Discover our Collections
The following list represents a small sampling of our collections housed in the department. If you are looking for something you don't see here, please contact us. We may have other collections and material related to your research.
The Richard Armour Collection, 1906-1988. (Literary)
Armour was a poet, author, satirist, and English professor at Scripps College. Holdings include first editions, manuscripts, memorabilia.
The Mary Hunter Austin Collection, 1868-1934. (Literary)
Austin was an author and pioneer in California Bohemian movement. Holdings include a significant collection of first editions.
The Joan Hotchkiss Collection of Bixby Family Papers (Also called The Bixby Collection), 1830's-2000's (Long Beach history)
This collection of materials was initiated by Joan Hotchkiss, great-granddaughter of John W. Bixby who, along with I.W. Hellman and his cousins, Jotham and Lewellyn Bixby, purchased Rancho Los Alamitos in 1881. Over the years, the Bixby family and their descendants continued to own and develop land in California and beyond. In the late 1940's/early 1950's Fred Bixby sold of a portion of the Rancho's barley fields to the City of Long Beach. This land now houses California State University, Long Beach. This collection of materials contains original documents and correspondence, photographs accumulated by several family members, correspondence, research materials gathered by Joan Hotchkiss, oral history interviews, maps, ephemera, and more, from the 1830's to the 2000's. Contact the department for box lists.
Papers of the first bank of Long Beach, 1896-1950's (Long Beach history)
Record books, ledgers, financial journals, financial reports, minutes, receipts, and other material related to the first bank of Long Beach in 1896, and it's subsequent iterations through the 1950's. Contact the department for box list.
The Book Club of California. (California printing)
The Book Club of California originated in 1912 in San Francisco. The collection is inclusive of a selection of books indicative of fine printing and instrumental in promoting the production of the art of printing.
The Nick Carter Collection. (Detective stories, paperbacks)
Detective series by Street and Smith, New York 1891. The collection exceeds one hundred numbered sequences/volumes. Contact the department for list.
The Crawford Coleridge Collection. (Literary)
Based on gifts from CSULB Professor Emeritus Walter B. Crawford and Ann M. Crawford, this working collection of rare and unusual materials in all the categories covered in Samuel Taylor Coleridge: An Annotated Bibliography of Criticism and Scholarship (1976, 1983, 1996), along with a convenient reference collection, is intended for use by scholars with special research interests and by readers desiring to see hard-to-find items annotated in the Bibliography, especially in the Crawford volumes. The Collection is particularly strong in Coleridge-related art and music and other special categories.
The Richard Cross Collection, 1950-1983. (Photography)
Cross was a photojournalist. Holdings include his extensive personal library of photography books donated by the late photographer's parents.
Edward S. Curtis, 1868-1952. (North American Indians)
A series of 20 volumes with photogravures on tissue, produced on three types of paper, the rarest being the tissue copies. Also 20 portfolios of limited edition plates which describe and depict the Indians of North America and Alaska.
Leonardo da Vinci, 1452-1519.
Codex Atlanticus is an oversize 12 volume rare facsimile edition of Leonardo's 16th Century notebooks containing the speculations, experiments and musings from fleeting sketches to fully developed drafts of the artist's major works. His notebooks reveal much of a scientific and practical nature.
Diderot L'Encyclopedie.
Described as the grandfather of all encyclopediae. Twenty-five years in the making, 18th Century French, consisting of 17 volumes of text, 11 of plates, 4 supplementary volumes of text and a concluding volume of plates. The first volume appeared in 1751.
The Dwight L. Dumond Collection. (American history)
The private collection of anti-slavery pamphlets and books which consists of over 274 items dated from 1760 to 1860. The collection is strongest for the decade of the 1830's because of quantity, as well as continuity and variety. Included are sermons, political speeches and broadsides of the abolition movement. Annotated Bibliography of the Dwight L. Dumond Collection.
The Fine Art and Photography Collection. (Art, Photography)
The collection of over 500 art and photography prints include artists such as: Andy Warhol, David Alfaro Siqueiros, Claes Oldenberg, Roy Lichtenstein, Käthe Kollwitz, David Hockney, and many more. Photographs by predominantly American photographers such as: Ansel Adams, Edward Weston, Paul Caponigro, Minor White, Eiot Porter, and more are also available. Please contact us for spreadsheet of available works.
The Robert Cunninghame Graham Collection, 1852-1936. (Literary)
British author of travel books and biographies, who also helped organize the Scottish Labor Party. Holdings include several first editions.
The Richard Hanna Collection. (Political)
Hanna, a Democrat congressman from Orange County, was first elected in 1962 and returned for the 5 succeeding Congresses. The papers provide a record of his Congressional tenure from 1964-1974, including his work on the Education and Rules Committee. Contact the department for box list.
