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.


New Exhibit

Stories of Service: California's Black Physicians

 

Online Mini Tours

Archives Mini Tours

Archives Mini Tours

 

Online Collections

Banner for Alfred Eichler Collection

Alfred Eichler Collection

 

Japanese Incarceration during WWll Exhibit Button

California State Government and Incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II

 

William McCarthy Photograph Collection Exhibit Button

The William M. McCarthy Photograph Collection

 

California Digital Archives Trademarks Exhibit Button

California Digital Archives 19th Century Trademarks

 

image of disenos homepagebanner

Disenos Collection

 

Google Arts & Culture Online Exhibits

The Price of Gold: Looking Back at California's First Constitution

The Price of Gold: Looking Back at California's First Constitution

The California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus: Working Towards Change in the Golden State

The California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus: Working Towards Change in the Golden State

 

Farmworkers in the Land of Plenty

 

Allensworth Exhibit Banner

Allensworth - Realization and Resurrection of an African American Dream

 

Legislative Black Caucus Exhibit Button

The California Legislative Black Caucus - Celebrating the Past, Working Towards the Future

 

California Road Trip Exhibit Button

California Road Trip Exhibit

 

Spanning the Bay Exhibit Button

Spanning the Bay

 

image of prop 187 banner

Looking Back at Proposition 187 - Twenty-Five Years Later

 

image of women's suffrage banner

Votes for Women - On the Road to Ratification

 

Judah Map Exhibit Banner

Judah Map - the First Complete Rail Map of the Sierras

 

Civil War image in red white and blue of a soldier holding the American flag.

Soldiers' Ballot - Voting by Mail during the Civil War

 

California Missions Exhibit Button

California's Missions: Decline and Revival

 

Pacific Shore Age of Lincoln Exhibit Button

A Visit to the Pacific Shore - California in the Age of Lincoln

 

Yosemite: California's First State Park

Yosemite: California's First State Park

 

button for rail road exhibit

Commemorating 150 Years of the Transcontinental Railroad

 

California Witch Hunt Banner

California Witch Hunt - Jack Tenney, Sam Yorty, and the Birth of California Un-American Activities Committee

 

Civil War image in red white and blue of a soldier holding the American flag.

Papeleta Soldadas - Votacion correo durante la Guerra Civil

 

California Memoirs Exhibit Button

California Memoirs - The William M McCarthy Photograph Collection

 

Whitaker and Baxter Campaigns button

Whitaker and Baxter Campaigns, Inc. Exhibit

 

Home Front Exhibit Button

Home Front - California During World War II

 

March Fong Eu Exhibit Banner

Leading the Way: March Fong Eu and a Lifetime of Service

 

Alfred Eichler Exhibit Button

Alfred Eichler Exhibit

 

Unite the Nation Campaign Exhibit Button

A Campaign to Unite the Nation: Robert F. Kennedy’s 1968 Presidential Campaign in California

 

California World War 1 Exhibit Button

California Goes to War - World War 1 and the Golden State

 

California Secretary of State Exhibit Button

California Secretary of State Exhibit

 

California State Parks Exhibit Button

California State Parks Exhibit

 

Research Room Exhibits

View a list of our current and past exhibits displayed in the California State Archives' Research Room lobby.


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.

Media Kit: June 4-5, 1968

Women Get the Right to Vote

Votes for Women On the Road to Ratification Banner

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.

California State Archives Audio Visual Preservation