Teaching Primary Sources Online

Please note: Many of our past online exhibits require Adobe Flash.

This exhibit ran in the SDSU Library from August 28, 2017 - July 31, 2018 and was curated by Librarians Pamela Jackson and Anna Culbertson from Special Collections & University Archives.

Seven exhibitions. The items in these exhibitions trace the history of Hispanic Americans in California from the Mission system and Californios into the 20th century: Mexican immigration into California, the farmworkers' labor struggles, and the Chicano Civil Rights movement and La Raza, which also resulted in an explosion of cultural art. Although a number of different Hispanic American groups now live in the state, the images in these exhibitions largely portray Mexican Americans, who have always comprised the majority of Hispanic Californians.

Five exhibitions documenting the history of Asian Americans in the west: Everyday Life and Cultural Traditions, 1860s-1980s; Gold Rush Era to 1890s; Early 20th Century; World War II; New Communities, 1960s-Present.

Five exhibitions. Historic photographs and artwork show the changing lives of African Americans from the Gold Rush Era and Statehood (when many, but not all, slaves in California gained their freedom), through years of struggle to claim their civil rights. Although these images cannot possibly encompass every aspect of African American life in America during this time, they offer a candid look into a number of important areas in California: black migration into the state, the effects of segregation and racial discrimination, the struggle for social equality, the Civil Rights Movement and its leaders, the Black Panthers, urban violence and community renewal, and the rise of the black middle class and black political leadership.

Five exhibitions: Pre-Columbian California to 18th Century; Rock Art in California; https://calisphere.org/exhibitions/2/native-americans-19th-century/; https://calisphere.org/exhibitions/4/native-americans-20th-century-today/; https://calisphere.org/exhibitions/5/native-americans-arts-and-traditions/.