Opening Hours
Daily: 10 A.M.–5 P.M.
Closed on Tuesdays
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
Shapiro Center Programs
The Shapiro Center sponsors a variety of programs that bring together scholars, cultural observers, creatives, and the public to explore critical issues in American history and culture—especially those that can be explored in the light of documentary evidence.
Previously Recorded Programs
Shapiro Book Prize Lecture - “Democracy and the Declaration of Across 250 Years”
On the occasion of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence Harvard scholar Danielle Allen explores how the Declaration’s promise of political equality informs her teaching, advocacy, democracy and civics education work. Following her lecture, Allen joins Susan Juster, W.M. Keck Foundation Director of Research, to discuss the historical significance and continued relevance of this founding document today. This special program is part of THIS LAND IS …, The Huntington’s sweeping multiyear initiative that marks the 250th anniversary of the United States’ founding and reflects on the American story through the lens of land. Recorded June 25, 2026.
Shapiro Book Prize Lecture - “Serving Herself: The Life and Times of Althea Gibson”
Ashley Brown, winner of the 2025 Shapiro Book Prize, discusses her biography of Althea Gibson, the first African American tennis player to win titles at Wimbledon and the U.S. Nationals.
Nineteenth-Century Nature and Contemporary Photography
Contemporary voices in the exhibition “Storm Cloud: Picturing the Origins of Our Climate Crisis” bring forward questions of environmental history to the present. This conversation covered topics such as land extraction, human influence on plants, environmental injustice, immigration, photographic technologies, and reparative histories. Recorded Oct. 8, 2024.
Shapiro Book Prize Lecture: Happy Dreams of Liberty
On the occasion of winning The Huntington’s 2023 Shapiro Book Prize for , R. Isabela Morales discusses the significance of writing family history, the challenges of tracing the lives of enslaved people, and the incredible cache of unpublished letters and legal documents that forms the archival core of her book. Recorded March 29, 2023.