The Mark W. Hannaford Collection. (Political)
Mark Hannaford served as Councilman for the City of Lakewood from 1966 until he won a Congressional seat in 1974 from the 34th Congressional District. The papers provide a record of his Congressional tenure representing Lakewood and western Orange County. He served in the Carter Administration in 1979 as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce. Contact the department for box list.
The Raphael Hanson and Judy Hanson Argyres Collection of Chinese and Japanese Art.
A collection of classic 17th and 18th Century Chinese and Japanese painting was donated by CSULB Professor Emeritus Raphael Hanson and his late sister Judy Hanson Argyres. The collection includes the famous Kuniyoshi, 47 Ronin, as well as dozens of examples of painting on paper and silk, a six-screen panel, numerous scrolls, woodblock prints, and assorted examples of Asian sculpture and art.
The Dorothy Healey Collection. (Political)
Healey served as a Spokesperson and Chairman of the Southern California District, C.P.U.S.A. from 1949-1972, and eight years in Imperial Valley and other agricultural areas organizing farm laborers. She was prominent in left-wing C.I.O. activities in the 40's, organizing cannery, mill and municipal workers. The collection was acquired in 1971 and there have been subsequent additions donated by Healey. It contains over 10,000 items including books, pamphlets, broadsides (handbills and leaflets) letters, photographs, speeches, news clippings, etc. Particularly important are party programs, internal discussion guides and position papers reflecting Communist Party theory and practice from the 1940's to the 1960's. There are over 150 indexed boxes. The collection is enhanced by the Al Richmond Papers, also donated by Healey.
See also: Interview of Dorothy Healey, 1972, at The UCLA Center for Oral History Research.
The Huntington Collection. (American history)
The collection consists of primary resource material and contains approximately 375 titles which were published between 1629 and 1887 in England and America. Over one-third of these documents focus specifically on events relating to the American Revolution and occurring between 1755 and 1783.
The Robinson Jeffers Collection and Robert Brophy Collection, 1887-1962. (Literary)
Jeffers has been described as the literary interpreter of the Carmel, California coastal area, where he settled and produced regional poetry of universal implications. The Jeffers Collection is comprised of all editions of his writings published during his lifetime, as well as extensive Jeffers ephemera, and most later editions and critical evaluations of his works.
The Wesley Kuhnle Collection, 1898-1962. (Music)
Kuhnle was a Southern California musicologist. He was regarded as a pioneer in historic tunings of early keyboard music of the 1500's to the late 18th Century. The collection includes acoustical plans, architectural drawings, oral history tapes on reels, correspondence, etc. and is a commentary on American musicians in Southern California in the first half of the 20th Century. He focused upon musical instrument techniques, primarily the harpsichord and the clavichord. Contact the department for finding aid.
The D.H. Lawrence Collection, 1885-1930. (Literary)
The D.H. Lawrence Collection consists of several first editions, limited editions, as well as critical evaluations of his works. Included also are his translations of Italian narratives, posthumously published papers, assorted articles and signed editions.
The Gerald Locklin Collection. (Literary)
Gerald Locklin, an emeritus CSULB English Department faculty member, was the author of over 50 volumes of poetry and fiction who published over a thousand poems, stories, reviews and articles. The collection contains hundreds of actual acceptances and reflections from international publishers, providing a unique insight into the precarious world of publishing. There are also thousands of small press poetry publications, anthologies, and monographs which he donated and most are indexed by author, title, and first line.
The Long Beach and Local History Collection. (Long Beach History) (Including Joan Hotchkis Collection of family papers)
The collection contains historical pamphlets, booklets, postcards, various publications and news clippings, all directly relating to some aspect of Long Beach and surrounding cities. Contact the department for box list.
The MGM Music Collection. (Music)
In 1970 several hundred musical scores, including some original film scores, were donated to the CSULB Library by the MGM Studio. Most items were either integrated into the general stacks or sent to the Music Department. Some of the original scores are housed in Special Collections.
The Fred and Esther Modern Photography Collection. (Photography materials, Photography)
An extensive collection of photography books, as well as photo prints were donated by the late Dr. & Mrs. Fred Modern of Long Beach. Included are photo prints by Ansel Adams, Edward Weston and other western photographers. The prints are available by appointment for photography classes.
The Oral History Collection. (In 2024: In the process of being transferred onto new Digital Archive)
CSULB oral historian Sherna Berger Gluck directed the oral history project. The collection is a primary source for a range of disciplines and for varying interests.
The Oral History of the Arts Collection. (Music -- early 20th Century) (In 2024: In the process of being transferred onto new Digital Archive)
The collection contains taped interviews and performances by musicians, musicologists, composers and educators, primarily European emigres who immigrated to Southern California.
The Pasadena Playhouse Collection. (Los Angeles Theatre from 1925-1968)
The collection includes hundreds of play-bills, books, play scripts, scrapbooks and other ephemera. An index is available with title listings. Contact the department for box list.
