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Mission Statement

The Historical Society of Southern California seeks to connect people to their past and to the places they live by combining inclusive historical scholarship and community engagement to explore and disseminate the complex multicultural history of Southern California and the West. Founded in 1883, the HSSC is a membership-driven, nonprofit organization.

Our Principles

The HSSC strives to realize its mission through the application of these fundamental principles:

Integrity

Honesty and integrity are essential to the practice of history, including the prompt acknowledgment of errors and omissions. The Society believes in evidence-based practices in all of its work, recognizing that evidence comes in many forms--written, oral, visual and quantitative--and the historical evolution of what is considered evidence.

Equity and Inclusion

Everyone and everything has a history. The Society seeks to uplift underrepresented voices, empowering community partners to tell their own stories and create an inclusive narrative about the history of Southern California and the West--a narrative that can feature both agency and anguish. The Society acknowledges that history cannot be limited to a single article, book or point of view. We embrace varying and sometimes conflicting points of view, recognizing that history is continually being redefined to reflect new research and new perspectives.

Community

The HSSC seeks to foster a sense of community among scholars, community members, history enthusiasts and others by providing a space to discuss, debate, disagree, and learn from each other in print, online and in person about how and why our region was shaped.

Accountability

Like many 19th-century historical societies, the HSSC was founded and shaped primarily by white males who produced narrow narratives that privileged a European settler experience and excluded a significant amount of Southern California’s history. Acknowledging and owning this institutional history is essential to upholding the honesty and integrity to which we are pledged.

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