Autry Museum of the American West

Life, Liberty, and Los Angeles

Visit the Autry to explore the meanings behind some of the most powerful words in the Declaration of Independence from the Autry’s signature perspective: “the view from here.” Los Angeles from its beginnings has been a place of competing claims of life, liberty, and happiness. This exhibition shares the stories of diverse Angelenos and how their ideas of life, liberty, and happiness inspired the city’s growth and amplified the opportunities and contradictions expressed in the nation’s founding principles. Historical and contemporary objects, media, and art combine with community collaborations to bring this history alive. Life, Liberty, and Los Angeles invites you to step into a conversation that has been shaping Los Angeles for over two hundred years and to see the United States, its past and its future, in a new way.

America 250: The View From Here

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Friday, May 29, 2026
Online event
Register to receive the zoom link.
12:00 pm – 1:30 pm

Historians of Los Angeles and the American West discuss the Autry’s signature initiative within the context of the America 250 commemoration, considering this moment from a West Coast perspective.

A conversation with Stephen Aron (Calvin and Marilyn Gross Director and President and CEO of Autry Museum, and Professor of History, Emeritus, UCLA); Carolyn Brucken (Senior Curator, Autry Museum); William Deverell (Professor of History, USC and Co -Director Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West); and Virginia Scharff (Emeritus Distinguished Professor of History at the University of New Mexico).

Guided reading of the Declaration of Independence

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Saturday, July 18, 2026
The Autry Museum of the American West
Griffith Park, 4700 Western Heritage Way
Los Angeles, CA 90027
2:00 pm – 4:00 pm

An intimate workshop experience brings together scholars, museum members, students, and the public for a guided reading and discussion of the Declaration, exploring its ideals as part of a living story.

A workshop conversation led by Peter C. Mancall, (Linda and Harlan Martens Director of the USC-Huntington Early Modern Studies Institute).

The Fight For a Fairer City: Los Angeles as Testing Ground

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Saturday, September 19, 2026
The Autry Museum of the American West
Griffith Park, 4700 Western Heritage Way
Los Angeles, CA 90027
1:30 pm – 3:30 pm

This panel explores the ways Californians contributed to the shape and foundations of our current political system, showing how the path to liberty and freedom did not move unilaterally from East to West, with Los Angeles a 20th century trailblazer in the pursuit of freedom.

A conversation with Michael Woo (former Los Angeles City Councilmember and President of 1871 Memorial Project) and Zev Yaroslavsky (former Los Angeles County Supervisor and Director of Los Angeles Initiative, UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs).

Learn more about items in the exhibition.

Silver box owned by Pío Pico

Silver box owned by Pío Pico, mid-19th century. Engraved with Latin quote “ A mind aware of what is right.” Acquisition made possible by the Ramona Chapter, Native Sons of the Golden West, Autry Museum; 93.21.21