The San Diego History Center is a museum showcasing the history of

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

, located in the city's Balboa Park.

Description and history

Founded in 1928 by businessman and civic leader George W. Marston, the San Diego Historical Society was housed in the Mission style Junípero Serra Museum on Presidio Hill, the site of the earliest settlement in San Diego and California. The original building was designed by architect

William Templeton Johnson William Templeton Johnson (1877 – 1957) was a notable San Diego architect. He was a fellow to the American Institute of Architects (AIA) in 1939. Johnson is known for his Spanish Revival buildings, all in San Diego unless otherwise noted: * L ...

. In 1982, the San Diego Historical Society moved its collections and research library to the

Casa de Balboa Casa de Balboa is a building in San Diego's Balboa Park (San Diego), Balboa Park, in the U.S. state of California. The building was originally known as the Commerce and Industries Building, and later called the Canadian Building, the Palace of Bett ...

building in Balboa Park (maintaining the Serra Museum as an auxiliary museum and education center), and the Society changed its name to the San Diego History Center in 2010. Of special note among the museum's collections are the Historic Clothing and Textile Collection, which includes over 7,000 items illustrating the history of dress from the late 18th century to the present, and the San Diego Fine Art Collection, notable for its early 20th century plein air paintings, with works by

Maurice Braun Maurice Braun (1877–1941) was an American artist who became known for his Impressionist landscapes of southern California. He was born in Hungary on October 1, 1877; however, by the age of four, young Maurice and the Braun family had migrat ...

, Alfred Mitchell, Charles Fries,

Belle Baranceanu Belle Goldschlager Baranceanu (July 17, 1902January 17, 1988) was an American painter, teacher, muralist, lithographer, engraver and illustrator. She was born Belle Goldschlager in Chicago, Illinois (Baranceanu was her mother's maiden name). Her ...

Charles Reiffel Charles Reiffel (1862 - March 14, 1942) was an American lithographer and post-Impressionist painter who became "one of California's best-known painters." Life Reiffel was born in 1862 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Reiffel was initially a lithograph ...

Alice Klauber Alice may refer to: * Alice (name), most often a feminine given name, but also used as a surname Literature * Alice (''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''), a character in books by Lewis Carroll * ''Alice'' series, children's and teen books by ...

, and

Donal Hord Donal Hord (February 26, 1902 – June 29, 1966), an American sculptor, was born Donald Horr in Prentice, Wisconsin. Early life In 1914, Hord and his mother moved west, to Seattle, Washington. Shortly thereafter he contracted rheumatic fever, a ...

. In addition to its museum exhibits, the History Center maintains a research library and archives serving residents, scholars, students and researchers. The Document Archives, the region’s largest collection of historical materials, holds over 45 million documents including public and architectural records, books, maps, scrapbooks, manuscripts, newspapers, ephemera, diaries and oral histories. The photograph collection, with 2.5 million photographs, is one of the largest regional photography collections in the United States. It includes a large number of 19th and early 20th century images of the San Diego region acquired in 1979 from the Union Title & Trust Insurance Company; important additions to the collection in the 1980s and 1990s include the entire collection of the San Diego ''Union-Tribune'' newspaper prior to 1981. Highlights of the photograph collection include the Edward H. Davis Collection of Indian Photographs and Drawings, 1900s-1940s, and the

Norman Baynard Norman Baynard (1908–1986) was an American photographer whose work documented the social and civic life of African-Americans in the Logan Heights neighborhood of San Diego from the 1940s through the 1980s. His extensive collection of negativ ...

Collection of the African-American Community of Logan Heights, 1939-1985. Since 1955 the center has published the ''Journal of San Diego History'' in cooperation with the

University of San Diego The University of San Diego (USD) is a private Roman Catholic research university in San Diego, California. Chartered in July 1949 as the independent San Diego College for Women and San Diego University (comprising the College for Men and Schoo ...

. From 1955 to 1964 published as the ''San Diego Historical Society Quarterly.'' In 2013, the History Center became a

Smithsonian Affiliate Smithsonian Affiliations is a division of the Smithsonian Institution that establishes long-term partnerships with non-Smithsonian museums and educational and cultural organizations in order to share collections, exhibitions and educational stra ...

References

External links

*
Edward H. Davis Collection of Indian Photographs and Drawings
(catalog), San Diego History Center
Norman Baynard Collection
(catalog), San Diego History Center {{authority control Balboa Park (San Diego) Historical societies in California Museums in San Diego