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Explore America: California

Explore America and discover people, places, art, and history that connect to California in the Smithsonian’s collections, held in trust for the American people. The collections include items that reflect the state’s distant past (a hunk of algae older than the dinosaurs) and its vibrant present. California’s natural treasures are as expansive as the “Golden State” itself: It is home to mountains, deserts, redwood forests, and about a thousand miles of Pacific coastline. View images of the Golden Gate Bridge, deemed one of the modern wonders of the world, and a gold nugget and Torah mantle from the 1849 gold rush. Explore the stories of notable Californians—from Hollywood icons to influential changemakers such as activist Cesar Chavez, chef and food pioneer Alice Waters, and tech visionary Steve Jobs.


  • Smithsonian American Art Museum 29 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
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  • California 32 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
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  • Hollywood (Los Angeles, Calif.) 1 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection 29 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
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Included:

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Death Valley, California

A California Landscape

San Diego Mission

California 1938

Alice Waters

Braceros

Golden Gate

Indians in Council, California

Thomas Keller

Brooklyn and Soto, from the East Los Angeles Urban Portrait Portfolio

Pool, from the Los Angeles Documentary Project

Stamp with illustration of a red suspension bridge being built with mountains in the background

32c Golden Gate Bridge single

Chinese Fisheries--Monterey

Snapshot from a Family Album 1939, Coronado, California

View of Oakland

Coronado Beach, California

International Tower, Long Beach, California, from the Long Beach Documentary Survey Project

Long Beach Pike (Octopus)

Pike (from series, Longbeach)

System Development Corporation, Santa Monica, California, from the Los Angeles Documentary Project

University Gate, Berkeley

L. A. Freeway, from the Los Angeles Documentary Project

10828 S. Avalon Blvd., LA

Truckstop, Highway 58, Bakersfield, California

San Francisco

San Francisco from Russian Hill

San Francisco West Side Ridge

Skyscrapers, San Francisco, Calif.

Pacific Cable Car--San Francisco

Ishi Bar, San Francisco Airport

The Palace Hotel, from Montgomery Street, San Francisco

San Francisco, Corner of California and Montgomery Streets

San Francisco China Town gate

Hollywood

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