
Broadsides
Selections from the California Historical Society broadsides collection.
Institution: California Historical Society Collection at Stanford
38 Items
California Agriculture: Crops
Contains photographs and picture postcards from the Agriculture series in the General Subjects Photography Collection, depicting California's agricultural crops (almonds, apples, apricots, beans, celery, century plants, cherries, cotton, figs, grapefruit, grapes, guayule, hay, hemp, hops, lemons, olives, onions, oranges, peaches, pears, persimmons, plums, prunes, pumpkins, raisins, strawberries, sugar beets, wheat), between the years of 1880 and 1970.
Institution: California Historical Society Collection at Stanford
192 Items
California Agriculture: Exhibitions
Contains photographs and picture postcards from the Agriculture series in the General Subjects Photography Collection, depicting California's agricultural exhibitions.
Institution: California Historical Society Collection at Stanford
5 Items
California Agriculture: Farms and farmers
Contains photographs and picture postcards from the Agriculture series in the General Subjects Photography Collection, depicting California farms and farmers.
Institution: California Historical Society Collection at Stanford
6 Items
California Agriculture: Food processing
Contains photographs and picture postcards from the Agriculture series in the General Subjects Photography Collection, depicting food processing in California.
Institution: California Historical Society Collection at Stanford
52 Items
