Program Overview

California and regional studies are the focus of this multi-faceted program housed in the 1895 Petit Trianon on the De Anza College campus.

The California History Center and Foundation present exhibits, offer classes with De Anza College, publish books and a periodical, and operate a library and archives. Special events including lectures, panel discussions and workshops are also featured.

The recipient of numerous awards and honors, the center with its programs and resources is an active focal point for California history studies and has been recognized as an "outstanding educational facility" by the State of California.

Emphasizing living history, the center provides students with a unique opportunity to "encounter the historic site, document, or experienced individual, and personally interpret and recreate a period in history."

Housed in the reconstructed le Petit Trianon, a national registered landmark located on the De Anza campus, the center offers credit classes, changing exhibits, a video documentation program and publishes at least one major book each year. Students can participate in all of these activities.

Additionally, the center's Stocklmeir Library hosts a growing collection of materials on California history and on almost every aspect of Santa Clara Valley's development, including student research papers, books, journals, oral history on video and audio tape, photographs, manuscripts, newsletters, clippings and pamphlets.

Audrey Butcher was a local World War II-era schoolteacher who taught students that civil rights must be protected and never again violated as they were with the internment of Japanese Americans. In Audrey's honor, her daughter, Margaret, donated a generous gift to the CHC to create a civil liberties education initiative.    

The gift will help ensure the ongoing operation and long-term sustainability of the CHC.

Read more about Margaret and Audrey Butcher.