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Recommended Web Resources on the California
Missions
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annotated links to three categories of Internet sites you may
find of interest. |
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| These are comprehensive, informative,
entertaining and well designed websites that deal in whole or
in part with the missions and the Spanish era. They represent
the best we have found of what is available on the Internet. |
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| These are among the best world
class digital collections that contain important mission era data
or images. They generally require searching to find relevant material. |
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| These have been specially selected for visitors
seeking information on specific topics. We recommend you scan
this list because the sites noted here provide excellent information
on individual subjects that may interest you. They all meet the
criteria of being accurate, well organized and informative. |
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TOP MISSION
ERA WEBSITES |
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| If only have time to check out
one other site, go the California Mission Studies Association
website. CMSA is a non-profit public benefit corporation set up
in 1984. The association and its mission scholars has\ve assembled
an awesome collection of original material and valuable links.
The site benefits from the dedicated efforts of its talented website
editor, Sasha Honig. Among the particularly useful resources are
links to all related Associations, Museums and Parks, reference
material on individual missions, information and links to California
Indians, the Spanish pueblos and presidios etc. This website also
includes student and teacher material including links to outstanding
mission projects completed by 4th grade students in the past. |
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| Don’t’ miss the Mission
Tour website. This website provides informative mission tours
crammed with information and photographs. There are clear directions
(including maps) that tell you how to find each mission. This
website also contains useful educational material in its “Mission
Related Topics” section. These range from lists of California
governors (by category) to explanations of special attractions
you will encounter in your tour, such as the Chris Jorgensen paintings
at Mission Sonoma. Mission Tour also has a bookstore with useful
reviews of books you will want to consider purchasing. |
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| Chumash Life is an informative
site on the Chumash people organized by the Anthropology Department
of Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. The Chumash were a
prominent group of Native Americans who occupied an area that
roughly extends from Malibu up the coast of California past San
Luis Obispo. The majority of the neophytes at San Buenaventura,
Santa Barbara, Santa Ines, La Purisima and San Luis Obispo were
recruited from the hundred plus Chumash Villages that existed
when the Europeans arrived. |
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| This comprehensive site includes
an extensive history of the California Missions, historic photographs
and, best of all, extensive samples of authentic mission music
drawn from Civic Records stellar music CDs, A Choir of Angels
and A Choir of Angels II. An online store sells both CDs. |
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www.cmp.ucr.edu/exhibitions/missions/ |
| The University of California Riverside
has a superb collection of vintage images of the missions in the
online California Museum of Photography. This site includes photographs
from The Keystone-Mast Company, Harry Pigeon, Will Connell and
others. |
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| The Santa Barbara Trust for Historic
Preservation is non profit organization that has been an important
force in the preservation of California’s heritage since
it was founded in 1963. The Trust is the primary force in the
reconstruction and preservation of El Presidio de Santa Barbara
State Historic Park, several 19th century adobes and, more recently,
the Mission Santa Inés mills complex in Solvang. |
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| San Diego Historical
Society’s large, well organized website offers is a treasure
trove of information, much of it online. The site includes a sizeable
photo gallery, bibliographies, a Time Line of San Diego History
and past issues of the Journal of San Diego History going all
the way back to January 1955. The Society also provides links
to, and summary information on, several splendid museums including
the Serra Museum on Presidio Hill in San Diego (the original site
of the San Diego Mission). |
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| The California Missions
Foundation is a non-sectarian, nonprofit organization dedicated
to the preservation of California's historic missions. The foundation
is raising $50 million to repair the missions and preserve their
precious artworks and artifacts. This site includes information
on the preservation status of each mission, news about the missions
and the winning posters in “A Day in the Life of A Mission”
contest. |
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This searchable website
includes photographs from the Title Insurance and Trust Company
(TICOR) and the L.A. Chamber of Commerce collections. The images,
dating from 1860 to 1960, provide documentation and an interesting
chronicle of the growth of Southern California. It has a good
number of images on the California Missions.
Other material is available at the Historical Society’s
main website at
http://www.californiahistoricalsociety.org/
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TOP
REFERENCE WEBSITES |
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Making of America is a digital
library of primary sources in American Social History, organized
and operated by the University of Michigan. The collection currently
contains approximately 8,500 books and 50,000 journal articles
with 19th century imprints. It has a powerful search feature.
Try California Missions to start.
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This stunning collection started
with the voluminous material Hubert Hugh Bancroft assembled in
researching and writing his multi-volume History of California.
The libraries at Berkeley are a treasure trove for scholars and
mission buffs, and they have posted a great deal of material online.
Of particular interest are the collection of Franciscan Mission
images taken between 1875-1882, the Alice Iola Hare Collection,
the I.W. Taber Views of California and the California Mission
Sketches of Henry Miller.
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The Historic American Buildings
Survey (HABS) and the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER)
collections in the American Memory section of The Library of Congress
contain high quality images and architectural drawings of many
of the California Missions. This project started during the Great
Depression, in December, 1933, when a thousand out-of-work architects
were employed for ten weeks to document the “Antique Buildings
of America.”
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www.learncalifornia.org/default.asp |
| An extensive online electronic
resource for students, teachers and everyone else interested in
California history, this State funded site covers everything from
agriculture to California Symbols to an inventory of the State
Archive. The site includes oral histories, regularly updated online
exhibits and a “This Day in California” feature. It
provides links to state museums such as California State History
Museum and the California Woman’s History Museum. |
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| This PBS (Public Broadcasting)
website offers a tremendous amount of documentary material on
the West, all of it exceptionally well designed and extensively
illustrated. Much of the material was acquired in preparation
for the eight episode PBS series THE WEST. The site includes an
interactive Time Line and Interactive Maps, biographies, a multi-media
survey and other fascinating features. |
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SPECIAL
INTEREST WEBSITES |
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| California Mission Cemeteries and
other related information |
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The Sonoma County Historical Society
has an interesting website detailing the history of Fort Ross
at
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| Here is a fun and informative
short quiz on the names given mission era plants by the ‘Californios’
from Mexico. |
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| The photographs make this a particularly
useful glossary for those interested in learning more about the
missions. |
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Ed Stephan of Western Washington
University in his diverse website includes an animated map showing
the sequence of the founding of the 21 California missions. He
also offers special information on the four remaining Still-Franciscan
missions, San Antonio de Padua, San Miguel, Santa Barbara and
San Luis Rey. See.
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Paper
Models, Inc – a complete online resource for paper models
of the California Missions and other Historical Landmarks. |
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| A comprehensive directory of arts and
art related websites. |
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| This website features an armchair tour
beginning in San Diego and ending 21 missions later in the romantic
wine country of Napa-Sonoma. The program also features some of
California's legendary personalities and major events through
rare photographs and film. This best selling video is the one
of it's kind endorsed by the California Historical Society. |
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