Looking forward to Archives Crawl 2012

On October 1, four host locations (the California State Library, California State Archives, Center for Sacramento History and Sacramento Public Library) welcomed hundreds of eager visitors who viewed exhibits from nearly two dozen archives; signed up for behind-the-scenes tours; talked with archives staff; and took home prizes and other goodies. Given the success of this year's Sacramento Archives Crawl, the participating institutions are looking forward to making the crawl an annual event.   For those that couldn't complete the crawl, here are photos of the action at each host location:


Visitors view collections in the Sacramento Room at the Central Library.



Gary Kurutz shows off Audubon's Birds of America elephant folio in the Rare Materials Reading Room in the California Room at the California State Library.



Senior Archivist Patricia Johnson leads a tour through the Center for Sacramento History's storage room/vault.



A view of the reading room filled with exhibits at the California State Archives.

Where to Start

To get started on this year's Archives Crawl, begin at ANY of the four host locations: the California State Archives (1020 'O' Street), California State Library (900 'N' Street), Center for Sacramento History (551 Sequoia Pacific Blvd.), or the Sacramento Room at the Central Library (828 'I' Street).  You will be given a passport at the first location you visit, which will provide a map to the others.  Each host location will stamp your passport when you arrive.  Free parking is available at the California State Archives and the Center for Sacramento History.

Free admission to California State Museum with visit to State Archives

Here's some additional incentive to visit the State Archives for Archives Crawl on October 1: participants who present Archives Crawl passports stamped by the State Archives will receive free admission to the California State Museum, which is conveniently located in the same building at 1020 'O' Street.

Preview the Archives Crawl Passport

You can now go online to preview the 2011 Sacramento Archives Crawl passport (pdf, 6 MB). On October 1st, passports will be issued to participants at the first host location they visit.  The passport contains a map, contact information for host locations, information about archives and the crawl, and a directory of participating archives.  Each host location will stamp visitors' passports, and those with stamps from at least three out of the four locations will receive a set of limited-edition commemorative coasters with images from Sacramento's former Buffalo Brewing Company (see post below).

Archives Crawl Prizes

Get your 2011 Archives Crawl passport stamped at three out of four host locations, and you will take home a beautiful set of limited-edition commemorative coasters (pictured below). The coasters honor the pub crawl theme by featuring reproductions of the city’s former Buffalo Brewing Company and its advertising campaigns. Passports will be given to guests at the first host location they visit. The passport provides a map of the event and information about the participating archives and special collection libraries. The coasters will be available at each host site, while supplies last.

2011 Locations and Exhibitors

Listed below are the four host locations for the 2011 Sacramento Archives Crawl and the repositories that will be set up at each:

California State Archives (1020 O Street)
California Department of Transportation Library and History Center
El Dorado County Historical Museum
National Archives - San Bruno
Root Cellar - SGS Library
Sacramento Historic City Cemetery Archives
Society of California Archivists

California State Library (900 N Street)
California State Parks
California State University, Chico
Sacramento City College
University of California, Davis

Center for Sacramento History (551 Sequoia Pacific Blvd.)
Lavender Library
Little People of America
Placer County Museums Archives & Research Center
Sacramento History Foundation
Temple/Congregation B'nai Israel Archives
Yolo County Archives

Sacramento Public Library, Sacramento Room (828 I Street)
California State Railroad Museum Library
California State University, Sacramento

Sacramento Archives Crawl Coming October 1, 2011

Join us on October 1, 2011, for Sacramento's first annual “Explore History: Sacramento Archives Crawl.” From 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., twenty-two archives and special collections libraries from the Sacramento area and beyond will be celebrating National Archives Month by exhibiting rarely-seen historic treasures from their collections at four host locations in the downtown area.

Start off at any of the host locations - the California State Archives (1020 O Street), California State Library (900 N Street), Center for Sacramento History (551 Sequoia Pacific Blvd.), or Sacramento Public Library (828 I Street), and "crawl" to the others using the map provided in your Archives Crawl passport. At each location, you can view archival collections on display and take behind-the-scenes tours. Representatives from other archives and special collections libraries will be on hand to discuss their archival collections - historic photographs, rare books, historic artifacts - and answer your questions about how to connect with local history resources. Those who have their passports stamped by at least three of the host locations will receive a set of limited-edition collectible coasters with images from Sacramento's former Buffalo Brewing Company.

A list of participating institutions will be posted soon.

This event was made possible by financial support from the Sacramento History Foundation, the California State Library Foundation, and the Gordon-Goldstein Foundation.