On their walk to the Media Learning Center, students may wonder about the distinct building with white Corinthian order columns. This is the California History Center, a space that focuses on preserving the rich and diverse past of California through documents, storytelling and community engagement.
Since its opening in 1967, the center’s mission has been to serve as a laboratory where students can actively explore history through original records and documents that were not widely published.
Students have an opportunity to see an authentic picture of local, state and regional history. They can be involved in sorting and analyzing documents, such as legal cases from local history, experiencing recording and preserving history firsthand.
The center’s staff and volunteers collaborate on many projects, including managing documents, organizing exhibits and promoting the center’s mission to a broader audience. Visitors will have a chance to visit the “Identity and Belonging” exhibition until the end of the spring quarter.
In addition to its exhibitions and collections, the center also publishes the quarterly Californian Magazine, which focuses on exploring different parts of the area’s history. Staff are currently working on the spring issue.
“Every move we make is somehow documented,” said librarian and archivist Lisa Christiansen. “Acts of our daily life create a paper history … People created those kinds of documents in the collection in the course of their lives and careers.”
