Long Beach is a big city, learn its history!

Support the most fun and hardworking historical museum team in Long Beach. Support the Historical Society of Long Beach! We produced exhibitions such as "Olympics on the Golden Shore," "Centro de La Raza: John A. Taboada Legacy Photo Collection 1970-1985," "The Workers' Harbor," "A Woman's Place," and "The Cambodian American 1.5 Generation Oral History Project Portraits." 

The HSLB's historical collections number over 3,500 and one-million items. These community history collections are the foundation for many exhibitions and programs. We rely heavily on the photographic collections to develop educational exhibitions that are free and open to the public. Photographs expand knowledge of the history of Long Beach, and place in the city and its people in a larger historical context. 

Researching authors draw from HSLB’s primary sources for publications that explore a diverse array of subjects. Titles include The Remaking of a Seaside City, Long Beach: A History Through its Architecture, LGBTQ+ Long Beach, African Americans in Long Beach and Southern California: A History, and Cambodians in Long Beach. 

Scholars at all levels including graduate students utilize the HSLB’s collections. Recently, state-wide curriculum writers used HSLB’s Cambodian American history materials to full fill K-12 ethnic studies in an Orange County Department of Education pilot program https://camodelcurricula.ucdavis.edu/cambodian-american-studies. HSLB’s collections also informed a pilot program for LBUSD American History Civil Rights segment. Interns from CSULB’s College Corps program have learned valuable skills at HSLB since 2022.

HSLB’s historical collections are also used by news agencies including the Associated Press, KCRW, KTLA, Los Angeles Times, Press-Telegram, Gazette Newspapers, LB 908, and other local, regional, and national outlets to offer background and context to their stories.

Anthropologist Susan Needham and Karen Quintiliani co-founded a partnership with the HSLB to be the repository for their collections about the Cambodian Community in Long Beach dating back over 40 years. Their work and HSLB collections are the source for ground breaking scholarship around Cambodian Americans.

Please support this work today!