Woody Guthrie's guitar, a Gettysburg photo: 5 must-sees at the Huntington's new America 250 exhibit

A transverse conception of a 250-year-old Pasadena oak histrion that was uprooted successful a 1993 windstorm is among the archetypal things visitors volition spot upon entering the Huntington’s caller exhibit, “This Land Is…” Jagged cracks successful the trunk, which was erstwhile rooted successful the Huntington’s lawn, are feebly held unneurotic by woody joints.

It’s a fitting emblem of what’s to travel successful a long-planned amusement curated to coincide with the country’s upcoming semiquincentennial, and crafted to airs onshore itself arsenic cardinal to the country’s analyzable past. After taking successful the exhibit, attendees tin gully their ain conclusions astir the land’s relation arsenic a “geographical and metaphorical abstraction of promise, struggle, and belonging.”

On a caller precocious afternoon, the Pasadena prima drilled down connected the facade of the Huntington’s MaryLou and George Boone Gallery, wherever the show’s organizers waited beside 4 chiseled columns with their hands tucked down their backs, swaying successful anticipation.

“It’s the archetypal clip anyone is seeing it,” said Linde B. Lehtinen, the museum’s elder curator of photography.

Joining her are Josh Garrett-Davis, curator of Western American history, and Armando Pulido, adjunct curator for peculiar projects. All 3 grin with excitement.

For the amended portion of the past 2 and a fractional years, Lehtinen and Garrett-Davis person spearheaded the curation of “This Land Is…,” which opens Sunday and runs done aboriginal adjacent year.

For them the fallen oak histrion represents anticipation amid disturbance: Another once-towering elder connected the museum’s North Vista was uprooted during a windstorm successful 2025 — 1 of its acorns has since sprouted and present stands much than 6-feet tall.

Still, it lone brushes the aboveground of an accumulation that seamlessly draws upon a plethora of works crafted crossed U.S. history. Want to program a visit? Here are 5 things you shouldn’t miss seeing.

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“This instrumentality kills fascists,” etched connected the backmost of Woody Guthrie’s guitar connected show astatine The Huntington.  (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

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A person presumption of the “This Machine Kills Facists” etching.  (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

Woody Guthrie’s guitar, inscribed with ‘This Machine Kills Fascists’

In 1940, Woody Guthrie sat successful a Midtown Manhattan hotel, toiling implicit lyrics for what would go “This Land Is Your Land.” Today, it’s been adopted arsenic a quasi-anthem for the U.S. and the epitome of American progressivism.

For this exhibition, the depository acquired Guthrie’s C.F. Martin and Co. guitar, a seamless blend of spruce, mahogany, celluloid, ebony and mother-of-pearl. On its back, a carved inscription reads, “This Machine Kills Fascists.”

“The thought for ‘This Land Is…’ emerged … due to the fact that the scope and breadth of his dependable successful presumption of his activism and however prolific helium was … and reasoning astir however helium reflected connected and experienced American land,” Lehtinen said.

Alongside the guitar is simply a transcript of the Declaration of Independence, annotated by John McKesson, caput of New York’s Fourth Provincial Congress, successful the days pursuing July 4, 1776. According to Lehtinen, the 2 objects were paired arsenic instruments of protestation and change.

“We talked to [Guthrie’s] granddaughter Anna Canoni, and she said to america astatine 1 constituent that helium utilized guitars similar pens oregon tools, and that was truthful due to however we were reasoning astir its narration to this document,” she added.

A representation of the Butte Community, Gila River Relocation Center drawn by an internee.

(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

Japanese angiosperm farmers photographed before, during and aft internment

Not acold from the Guthrie guitar is simply a panoramic representation of the Kuromi family, posing amid a angiosperm workplace that stood wherever Los Feliz Boulevard is now. To its close is simply a watercolor coating of the Gila River War Relocation Center successful Arizona, wherever galore members of the household were forcibly transported to and imprisoned during World War II.

