The La Jolla Historical Society’s new identity as the Museum of History and Culture La Jolla reflects both its evolution and its commitment to the community.
Making history of its own, the La Jolla Historical Society has become the Museum of History and Culture La Jolla, a rebrand several years in the making to reflect the 62-year-old institution’s evolution.
“We’re reintroducing ourselves,” said Executive Director Lauren Lockhart.
“History is still central to our mission and always will be,” she said. “But we recognize that today we are known for working with architects, artists, scientists, writers and experts in so many different disciplines.”
The word “culture” better encompasses that breadth, Lockhart added.
“We felt ‘history and culture’ was a really appropriate and fitting way to describe our identity today.”
The reveal
At an Aug 15 open house event to reveal the new Museum of History and Culture La Jolla identity, guests viewed new signage and logos, mingled with MHC La Jolla staff and enjoyed live music and food to celebrate the rebrand and the organization’s past and future.
The event also launched a fundraising effort to replace the current metal bench and sign along Prospect Street with an updated version.
A rebrand steeped in tradition
The La Jolla Historical Society may have a new name, but nothing else changes: The mission remains the same.
The Museum of History and Culture La Jolla will still curate free exhibits, maintain La Jolla’s historical archives and present family programming, lectures, the Modernism and Secret Garden tours and more.
The new identity is a fulfillment, Lockhart said, of all the ways the organization has increased its regional presence. “It’s our name catching up with the work that we do today. … [We have] changed so dramatically since our founding.”
MHC La Jolla hopes that with the rebrand, “more visitors will find us and discover us and feel connected to the work here,” she said, adding the institution is committed to continuing to serve as a free museum space.
The history of the La Jolla Historical Society
La Jolla Historical Society was founded in 1964 by local citizens focused on preserving La Jolla’s heritage, based on earlier archival documentation by Howard Randolph.
The organization was originally connected with the Library Association of La Jolla, the formal name of the present-day Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, but incorporated on its own, meeting in private homes before moving among other small spaces in The Village.
“We started as a small, grassroots volunteer-run historical society,” Lockhart said, “and thanks to so many members of this community, to our supporters, to our cultural partners throughout the region, we do so much more than you might expect from a traditional historical society.”
Image courtesy of The Museum of History and Culture La Jolla
In 2008, Ellen Revelle gifted Wisteria Cottage, the former home built in 1904 for Virginia Scripps, to the historical society for its permanent home. The restored cottage will remain the gallery space for MHC La Jolla’s exhibitions and educational programs.
The MHC offices, archives and research spaces operate from a 1909 cottage and 1916 carriage house on the same property.
“Our archive is built on local La Jolla history,” Lockhart said. “The history of this campus is so integral to the history of the Scripps family. … We wanted to honor that.”
Choosing a new identity
In selecting a new name, the historical society engaged in many conversations internally and with community members about its work as a museum, Lockhart said.
Noting “we’re recognized for our really fascinating, engaging, interdisciplinary exhibitions [and] for our public programs that serve all ages” and wanting to expand on that renown, the organization sought to ensure its name further signaled that work.
“Like so many historical societies across the country who have evolved to be more public-facing … and more engaged with the community, we felt that ‘museum’ is a much better reflection of who we are,” she said.
Further, MHC La Jolla will continue to operate following standards set by the American Alliance of Museums, a national body that offers accreditation to institutions including the San Diego Museum of Art.
From history to the unwritten future
As MHC La Jolla reveals its new look and recommits to the stewardship of La Jolla’s history and culture, Lockhart believes the transition will be a smooth one, reaffirming the organization’s service to the community that built it:
“That’s the dream: This will allow us to continue to grow.”
