The Lily Ponds, among the first garden features developed at The Huntington, are at their seasonal peak now. William Hertrich, Henry Huntington's first superintendent of the gardens, created the five descending ponds from natural springs

You might skip right past it. In a room of the Jonathan and Karin Fielding Wingdominated by kaleidoscopic starbursts and spirals on huge early American quilts, The Huntington's new Virginia Steele Scott Chief Curator of American Art, Chad Alligood, stops in front of a small, dark piece of needlework.

Earlier this week, The Huntington announced "COLLECTION/S: WCCW/five at The Huntington," an exhibition that will be on view in the Virginia Steele Scott Galleries of American Art from Nov. 18, 2017, through Feb. 12, 2018.

The papers of award-winning science fiction writer Octavia E. Butler (1947–2006) came to The Huntington in 2008. By the time the collection had been processed and cataloged, more than 40 scholars had already asked for access.

As a historian of science, I'm fascinated with pictures that help make sense of past scientific ideas and practices. The Huntington's vast collection of rare 16th-century science books document how intellectuals of the day perceived the eye and the process of sight.

Who will be the civic leaders of tomorrow and guide the decisions Los Angeles makes about infrastructure, transportation, homelessness, and other major issues? It may just be some of the high school juniors involved in the Los Angeles Service Academy (LASA)

Patent papers. Drawings of railcars. Engineering notes. Photographs of trains and machine shops. These were the kinds of materials I expected to encounter as I began organizing the personal papers of William Riley McKeen Jr. (1869–1946), a mechanical engineer

Imagine my surprise when I read the following words in the acknowledgment section of Elizabeth Jane Howard: A Dangerous Innocence, Artemis Cooper's 2016 biography of the late English novelist.

As acting president of The Huntington, I am having the great pleasure of immersing myself in the wide-ranging activities that take place in this extraordinary institution. Our exhibitions program is chief among them, as it showcases both our research and educational missions.

The last decade has seen a surge of interest in historical fiction. Led by Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies—novels that chronicle the rise to power of Thomas Cromwell (1485–1540) in the court of King Henry VIII—these stories have dominated bestseller charts