Southwest Museum

Founded in 1907 by the Southwest Society, the Southwest Museum opened its main site on 234 Museum Drive in 1914. The guiding inspiration behind the museum was Southwest Society founder Charles F. Lummis, who made it his mission to preserve Indian culture. The result was one of the finest collections of Indian art and culture in the world, featuring exhibits from as divergent regions as Alaska and Tierra del Fuego on the tip of South America.

Over the years, a second site was opened, the Southwest Museum at LACMA West, situated in the historic May Company building at 6067 Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles. In 2003, however, the Southwest Museum merged its collections with those of the Autry Museum of Western Heritage and the Women of the West Museum and moved to Griffith Park.

Today, the bounty of the Southwest Museum resides within the Autry as part of an intercultural history center. Representing the stories, experiences, and perceptions of the many peoples of the American West, the collections here now contain some 500,000 pieces of art and artifacts. Research libraries are also maintained, along with exhibitions, public programs, K~12 educational services, and publications. The address is 4700 Western Heritage Way, Los Angeles, California 90027-1462.