The Huntington Library, Art Collections, And Botanical Gardens Free Admission Thursday

Free Admission Thursday at The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens - see INFO below. The Huntington has a membership totaling more than 40,000 households, an active volunteer corps of some 1,500, and a full- and part-time staff of more than 400. It is an independent nonprofit organization, supported by gifts and grants from individuals, corporations, foundations, and government agencies and by a private endowment. Henry and Arabella Huntington Railroad and real estate businessman Henry Edwards Huntington was born on Feb. 27, 1850, in Oneonta, N.Y. Henry and his uncle, Collis P. Huntington, were leaders in building the railroads that span the country. In 1892, Henry moved to San Francisco to represent Huntington interests on the Pacific Coast. And in 1902 (two years after the death of Collis), Huntington transferred his headquarters to Los Angeles and started to connect, consolidate, and extend the electric railway system in Southern California (the Red Cars). He had large landholdings in Southern California and numerous business interests. In 1903, he bought the San Marino Ranch (now The Huntington). He married Arabella Duval Huntington, the widow of Collis, in 1913. Together, they amassed extensive library, art, and botanical collections that continue to evolve. Henry died in 1927; Arabella predeceased him by three years. The Five Program Areas about-library-200 Library The Huntington Library is one of the worlds great independent research libraries in the fields of British and American history, literature, art, and the history of science, stretching from the 11th century to the present. Among the collections: 7 million manuscripts 430,000 rare books 275,000 reference books 875,000 prints and ephemera 774,000 photographs More Info below.