The Southwest Museum of the American Indian is a museum, library, and archive

Archive

An archive is a collection of historical records, or the physical place they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or organization's lifetime, and are kept to show the function of an organization...

 located in the Mt. Washington

Mt. Washington, Los Angeles, California

Mount Washington is a neighborhood located in the hills of northeastern Los Angeles, California.-Geography:The boundaries of Mount Washington are roughly defined by Division Street on the west, El Paso Drive and Avenue 50 on the northeast, Marmion Way on the southeast, and Isabel street on the...

 area of Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

. It is part of the Autry National Center

Autry National Center

The Autry National Center of the American West is an intercultural center and museum in Los Angeles, California that celebrates the diversity and history of the American West through three important institutions: the Southwest Museum of the American Indian, the Museum of the American West, and the...

. Its collections deal mainly with the American Indian. However, it also has an extensive collection of pre-Hispanic

Hispanic

Hispanic is a term that originally denoted a relationship to Hispania, which is to say the Iberian Peninsula: Andorra, Gibraltar, Portugal and Spain. During the Modern Era, Hispanic sometimes takes on a more limited meaning, particularly in the United States, where the term means a person of ...

, Spanish colonial

Spanish Colonial Revival Style architecture

The Spanish Colonial Revival Style was a United States architectural stylistic movement that came about in the early 20th century, starting in California and Florida as a regional expression related to history, environment, and nostalgia...

, Latino

Latino

The demonyms Latino and Latina , are defined in English language dictionaries as:* "a person of Latin-American descent."* "A Latin American."* "A person of Hispanic, especially Latin-American, descent, often one living in the United States."...

, and Western American

Western (genre)

The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...

 art and artifact

Artifact (archaeology)

An artifact or artefact is "something made or given shape by man, such as a tool or a work of art, esp an object of archaeological interest"...

s.

Major collections include rooms devoted to 1) American Indians of the Great Plains, 2) American Indians of California, and 3) American Indians of the Northwest Coast.

The museum is located at 234 Museum Drive in the City of Los Angeles.

Public transportation is available, such as the Metro Gold Line

LACMTA Gold Line

The Gold Line is a light rail running from Pasadena through downtown East Los Angeles, Los Angeles which also serves several tourist attractions, including Little Tokyo, Union Station, Southwest Museum, Chinatown, and the shops of Old Town Pasadena...

, which stops down the hill from the museum at the Southwest Museum station

Southwest Museum (LACMTA station)

Southwest Museum Station is an at-grade light rail station in the Los Angeles County Metro Rail system. It is located near the intersection of Marmion Way at Museum Drive in northeast Los Angeles...

. Parking

Parking

Parking is the act of stopping a vehicle and leaving it unoccupied for more than a brief time. Parking on one or both sides of a road is commonly permitted, though often with restrictions...

 can be difficult to find.

History

Charles Fletcher Lummis

Charles Fletcher Lummis

Charles Fletcher Lummis was a United States journalist and Indian activist; he is also acclaimed as a historian, photographer, poet and librarian....

 was an anthropologist, historian, journalist, and photographer who created the Southwest Society, which was the western branch of the Archaeological Institute of America

Archaeological Institute of America

The Archaeological Institute of America is a North American nonprofit organization devoted to the promotion of public interest in archaeology, and the preservation of archaeological sites. It has offices on the campus of Boston University and in New York City.The institute was founded in 1879,...

. He gained the support of city leaders, and with the financial backing of attorney Joseph Scott

Joseph Scott (attorney)

Joseph Scott was a prominent British-born attorney and community leader in Los Angeles, California. His service to the community was so varied and important that he earned the nickname "Mr. Los Angeles."-Early life:...

 and opened the Southwest Museum in 1907. The museum moved from Downtown Los Angeles to its current location in Mt. Washington in 1914, and has been there ever since.

The 1914 building was designed by architects Sumner P. Hunt

Sumner Hunt

Sumner P. Hunt was an architect in Los Angeles from the 1890s to the 1930s.-Practice:In partnership with architect Silas Reese Burns he designed such regional landmarks as the original building of the Southwest Museum, the Casa de Rosas, Ebell of Los Angeles, the Bradbury Building, the Los Angeles...

 and Silas Reese Burns. Later additions to the museum include the Caroline Boeing Poole Wing of Basketry (completed 1941), by architect Gordon B. Kaufmann

Gordon Kaufmann

Gordon Kaufmann was an English born American architect mostly known for his work on the Hoover Dam. He arrived in California in 1914 and during his early career he did much work in the Mediterranean Revival Style which had become popular at that time.He was also the initial architect for Scripps...

, and the Braun Research Library (1971), by architect Glen E. Cook.

Frederick Russell Burnham

Frederick Russell Burnham

Frederick Russell Burnham, DSO was an American scout and world traveling adventurer known for his service to the British Army in colonial Africa and for teaching woodcraft to Robert Baden-Powell, thus becoming one of the inspirations for the founding of the international Scouting Movement.Burnham...

, the highly decorated military scout and father of the international scouting movement, was an early president.

Current Status

Because the 93-year-old building does not meet current seismic standards, the galleries at the museum are currently closed to the public. Extensive rehabilitation of the building and conservation of its rare collection of Native American artifacts is currently underway, with the goal of moving most of the collection to a new state-of-the-art home. Plans call for the infrastructure improvements to the Southwest Museum to be completed by 2013.

External links

• Autry National Center - official website