The Southwest Museum of the American Indian is a museum, library, and
archive
An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials – in any medium – or the physical facility in which they are located.
Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or ...
located in the
Mt. Washington neighborhood of
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, above the north-western bank of the
Arroyo Seco (Los Angeles County)
The Arroyo Seco, meaning "dry stream" in Spanish, is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. , accessed March 16, 2011 seasonal river, canyon, watershed, and cultural area in Los Angeles County, Cal ...
canyon and stream. The museum is owned by the
Autry Museum of the American West
The Autry Museum of the American West is a museum in Los Angeles, California, dedicated to exploring an inclusive history of the American West. Founded in 1988, the museum presents a wide range of exhibitions and public programs, including le ...
. Its collections deal mainly with
Native Americans. It also has an extensive collection of pre-
Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...
,
Spanish colonial,
Latino
Latino or Latinos most often refers to:
* Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America
* Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States
* The people or cultures of Latin America;
** Latin A ...
, and
Western American art and
artifacts.
Major collections had included
American Indians of the Great Plains
Plains Indians or Indigenous peoples of the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies are the Native American tribes and First Nation band governments who have historically lived on the Interior Plains (the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies) of ...
,
American Indians of California
The indigenous peoples of California (known as Native Californians) are the indigenous inhabitants who have lived or currently live in the geographic area within the current boundaries of California before and after the arrival of Europeans. W ...
, and
American Indians of the Northwest Coast
The Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast are composed of many nations and tribal affiliations, each with distinctive cultural and political identities. They share certain beliefs, traditions and practices, such as the centrality of sal ...
. Most of those materials were moved off-site, but the Southwest Museum has maintained an ongoing public exhibition on
Pueblo pottery
Pueblo pottery are ceramic objects made by the indigenous Pueblo people and their antecedents, the Ancestral Puebloans and Mogollon cultures in the Southwestern United States and Northern Mexico.
For centuries, pottery has been central to puebl ...
, open free of charge.
The
Metro L Line stops down the hill from the museum at the
Southwest Museum station. About a block from the L Line stop is an entrance on Museum Drive that opens to a long tunnel formerly filled with dioramas, since removed by the Autry Museum and placed in storage. At the end of the tunnel is an elevator to the museum's lower lobby.
History
Charles Fletcher Lummis
Charles Fletcher Lummis (March 1, 1859, in Lynn, Massachusetts – November 25, 1928, in Los Angeles, California) was a United States journalist, and an activist for Indian rights and historic preservation. A traveler in the American Southwest, h ...
, an
anthropologist
An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and ...
, historian, journalist, and photographer, created the Southwest Society, which was the western branch of the
Archaeological Institute of America
The Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) is North America's oldest society and largest organization devoted to the world of archaeology. AIA professionals have carried out archaeological fieldwork around the world and AIA has established re ...
. He gained the support of city leaders, and with the financial backing of attorney
Joseph Scott, opened the Southwest Museum in 1907. The museum moved from Downtown Los Angeles to Mt. Washington in 1914.
The 1914 building was designed by architects
Sumner P. Hunt and
Silas Reese Burns
Silas Reese Burns (1855–1940) was an American architect.
Biography
Early life
He was born on April 8, 1855, in Morgantown, West Virginia. He became a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects in 1882. He graduated from the Massachusetts ...
. Later additions to the museum include the Caroline Boeing Poole Wing of Basketry (completed 1941), by architect
Gordon B. Kaufmann
Gordon Bernie Kaufmann (19 March 1888 – 1 March 1949) was an English-born American architect mostly known for his work on the Hoover Dam.
Early life
On 19 March 1888, Kaufmann was born in Forest Hill, London, England.
Education
...
, and the Braun Research Library (1971), by architect Glen E. Cook.
Frederick Russell Burnham
Frederick Russell Burnham DSO (May 11, 1861 – September 1, 1947) was an American scout and world-traveling adventurer. He is known for his service to the British South Africa Company and to the British Army in colonial Africa, and for teach ...
, the highly decorated military scout and father of the international scouting movement, was an early president.
In 2003 the financially teetering museum was absorbed by the Autry Museum which designated it as its Mt. Washington Campus.
Following years of controversy with the Friends of the Southwest Museum and other local community organizations, the Autry began a partnership with the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the City of Los Angeles to develop a long-term plan for the site. On January 22, 2015, the Southwest Museum was designated a National Treasure by the
National Trust for Historic Preservation
The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a privately funded, nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that works in the field of historic preservation in the United States. The member-supported organization was founded in 1949 by ...
. In March 2019 the Autry and the National Trust published a Request for Interest for the revitalization and reuse of the historic Southwest Museum campus and Casa de Adobe.
Collection
One gallery is open to the public on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with events and exhibitions that may take place on other parts of the campus. Admission is free. Autry has moved and been conserving most of the original collection in a new state-of-the-art home in Burbank, with plans to open that in 2021.
See also
*
*
Bertha Parker Pallan
Bertha Pallan Thurston Cody (née Parker; August 30, 1907 – October 8, 1978) was an American archaeologist, working as an assistant in archaeology at the Southwest Museum. She was also married to actor Iron Eyes Cody. She is thought to be the f ...
*
Mark Raymond Harrington
Mark Raymond Harrington (July 6, 1882 – June 30, 1971) was curator of archaeology at the Southwest Museum from 1928 to 1964 and discoverer of ancient Pueblo structures near Overton, Nevada and Little Lake, California.
Early life
Harrington kne ...
*
Cheech and Chong
Cheech & Chong are a comedy duo consisting of Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong. The duo found commercial and cultural success in the 1970s and 1980s with their stand-up routines, studio recordings, and feature films, which were based on the hippie a ...
References
External links
Autry Museum of the American West- official website
Southwest Museum (Mt. Washington Campus)- official website
Friends of the Southwest Museum Coalition- supporters' website
Treasureswm.org: Treasure It Together: Southwest Museum Site − website homepage— ''project of the National Register of Historic Places''.
Image of two Indigenous protesters talking to Dr. Carl Dentzel, director of Southwest Museum about display in Los Angeles, California, 1970.Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
Photographic Archive (Collection 1429). UCLA Library Special Collections,
Charles E. Young Research Library,
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...
.
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Museums in Los Angeles
Native American museums in California
History museums in California
Arroyo Seco (Los Angeles County)
Mount Washington, Los Angeles
Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments
Buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Los Angeles
Native American history of California
Museums established in 1907
1907 establishments in California
1900s architecture in the United States
Sumner Hunt buildings
Mediterranean Revival architecture in California
Native Americans in Los Angeles