The history of the US transcontinental railroad features in a major exhibition at the Huntington

 

A lithograph from 1870.

SAN MARINO, CALIFORNIA - Drawing on the unparalleled manuscripts collection on the topic held by The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, a major exhibition illuminates the remarkable changes wrought in the United States by the planning, construction, and completion of the transcontinental railroad. “Visions of Empire: The Quest for a Railroad Across America, 1840–1880,” on view April 21 through July 23 in the MaryLou and George Boone Gallery, coincides with the 150th anniversary of the 1862 Pacific Railroad Act, which led to the rail connection between the Missouri River and the Pacific Ocean. The exhibition features some 200 items, the vast majority from The Huntington—including maps, photographs, illustrations, newspapers, magazines, letters, and diaries, most of which have never before been on public display. “‘Visions of Empire’ is our first large-scale effort to share with the public The Huntington’s trove of materials relating to the history of the American railroad,” said David Zeidberg, Avery Director of the Library. “With his purchase of a few major collections early in the 20th century, Henry Huntington brought together hundreds upon hundreds of the most significant books and pamphlets on the trans-Mississippi West. Those materials, combined with the scores of invaluable manuscript, photographic, and ephemera collections on the West acquired over the succeeding decades, form a massive foundation for what we hope will be an extraordinary exhibition.”

 

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