A new chapter
For more than six decades, our organization has connected people through stories, histories, and community voices that shape our region. Today, we are embarking on an important transformation: expanding our reach and relevance, strengthening our impact, and helping more people discover the connections between history, culture, and contemporary life.
Today, we embrace our new name as the Museum of History and Culture La Jolla and mark our transition from a valued historical society to a dynamic museum. This evolution reflects the breadth and depth of our exhibitions, educational programs, research, and community partnerships that distinguish our organization.
Join us in building the future of MHC La Jolla.
Preserving the Past.
building the future.
Our work is rooted in a legacy of stewardship.
When the La Jolla Historical Society was founded in 1964, its mission was both simple and profound: to preserve the stories, places, and people that make this community unique. For more than sixty years, generations of supporters have protected historic buildings, saved archival materials, recorded memories, and ensured that La Jolla's history would not be lost.
Because of the vision of our founding members, of the Scripps and Revelle families, of countless former and current board members and staff and volunteers, we are here today. Each generation has built upon the work of those who came before, responding to the needs of its own time while remaining true to our founding purpose.
But organizations, like communities, do not stand still. They evolve.
As we've grown, we've also listened. We often hear first-time visitors say "Wow...this place is way cooler than I expected." It made us ask: Who isn't walking through our doors because of preconceived or limited notions about who we are and what we do? How many people never discover this place because our name suggests something different from the vibrant museum that we’ve become?
These questions led to more than a year of extensive research, thoughtful discussion, and listening to many of the people who care most deeply about this organization.
We have started a new chapter as the Museum of History and Culture La Jolla.
History remains at the center of everything we do. Our new name reflects the organization we've become and the future we're building.
Our extraordinary campus exists because of people who believed in creating something that would serve generations they would never meet.
The Scripps sisters, the Revelle family, and our founding members all understood that places matter. They understood that communities need gathering places. They understood the value of investing in the future.
We are privileged to have inherited that responsibility. And our task now is to ensure that our campus is preserved and activated daily, and that it remains a beloved community space for the next sixty years and beyond.
Join us in building the future of MHC La Jolla.
We extend our deep gratitude to the supporters whose belief in this transformation made our new chapter possible: Gestalt Brand Lab, Orli La Jolla, Patsy and David Marino, Anna Haudenschild Meier, Rita Haudenschild, and Eloisa Haudenschild.
A brand build on past and future.
Designed by award-winning firm Gestalt Brand Lab, our new brand identity features modern and classic elements of architecture, history and design, brought together to communicate a seamless blend of old and new in an artful aesthetic.