Welcome to the California State Archives' online exhibits and collections! Here you will find multiple digital resources (collections, exhibits, and selected collections) from the California State Archives' holdings. While just a portion of the State Archives' collection will be available online, our goal is to digitize more material and share it with the people of California and the world. Amazing photographs, colorful trademark specimens, and other original documents reveal past events. Some may shed an unflattering light on past actions but our goal is to present an accurate reflection of history. This will allow us to learn from the past and understand how it evolved into the realities of the present. We hope you enjoy these glimpses into California's history.
Table of Contents
New Exhibit
Stories of Service: California's Black Physicians
Online Mini Tours
Online Collections
California State Government and Incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II
The William M. McCarthy Photograph Collection
California Digital Archives 19th Century Trademarks
Google Arts & Culture Online Exhibits
The Price of Gold: Looking Back at California's First Constitution
The California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus: Working Towards Change in the Golden State
Farmworkers in the Land of Plenty
Allensworth - Realization and Resurrection of an African American Dream
The California Legislative Black Caucus - Celebrating the Past, Working Towards the Future
Looking Back at Proposition 187 - Twenty-Five Years Later
Votes for Women - On the Road to Ratification
Judah Map - the First Complete Rail Map of the Sierras
Soldiers' Ballot - Voting by Mail during the Civil War
California's Missions: Decline and Revival
A Visit to the Pacific Shore - California in the Age of Lincoln
Yosemite: California's First State Park
Commemorating 150 Years of the Transcontinental Railroad
Papeleta Soldadas - Votacion correo durante la Guerra Civil
California Memoirs - The William M McCarthy Photograph Collection
Whitaker and Baxter Campaigns, Inc. Exhibit
Home Front - California During World War II
Leading the Way: March Fong Eu and a Lifetime of Service
A Campaign to Unite the Nation: Robert F. Kennedy’s 1968 Presidential Campaign in California
California Goes to War - World War 1 and the Golden State
California Secretary of State Exhibit
California State Parks Exhibit
Research Room Exhibits
Selected Collections on Special Topics
2023 Latino Heritage Month Revisited Collection
Revist our online exhibits for Latino Heritage Month
2023 Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month Revisited Collections
Visit one of our powerful exhibits to learn more about the first Asian and first female Secretary of State of California, March Fong Eu, the Incarceration of Japanese Americans in California during World War II, and the Chinese immigrants who built the Transcontinental Railroad.
Revisit our online exhibits for Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
2023 Women's History Month Revisited Collections
Visit these exhibits to learn more about the fight for women’s suffrage in California and the first Asian and first female Secretary of State in California, March Fong Eu.
Revisit our online exhibits for Women's History Month
2023 Black History Month Revisited Collections
Visit this collection to explore a celebratory exhibit on California’s Black trailblazers, a curated web page centered on our records related to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the history behind the incredible early twentieth-century town created by Col. Allen Allensworth.
Visit our online exhibits centered on Black Leaders and Landmarks in California
Robert F. Kennedy Resources
Press resources relating to the 50th anniversary of Robert F. Kennedy's victory in the California Primary for the Democratic nomination for President, as well as his tragic assassination.
Women Get the Right to Vote
Votes for Women - On the Road to Ratification
California Audio Visual Preservation Program (CAVPP)
In partnership with 108 libraries, archives and museums, the California Preservation Program provides digitization, preservation and access services for historic California audiovisual recordings. The "California Light and Sound" collection of recordings provides "glimpses and whispers" of our state's rich audiovisual heritage. The Project gathers best archival practices for moving image and sound preservation and establishes low-cost, practical, standards to help collecting organizations move from the analog age to the digital age. Access is provided by the Internet Archive for teaching, research and study. Storage of files for long-term preservation is provided by the California Audiovisual Preservation Project. Click on the link below to view the 118 items from the California State Archives’ collection that the California Preservation Program has digitized as part of the CAVPP.
