Haiku is arguably the best-known form of poetry in the United States. Nearly every schoolchild in the U.S. has attempted to write a poem in three lines of seventeen syllables, arranged in the now familiar 5-7-5 syllable pattern. Traditionally, haiku focuses on natural themes and provides philosophical insight through the … Continue reading
Author Archives: Natalie Russell
Sue Hodson’s Legacy
If you were to ask Sue Hodson, who is retiring today, about her favorite Huntington memories, she might tell you about the repartee that was exchanged by the panel of political cartoonists convened in conjunction with her Paul Conrad exhibition. Or she might tell you about the media frenzy that occurred … Continue reading
Ascending Old Baldy
Summer is a time for enjoying the great outdoors, and what better way than by hiking and camping? That’s as true today as it was more than a century ago, when one remarkable woman embarked on a 10-day camping trip in the San Gabriel Mountains with a group of friends. … Continue reading
From Olympics of the Past
As the world celebrates the Games of the XXXI Olympiad in Rio de Janeiro—where more than 10,000 athletes from over 200 countries will compete in 41 sports—we want to share with you some of the Olympics-related items in our Library collections. We start with a fairly recent item and work our … Continue reading
Jack and Charmian’s National Park Adventures
In commemoration of the centennial of the creation of the National Park Service, The Huntington is mounting two related exhibitions. The first part, “Geographies of Wonder: Origin Stories of America’s National Parks, 1872–1933,” is on view through Sept. 5, 2016. A second exhibition, “Geographies of Wonder: Evolution of the National … Continue reading
Volunteering to Decipher Paul Conrad
Meet Huntington volunteer Dennis Harbach. Over the past two years, Harbach has laughed, cried, and winced his way through the gargantuan task of producing searchable metadata for the satirical cartoons in the Paul Conrad papers. Paul Conrad served as chief editorial cartoonist for the Los Angeles Times from 1964 to … Continue reading
Jack London and the Rose Parade
Watching the Rose Parade was a New Year’s tradition growing up. Granted, I usually saw it on television, even though I was just a few miles away from the parade route at my grandparents’ house in La Cañada. But I would visit the La Cañada-Flintridge float under construction before the … Continue reading
A Hollywood Master Remembered
For Americans looking for respite from the Great Depression and later World War II, the entertainment industry provided welcome relief. Los Angeles in the 1930s and 40s was a hotbed of film and theater production, attracting a great number of actors, screenwriters, filmmakers, and other artists to help satisfy the … Continue reading
Making a Case for Mark Twain

For the month of November, we’re celebrating Twain in our Treasures Case in the East Foyer of the Library Main Hall. The original manuscript of The Prince and the Pauper is on display, along with a British first edition of the novel and a stunning portrait of the author himself. Continue reading