The Frank Pooler Collection. (Music)
The Frank Pooler Collection contains the published, written/composed, arranged, edited, and instigated work of Frank Pooler. Included are several hundred choral octavos printed singly (S), or in collections (C). The collection also contains articles and other journalistic items by or about the Poolers published in magazines, newspapers, and brochures. Contact the department for box list.
The Radical Politics in California Newspaper Collection. (Political)
The collection consists of newspapers relating to the Socialist, Communist and Peoples' Party. It also includes a collection by Ron Ridenour, freelance journalist and author, of scrapbooks depicting his political involvement in Nicaragua. Contact the department for box list.
The Raymond Rodríguez Collection. (U.S. History)
Raymond Rodriguez was a social historian, columnist, and professor of history and political science at LBCC. He was also the first Latino administrator at LBCC. The collection consists mostly of manuscript drafts, newspaper clippings, Press-Telegram Columns, and research material for Rodríguez's book with Francisco Balderrama, Decade of Betrayal. (16 boxes) Contact the department for finding aid.
The Rosie the Riveter Collection: World War II Era. (Oral Histories) (In 2024: In the process of being transferred onto new Digital Archive)
The collection provides a firsthand account of American women's experiences as defense workers during WWII. CSULB oral historian, Sherna Berger Gluck, directed extensive interviews with over forty "Rosie the Riveters," focusing on the long-term effects of their wartime work experience.
The David N. Samuelson Science Fiction and Fantasy Magazine Collection.
Professor Samuelson, CSULB English Department faculty member, donated lengthy, and often complete runs of 54 science fiction and fantasy magazines from the 1940's through 1995.
The CSULB Sculpture Symposium. (Art/Sculpture)
The International Sculpture Symposium was organized in 1965 by Professor Ken Glenn, CSULB Department of Art and was created on the campus site by eight world renowned sculptors, constituting a "Museum Without Walls." The collection contains 5 boxes of information regarding the entire process: creating, organizing, facilitating, and financing the project. Contact the department for box list.
The Howard Sherain Collection, --1981. (Law)
The collection was assembled by CSULB Professors Barry Steiner and William Leiter, Political Science Department, following the death of Dr. Sherain, also of the Political Science Department. It represents Sherain's involvement and writings specifically in the field of American constitutional law and affirmative action. There are 35 boxes of materials and a finder's guide. Contact the department for box list.
The Upton Sinclair Collection: 1878-1968. (Literary)
Sinclair was an author and a political and social activist. The Upton Sinclair Collection consists of some first edition books, an almost complete holding of the publication Upton Sinclair's EPIC News, dated from May 28, 1934 to December 9, 1935, numerous articles and miscellaneous correspondence. Contact the department for box list.
The Stanley Slotkin Book Leaves Collection (Manuscript Leaves)
This collection contains leaves from various Bibles and manuscripts ranging from the mid 1400's to the 1700's accompanied by facsimiles of their title pages, one news article featuring the discoverer, Stanley Slotkin, and two pieces of correspondence regarding the collection acquisition.
The Gerald Strang Collection, 1908-1982. (Music)
Strang served as CSULB professor of music from approximately 1965-1970. The collection includes acoustical plans, architectural drawings and floor plans for music buildings. There are also over 100 tapes on reels, records, sheet music, books and correspondence. Contact the department for box list.
Illustrators' Tear-Sheet Collection.
The collection is an illustrators' file containing tear-sheets from a variety of periodicals including Ladies' Home Journal, The Saturday Evening Post, Time, Cosmopolitan, etc. The tear-sheets are individually preserved in plastic slips. They date from the 1920's-1970's, and are indexed alphabetically by illustrator.
Theatre Poster Collection. (Posters)
Approximately 100 U.S. theatre posters, representing the period from 1850-1900.
The Don Utter Collection. (Long Beach history, 1970's-1980's)
Focuses upon Utter's political/cultural involvement with Alamitos Bay, Democratic Club, Bike Path, Parks, Coastal Plans, Los Cerritos Wetlands, Beaches and Harbors and SOHIO (Standard Oil Company). Contact the department for box list.
The Venice Collection. (Local history, 1960's-1970's)
The Venice Collection, initiated by Emeritus CSULB Professor Arnold Springer, Department of History, relates to the history and culture of Venice, California community. It is inclusive of correspondence, documents, photographs, films, and organizational records.
The Vincent Thomas Collection, 1908-1980. (Political)
Thomas served in the California State Assembly from the 1940's to the 1970's. He served on a number of Assembly Committees including Conservation and Wildlife, Pacific Marine Fisheries, Human Services, etc. The collection, which was received in 1979, reflects his service and tenure. Contact the department for box list.
The William Yates Collection. (Television scripts)
The collection consists of television scripts, production manuals, and synopses from the series The Streets of San Francisco which aired from 1972-77. Also included is the series The Runaway (1978), and several Walt Disney productions such as Herbie the Love Bug.
