Watch, Read, Listen

While the genesis of "When They Were Wild: Recapturing California's Wildflower Heritage" was The Huntington's collections of wildflower paintings by Alice Chittenden and Ethel Wickes, other collections made their way into the exhibition through unexpected routes.

Deciding what goes into a library exhibition is far more difficult than you might expect. After months of research in books and archival collections, you're expected to concentrate all of that knowledge and insight into fewer than 100 items.

It's just one shot, really. It might not even be in the final show. But creating that one shot took permission from the highest levels of The Huntington art division and several hours of direct supervision over the course of two days by a specialist

I came across quite a few interesting pieces when I was researching my current exhibition, "Cultivating California: Founding Families of the San Marino Ranch." When I was researching George S. Patton (senior), I stumbled upon an item that was begging to be displayed.

Earlier this month, Adria L. Imada won the annual Lawrence W. Levine Award from the Organization of American Historians for the best book in American cultural history, Aloha America: Hula Circuits through the U.S. Empire (Duke University Press).

Today, we're accustomed to female soldiers, but in 1886, it must have been quite a surprise to see this female Indian scout, rifle in hand, riding along with U.S. soldiers (at left). The U.S.-issued buckskin gloves look oversized and were possibly props of the studio photographer

The Huntington lost a good friend and supporter recently when Carol Pearson passed away in her sleep on March 7, 2013. Carol first came to The Huntington in 1958 to work for the publications department.

This is one of the most common questions asked of the Library staff. The Gutenberg Bible, the Ellesmere Chaucer, and first editions of Shakespeare's plays come to mind when considering famous older items in the Library's collections.