In addition to ongoing and special exhibitions, the Autry continues to provide a wide range of programs, special activities, and events designed for a variety of interests and all ages.

The Autry Museum of the American West is a history museum dedicated to exploring and sharing the stories, experiences, and perceptions of the diverse peoples of the American West. Located in Griffith Park, the Autry’s collection of over 500,000 pieces of art and artifacts, which includes the collection of the Southwest Museum of the American Indian, is one of the largest and most significant in the United States. The Autry Institute includes two research libraries: the Braun Research Library and the Autry Library. Exhibitions, public programs, K–12 educational services, and publications are designed to examine the contemporary human condition through the lens of the historical Western experience and explore critical issues in society.

The Autry inhabits a unique niche of Western history and culture. Although there are exemplary art museums and many historic sites in our region, there is only one museum devoted to Western history and culture. The Autry is the only museum of its kind located in a major metropolitan center and the only museum that combines multiple Native American perspectives with Western histories and cultures in such a profoundly interconnected and multifaceted way. No place welcomes so many traditions, ideas, cultures, and people as the Autry. As a museum-plus-education-plus-research institution, the Autry brings together the diverse experiences, collections, and creativity that symbolize the West.

The Autry brings together the stories of all peoples of the American West, connecting the past with the present to inspire our shared future.

The Autry’s desired impact is to create relevancy between history and the present day and to engage the public in exploration of critical contemporary concerns in order to shape the future. The Autry continues to aim for this outcome through the creation of provocative, engaging, and compelling museum experiences that increase people’s understanding of each other and America, help the community ask and answer important questions about the most pressing issues of society, and promote solutions beneficial to the greater good

he Museum of the American West, formerly known as the Museum of Western Heritage, was co-founded by Gene and Jackie Autry and Monte and Joanne Hale. With the opening of the Museum in 1988, Gene Autry realized his dream "to build a museum which would exhibit and interpret the heritage of the West and show how it influenced America and the world." Mr. Autry was a legendary recording and movie star whose illustrious career spanned some 60 years in the entertainment industry. He was also a broadcast executive and major league baseball owner.

The Southwest Museum of the American Indian, the oldest museum in Los Angeles, was founded by Charles Fletcher Lummis. Mr. Lummis was the first city editor for the Los Angeles Times. He was also a photographer, amateur anthropologist, and prolific historian of the southwestern United States who helped popularize the idea of Los Angeles as a multicultural city.

The merger was completed in 2003. The Southwest Museum, as an independent organization, no longer exists. The Autry National Center now includes the Southwest Museum of the American Indian Collection and the Southwest Museum site. The Autry, a not-for-profit museum, owns the land in Mt. Washington, the buildings, and the Southwest Museum Collection.

In 2010, the Autry purchased a building about three miles away in Burbank that we plan to develop into a museum-quality storage space (just like the National Museum of the American Indian has in nearby Suitland, Maryland) and research facility open to researchers and scholars. The Southwest Museum of the American Indian Collection will be housed safely in this new state-of-the-art facility, preserving the entire collection for generations to come, and making it easily accessible to scholars and the Native American community.