About the La Jolla Historical Society

The La Jolla Historical Society is a 501c3 nonprofit public benefit corporation whose mission is to inspire and empower the community to make La Jolla’s diverse past a relevant part of contemporary life, encouraging exploration of the past in ways that inform the present and shape the future.  The Society preserves and shares La Jolla’s distinctive sense of place, and serves as a community resource and gathering place where residents and visitors explore history, art, ideas and culture.

Unique in its role as a historic house museum, the Society develops projects that engage 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 & Motor Car Classic. The Society consults with the City of San Diego regarding landmark designation of properties located in La Jolla.

The Society operates a campus of three historic buildings it owns and maintains within the Scripps/Gill cultural zone. The 1904 Wisteria Cottage, gifted to the Society in 2008 by Ellen Revelle, has been restored and rehabilitated with expanded, museum-standard gallery space for changing exhibitions and educational programs. The Society also operates a 1909 cottage as offices and providing public research space, and 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.

Lauren Lockhart, Executive Director

Dana Hicks, PhD, Deputy Director and Collections Manager

McKenna Clifford Yahyai, Education and Public Engagement Manager

Karla Cook, Office and Events Manager

Carol Olten, Historian

EIN: 95-6116290