News

The Huntington has awarded the 2025 Shapiro Book Prize to Ashley Brown for the biography “Serving Herself: The Life and Times of Althea Gibson.” The biennial prize, which includes a $10,000 cash award, honors an outstanding first scholarly monograph in American history and culture.

Cycads have withstood the test of time, surviving ravenous dinosaurs and ice ages. Today, however, habitat loss, poaching, and declining pollinator populations threaten their survival.

The Huntington expands access through Museums for All by offering $3 admission to individuals and families receiving SNAP benefits. Museums for All is a national initiative designed to encourage cultural engagement and museum attendance among people of all backgrounds.

Shannon McHugh and Brett Rushforth will work to broaden the institution’s scholarship and connect it with a more diverse global community.

The acquisitions include a 12th-century Chinese silk fan, an 18th-century French portrait, a bronze sculpture from the Harlem Renaissance, and a work in resin by a member of California’s Light and Space movement.

“Don Bachardy: A Life in Portraits” will feature more than 100 works of art and archival materials spanning over 70 years.

The Huntington has acquired an ambitious, large-scale masterpiece by 18th-century French portraitist Antoine-François Callet, the official painter of Louis XVI. The work is the fourth in a series of acquisitions made possible by The Ahmanson Foundation.

The Huntington announced the appointment of Diego Godoy as the associate curator of the Library’s California and Hispanic collections. Godoy comes to The Huntington from Duke University Libraries, where he serves as librarian for Latin American, Iberian, and Latino Studies. He begins his new role on Aug. 26.