Southwest Museum of the American Indian Museum

Address: 234 Museum Drive, Los Angeles (Mount Washington), CA 90065

Website: https://theautry.org/collections/southwest-museum

Admission: Admission varies; many core exhibitions historically offered free or low-cost entry, check the Autry museum site for current access policies.

The Southwest Museum of the American Indian is located in the Mount Washington neighborhood of Los Angeles and was founded by Charles Fletcher Lummis in 1907. The institution built a distinctive early 20th-century museum building and amassed an extensive collection of Native American artifacts.

The museum historically functioned as a major repository for Native American art, archaeology, and ethnography from the Southwest and beyond, housed within a Mission Revival / Spanish Colonial style structure. Over time the museum’s collections were placed under the stewardship of the Autry Museum of the American West, which manages and cares for the holdings.

Charles Lummis established the museum to preserve and interpret indigenous and regional cultural materials; the Mount Washington building has since been the subject of preservation and conservation efforts while access to the original site has been limited.

Sited in the foothills north of downtown Los Angeles, the museum building occupies a hillside location in the Mount Washington district, overlooking parts of northeast Los Angeles.

• Founding: Founded in 1907 by Charles Fletcher Lummis, the museum assembled a large collection of Native American artifacts and ethnographic material over the 20th century.

From downtown Los Angeles: take the 110 Freeway north and exit on Avenue 26 or drive up Figueroa Street into Highland Park and follow signs to Mount Washington. Public transit: Metro Gold Line (L Line) to Highland Park station, then a short Lyft/Uber or a 15-20 minute bus/taxi uphill; local buses serve Museum Drive on occasion.

• Approach the Southwest Museum building from Museum Drive and the Mt. Washington side to appreciate the landscaped terraces and tile work that most fleeting visitors miss.
• Look up at the decorative tiles and carved stone-there are inscriptions in several indigenous languages and names of donors from the early 20th century.
• Check the Autry Museum's website for special access or guided tours; the building has had changing hours and conservation access since 2001.