Verso

Why do museums matter? It’s a question on the minds of many museum leaders today, including Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III, who spoke at The Huntington last month with Huntington President Karen R. Lawrence and Huntington Governor Robert C. Davidson Jr. The event, held in a packed Rothenberg Hall, was part of the institution’s “Why It Matters” series.

Henry E. Huntington famously built a landmark collection of rare early editions of William Shakespeare’s plays and poems, which remain hugely important to scholars. But what about everyone else?

Reconstructing the social and economic lives of Japanese Americans in Los Angeles in the early to mid-20th century requires a great deal of sleuthing in the archives. One such useful resource is the humble and often-overlooked city directory, which can reveal a great deal about the history of the region and its residents.

Five remarkable collections that tell vivid stories from the perspectives of a broad range of historical figures landed at The Huntington recently, courtesy of the Library Collectors’ Council, a group of Huntington supporters who help fund the purchase of new materials to add to the institution’s holdings.

“Method and Material: Tempera Painting in Focus,” on view through Aug. 8 in the Huntington Art Gallery, brings together tempera works by William Blake, Joseph Edward Southall, George Tooker, Domenico Ghirlandaio, Mark Gertler, and Dunbar Byson Beck.

Anyone who has ever been overwhelmed by a bounty of fruit from a generous backyard tree faces an age-old challenge: how to store abundant, delicious, and nutritious fruit for leaner times. The Huntington Library’s cookbook collection features entire volumes dedicated to the preservation of fruit.

Sun-drenched Southern California is hardly the first place that comes to mind when one thinks of Ireland and its history. And yet, The Huntington is one of the largest repositories in the world for Irish-related manuscripts and almost certainly the largest single archive for Irish history in North America.

At this time of year, flowering fruit trees are in the spotlight for their showy displays of pink blossoms, but there is a lot of competition throughout The Huntington’s gardens. Although many trees share the pink color palette, if you look closely, you’ll see that each one is distinctive.