Verso

Henry E. Huntington famously built a landmark collection of rare early editions of William Shakespeare’s plays and poems, which remain hugely important to scholars. But what about everyone else?

Reconstructing the social and economic lives of Japanese Americans in Los Angeles in the early to mid-20th century requires a great deal of sleuthing in the archives. One such useful resource is the humble and often-overlooked city directory, which can reveal a great deal about the history of the region and its residents.

Five remarkable collections that tell vivid stories from the perspectives of a broad range of historical figures landed at The Huntington recently, courtesy of the Library Collectors’ Council, a group of Huntington supporters who help fund the purchase of new materials to add to the institution’s holdings.

“Method and Material: Tempera Painting in Focus,” on view through Aug. 8 in the Huntington Art Gallery, brings together tempera works by William Blake, Joseph Edward Southall, George Tooker, Domenico Ghirlandaio, Mark Gertler, and Dunbar Byson Beck.

Anyone who has ever been overwhelmed by a bounty of fruit from a generous backyard tree faces an age-old challenge: how to store abundant, delicious, and nutritious fruit for leaner times. The Huntington Library’s cookbook collection features entire volumes dedicated to the preservation of fruit.

Sun-drenched Southern California is hardly the first place that comes to mind when one thinks of Ireland and its history. And yet, The Huntington is one of the largest repositories in the world for Irish-related manuscripts and almost certainly the largest single archive for Irish history in North America.

At this time of year, flowering fruit trees are in the spotlight for their showy displays of pink blossoms, but there is a lot of competition throughout The Huntington’s gardens. Although many trees share the pink color palette, if you look closely, you’ll see that each one is distinctive. 

On April 13, 1982, Lily Lee Chen was elected to the city council of Monterey Park, a city in the western San Gabriel Valley region of Los Angeles County that had become one of the first “suburban Chinatowns” in the United States. In 1984, Chen made history by becoming the first female Chinese American mayor in the nation.