Santa Monica Public Library

Highway ramps are usually not postcard-worthy structures, but California Incline is in a different league. The Incline extends approximately 1,400 feet from the intersection of Ocean and California Avenues at the top of the Palisades bluffs to the Pacific Coast Highway (SR1) at the base of the bluffs. Not only is it a vital traffic route connecting downtown Santa Monica to PCH, it is also a destination point with a breathtaking view of the Santa Monica Bay. By the early 1990s, the deteriorating structure (which had been in place for eight decades) was deemed seismically deficient. In 2007, a federal …

Institution: Santa Monica Public Library

A long time activist, Judy Abdo’s career in public service paralleled many of the major events in Santa Monica’s progressive political movement, including rent control, anti-AIDS discrimination ordinance, environmental issues and early childhood education. In 1988, Abdo (who came out in 1978) became the first openly lesbian elected to Santa Monica’s city leadership, serving on the City Council from 1988 to 1996, including two terms as Mayor (1990-1991, 1992-1994). Born in 1943 and raised in Hollywood, California, Judy Abdo (nee Ulrich) knew as early as second grade that she wanted to be a teacher. At University of California, Santa Barbara, …

Institution: Santa Monica Public Library

Donated to the Library from the Pacific Palisades Historical Society in 2006, this photograph collection consists of more than 3000 images in prints, negatives, and other media. The collection provides a rich visual history of the Palisades community from its pre-development days in 1916 and founding in 1922 up to and including the 1950s.

Institution: Santa Monica Public Library

This collection consists of photographs, brochures and programs, newspaper clippings and other ephemera selected from the Quinn Research Center. In 2004, Carolyne Edwards and her husband Bill Edwards founded the Quinn Research Center as a tribute to the legacy of Carolyne's uncle, Dr. Alfred T. Quinn (1922-2003), a prominent Black educator and community leader in the Santa Monica Bay Area. Over several decades, in addition to Dr. Quinn's personal archives, the Edwardses have amassed an eclectic collection of materials that encapsulates a wide range of Black experiences in Santa Monica from the early 1900s to the present, be it the …

Institution: Santa Monica Public Library

The Santa Monica Image Archives illustrates the history of the Santa Monica Bay Area from 1875 to the present day with historical photographs, postcards and other images including views of the City and its landscape.

Institution: Santa Monica Public Library

The Santa Monica Public Library is home to the most comprehensive set of Santa Monica city directories in the country. The digitization of those volumes expands access for all interested in using this invaluable resource. Currently 13 of the 63 volumes are digitized and freely available online. We anticipate to have the entire collection of city directories digitized by 2024. The digitzation is made possible by Barry and Sharla P. Boehm, long time Santa Monicans and Library supporters. The Boehm family wishes to name the collection after Sharla.

Institution: Santa Monica Public Library

WAVES Santa Monica Lesbian and Gay Alliance.

Institution: Santa Monica Public Library