The museum will be closed on Friday, December 1 for a private event.
History Resources
Browse original publications, detailed history journals, fascinating podcast episodes, and an expansive archive to uncover the rich history of Santa Cruz County. For information about the Historic Landmark Program, click here.
Check out all the MAH's Santa Cruz County history publications written alongside local historians, environmentalists, politicians, and superstar community members.
“Our ancestors tell the story of where we came from; our ghosts teach us how to move forward.”
Tessa Hulls — Guided by Ghosts Exhibiting Artist
The MAHcast
Dive into what makes Santa Cruz so... Santa Cruz: the mysteries, the histories, and everything in between.
Listen on Soundcloud as Wyatt Young and Marla Novo highlight the stories, passions, and activists found in our strange and wonderful little beach town.
In this inaugural episode of the MAH Cast, the official podcast for the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History, Helen Aldana interviews August Stevens, a producer of Click Fest 2020. Click Fest is a virtual festival organized by the Center for Arts and Diversity Resource Center [CAD] at the University of California at Santa Cruz and will feature art focusing on the BIPOC experience in Santa Cruz and beyond. Join us to learn more about the upcoming Click Fest, and also to learn more about the history of CAD and how it has impacted our community.
In this episode of the MAH Cast, Wyatt talks with Roy Recio the activist and organizer behind The Tobera Project and Watsonville is in the Heart. For the past few years Roy has been working on these projects as a way to preserve and document the Filipino American experience in Watsonville -from the Manong generation of early Filipino immigrants to the United States in the 1920s-30s to their descendants today.
In this month's episode, MAH Exhibitions & Projects Manager Everett Ó Cillín talks with artist and activist Abi Mustapha. Throughout their conversation, they touch upon topics such as Abi’s process, background, and inspiration for their art, as well as Abi’s recent residency experience at the MAH. They also discuss where Abi is going next, and what it means to be an artist in Santa Cruz during the events of 2020. From the hardships of the August CZU Complex fires to the ongoing Covid 19 Pandemic, this talk provides us with some insight into not only how an artist has reacted to these events, but how our community has as well.
In this month's episode, Wyatt Young talks with Joe Ferrara, the owner/operator of the Atlantis Fantasyworld comic book store that was featured in the film "The Lost Boys." Not only has Joe been running a successful local business for 45 years, he's also been quite active in the Santa Cruz music scene. Join us to hear fascinating stories about comic books, community, music, and more!
In this episode, we sit down with Santa Cruz journalist, activist, musician, author, and filmmaker John Malkin to discuss the 30th anniversary of the Gulf War and his film "Santa Cruz Responds to the Gulf War." To accompany this podcast, with John's help we have created a virtual exhibit and blog post of images and ephemera pertaining to our conversation and his film. Follow along and read the blog post here.
In this episode, we sit down to talk with Jorian Wilkins and Robb Woulfe to discuss the impact that COVID has had on the Santa Cruz economy, culture, and community. Jorian Wilkins is the Executive Director of the Santa Cruz Downtown Association and Robb Woulfe is the Executive Director of the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History. In this podcast, we talk about their backgrounds and also their recuperative efforts for downtown recovery in the wake of the COVID 19 pandemic by nourishing Santa Cruz’s creative economy. This episode of the MAHCast acts as a companion piece to the upcoming virtual talk with Robb and Jorian on March 2nd.
We're proud to introduce the MAH's new monthly podcast hosted on Soundcloud. Listen to the first FOUR episodes as we share more of the rich oral histories from across Santa Cruz County.
Tune in to the MAH's podcast, 'That Was Weird' as your hosts, Marla & Gabriel, interview the artists who sparked hope after tragedy using art and community.
Explore Evergreen Cemetery, one of the oldest public cemeteries in California. Follow the self-guided tour and learn more about the people who made Santa Cruz County what it is today.
From the galleries to the gardens, to our offsite historic sites, we’re excited to offer residencies where artists, historians, activists, and scholars can dig in deeper to reveal how our past and this current moment shape our future.
Tune in to the MAH's podcast, 'That Was Weird' as your hosts, Marla & Gabriel, interview the artists who sparked hope after tragedy using art and community.
Statement on Harmful Language in Archival Description
In line with the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History’s Vision, Mission, and Values, the Archives seeks to describe archival materials in a manner that respects those who create, are represented in, and interact with the collections we care for. Archival description appears in collection guides and digital object metadata. We acknowledge a user may encounter language that is racist, colonialist, sexist, homophobic, or otherwise harmful or offensive. This language may result from archival description that has been created over the years by creators of collection material, previous caretakers, or by MAH staff since acquisition.
When we encounter harmful language, we are committed to reviewing and updating it to acknowledge and repair harm, and documenting such updates. However, original description that comes from the archival material itself can provide important context about its creators, custodial history, and/or source, even when the language can cause harm. In such cases, we are committed to providing additional context where possible.
We are currently implementing practices to address harmful language as part of both retrospective and ongoing description work. Communities with less access to and privilege within museums and archives have had less control over how they are represented and described. Therefore, the MAH is dedicated to working with members of the community to assess and update descriptions using language that communities choose for themselves. We acknowledge that language evolves over time and that efforts to create respectful and inclusive description must be ongoing and iterative. As such, we welcome your feedback and questions at archives@santacruzmah.org
