Founded through the efforts of Charles Fletcher Lummis and opened in 1907 with backing from Joseph Scott, this Los Angeles institution developed into a major museum, library, and archive centered on Native American collections, with important holdings in pre-Hispanic, Spanish colonial, Latino, and Western American art. After early downtown locations, it moved in 1914 to its Mt. Washington campus, where later additions expanded its facilities. Known especially for materials related to Indigenous peoples of the Great Plains, California, and the Northwest Coast, it later became part of the Autry in 2003. Financial strain, scandal, closure in 2022, and preservation disputes left its future uncertain.