The Purse and the Person: A Century of Women’s Purses
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- ¡Murales Rebeldes! L.A. Chicana/o Murals Under Siege
- 100 Years of Girl Scouting in California
- 5th Annual California Hall of Fame
- African American Treasures: History and Art from the Collection of Bernard and Shirley Kinsey
- American Masterpieces: The Artistic Legacy of California Indian Basketry
- And Still We Rise: Race, Culture and Visual Conversations
- Armenian Journey: From Shattered Past to Prosperity
- Art & Advocacy: To Be Developmentally Disabled (TBD)
- Arte Activista: Día de los Muertos 2023
- Arte y Almas: Día de Los Muertos 2017 (Art & Souls: Day of the Dead 2017)
- Bear In Mind: The Story of the California Grizzly
- Beauty and the Beast: California Wildflowers and Climate Change
- Before They Were Heroes: Sus Ito’s WWII Images
- Between 2 Worlds
- Black Pioneers
- Bringing the Condors Home
- California at Bat: America’s Pastime in the Golden State
- California Canines: Dogs with Jobs
- California Chrome: A Race for the Dream
- California Creates: Tapigami
- California is in the Heart
- California Pioneer Spirit in Art
- Celebración de Almas: Día de Los Muertos 2018
- Central Valley Turns On: Psychedelic Poster Art, 1965-1975
- Crossing Cultures: Belle Yang, An Immigration Story
- Day of the Dead: Art of Día de los Muertos 2013
- Day of the Dead: Art of Día de los Muertos 2015
- Day of the Dead: Art of Día de los Muertos 2016
- Decade Under the Dome: A Photojournalist’s Quest for Authenticity in the People’s House
- Declaration of Independence
- Día De Los Muertos 2021: Espíritus Creativos De California
- Dig It! The Secrets of Soil
- Dolores Huerta: Revolution in the Fields / Revolución en Los Campos
- Drawing Caleeforneeya: Political Cartoons of Rex Babin, 1999 – 2012
- Duck, Duck, Goose! The Art of Duck Stamps
- Eames Generations: A Legacy of California Design
- Extreme Engineering: The California State Water Project
- Fight for the Right: 100 Years of Women Voting
- Gambatte! Legacy of an Enduring Spirit
- Gambatte! Legacy of an Enduring Spirit 2021
- Get On Board: Stories of the Los Angeles to Houston Freedom Ride
- Gold on the Bay
- Kingdom of Dust: Drought & Decline in California’s Central Valley
- Kokoro: The Story of Sacramento’s Lost Japantown
- Kokoro: The Story of Sacramento’s Lost Japantown
- Latinas: The Spirit of California
- Light & Noir: Exiles & Émigrés in Hollywood, 1933-1950
- Making the Grade: California & The Transcontinental Railroad
- Mas Chisme de la Cultura
- Metaphor, Myth, & Politics
- Minerva Award Exhibit
- Mujeres Inspiradoras
- Out of this World: Extraordinary Costumes from Film and Television
- Passion & Perseverance: A Year at Encina
- Patient No More: People with Disabilities Securing Civil Rights
- Perceptionist Art
- Personal to Political
- Pigskin Peanuts
- Planet or Plastic?
- Power of the People: Voting in California, 1850-2016
- Primo Angeli: Evolution of a Legendary Designer
- Ray Eames: A Century of Modern Design
- Remembering Our Fallen from California
- Riding Concrete: Skateboarding in California
- Roadside Art: Paintings by Terry Thompson
- Romance of the Bells: The California Missions in Art
- Small as a Giant
- Target: California
- The Art of Gaman: Arts & Crafts from the Japanese American Internment Camps, 1942-1946
- The California Hall of Fame 2007
- The Dreamers: Inspirational Stories of Southern California
- The Legacy Continues: The California Legislative Black Caucus at 50
- The Newest Americans
- The Purse and the Person: A Century of Women’s Purses
- The Sikh Project
- Toyo Miyatake: Behind the Glass Eye
- Treasures from a Trunk: California Pioneers’ Quilts and Textiles
- Treasures from Hearst Castle
- Tuskegee Airmen: Journey to Flight
- Under the Dragon: California’s New Culture
- With Malice Toward None: Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Exhibit
- Women & Spirit: Catholic Sisters In America
- Women on the Brink
- Yosemite People
- Boulevard Dreams California
- The Negro Motorist Green Book
- Upcoming
- Online
July 3, 2010 – September 26, 2010
What does a purse tell us about history?
Quite a bit, actually.
This exhibit uses purses and their contents as a window on the changing roles of women over the past hundred years – from Edwardian matron to 1980s Superwoman.
Major themes of the 20th century – prosperity, hardship, war, peace, women’s rights – are clearly visible among these purses and their contents.
Visitors will connect to their own mothers and grandmothers as they consider the differences and similarities of women’s lives across the generations.