“I was looking astatine a historical preservation report, and the sanction was the aforesaid arsenic my mechanic successful Los Feliz,” Garrett-Davis said. “The adjacent clip I went to get my lipid changed, I took a printout of that panorama and was going to amusement it to them and ask, ‘Do you cognize thing astir this? Is this related?’

“I walked into their office, and a transcript of that photograph had been connected their partition for years. In 10 years, I had ne'er noticed it,” helium said with a laugh.

After their internment, the Kuromi household returned to their workplace successful 1945 to find their instrumentality stolen. The process of regaining entree to their onshore was slow, but they yet settled backmost in, and operated the workplace until losing their lease successful 1961.

‘A Harvest of Death’ and message from location connected the Civil War front

One of the astir grotesque displays connected presumption is an albumen people of an 1863 photograph titled “A Harvest of Death,” taken by Timothy H. O’Sullivan aft the Battle of Gettysburg. Within its framework lies the bodies of fallen soldiers, sprawled retired and lifeless connected the grass.

“That evocative rubric signals immoderate of the different things that we person been reasoning about, whether it’s looking astatine gardens oregon nonaccomplishment … successful this case, these are bodies that person been left, and they’re decomposing,” Lehtinen said.

Paired with the people is simply a missive from a young pistillate named Harriet Bailey to her uncle connected the beforehand lines of the Civil War, containing seeds delicately etched with drawings of a ship, facesand a dog. The 2 pieces correspond a stark opposition successful experiences during the aforesaid conflict, erstwhile again touching upon the taxable of anticipation amid disturbance.

“This is simply a remnant of location that he’s really being sent portion connected the battlefield,” she continued. “So, the joyousness and lightness to what is an incredibly somber infinitesimal successful American history.”

“Archiving the Watershed” is simply a postulation of artifacts from the Colorado River assembled by Otis R. “Dock” Marston connected display.

(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

The Colorado River, mapped retired done an adventurer’s eyes

This show is described arsenic a “tiny slice” of the Huntington’s archive connected Otis Reed “Dock” Marston, a historiographer and stream runner who made it his life’s extremity to cod accusation connected the Colorado River. According to Garrett-Davis, Marston had astir 185 binders afloat of photographs, often placed connected a cut-out representation of wherever they were taken and organized mile-by-mile, from beneath the U.S.-Mexico borderline each the mode into Utah.

This taps into a focal constituent of the exhibition: adapting it to a West Coast perspective. In this way, the thought of independency is viewed expansively arsenic it unfolds crossed clip and place.

“The Huntington has a fantastic postulation of statesmanlike papers and documents relating to the Colonial era, but we besides person materials connected California … from the lens of the West,” said Huntington President Karen R. Lawrence.

“We tin amusement the West’s ocular civilization astatine the aforesaid clip that we tin amusement the archetypal copies of the Declaration of Independence … we person a breadth that’s rather rare.”

Artist Noni Olabiisi’s, “Troubled Island” mural connected canvas, depicting the struggling of the Haitian revolution.

(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

‘Troubled Island’ and a mirrored struggle

The Haitian Revolution whitethorn look retired of spot successful an accumulation celebrating the U.S., but Haiti was the 2nd autarkic federation successful the Western Hemisphere. Its independency from the French was proclaimed successful 1804, conscionable 2 decades aft the American colonies signed the Treaty of Paris.

In the mural “Troubled Island,” Noni Olabisi chronicles the Haitian conflict for independence, including however suffering nether French colonists led to the 1791 enslaved rebellion. The portion was archetypal painted for the William Grant Still Arts Center successful West Adams successful 2003, referencing an opera of the aforesaid name.

The opera was composed by Still with a libretto from the Missouri-born poet, playwright, novelist and societal activistic Langston Hughes, who connected Haiti’s conflict for state to his location country’s.

“We wanted to absorption connected parts that mightiness look peripheral but are really rather cardinal to American history,” Garrett-Davis said.

Three years later, Olabasi would render the aforesaid almighty mural connected canvas.