Balancing the contemporary and historic

A group of people are standing and seated on a lawn in front of a historic cottage and pergola.

Our Mission

La Jolla Historical Society celebrates the history and culture of this region along the water’s edge through interdisciplinary programs, exhibitions, and research that challenge expectations. It balances contemporary and historic perspectives to create understanding and connection.

Our Work

Unique in its role as an historic house museum, LJHS develops projects that cross disciplinary boundaries and explore the relationship of culture to society, collaborating with guest curators, artists, architects, and other cultural producers. Programs include exhibitions, presentations, symposia, discussions, interviews, architecture tours, youth education, and annual community events such as the Secret Garden Tour of La Jolla and the La Jolla Concours d’Elegance. LJHS consults with the City of San Diego regarding landmark designation of properties located in La Jolla.

Our Historic Buildings

LJHS operates a campus of three historic buildings it owns and maintains within the Scripps/Gill cultural zone. The 1904 Wisteria Cottage, gifted to LJHS in 2008 by Ellen Revelle, has been restored and rehabilitated with expanded, museum-standard gallery space for changing exhibitions and educational programs.

LJHS also operates a 1909 cottage as offices and public research space, as well as a 1916 carriage house retrofitted for state-of-the-art storage of the Society’s archival collection, which includes historic photographs, public records, private documents, and newspaper archives.

Our Land Acknowledgement

Mat Kulaaxuuy (La Jolla), the land on which the La Jolla Historical Society stands, is part of the unceded ancient homeland and traditional territory of the Kumeyaay Nation. We honor the Kumeyaay creation story and its important connection to the water’s edge, from which the Kumeyaay emerged. We recognize the continuity of earth, energy and elements that remain present here since time immemorial.

We gratefully acknowledge the heritage of this land of the sovereign bands of Kumeyaay, their Ancestors of the past, their People of the present, and their Descendants of the future.

We will honor and uplift the history, language and culture of the Kumeyaay, and act as a platform to elevate Native voices.