The mission of the San Pedro Heritage Museum is to celebrate the rich history and culture of San Pedro, CA through research, historic preservation, exhibitions and educational programs that examine the contributions that San Pedro and its residents have made throughout history.
Historic Preservation
San Pedro is constantly changing so active preservation is a key priority. We work with local partners to document major developmental changes and collect artifacts for future generations to enjoy.
Local History Education
Children should know the role their community plays in the grand arc of history. Our local history curriculum for 3rd and 4th grades connects San Pedro to historical events in greater California and across the nation.
Community Engagement
San Pedrans are proud of their community heritage and are eager to learn more about events that shaped their lives. We offer periodical lectures on San Pedro history and look forward to future exhibitions.
Community Projects
We firmly believe that San Pedro's history is tucked away in shoeboxes, attics and our own memories. We aim to mine these precious reserves through oral history interviews and projects like San Pedro Built.
Bukowski in Bronze
The San Pedro Heritage Museum launched Bukowski in Bronze on August 16, 2019, on what would have been Charles Bukowski's 99th birthday. The project is an effort to raise money to memorialize the port town's beloved literary treasure by his 100th birthday on August 16, 2020.
A Charles Bukowski statue is needed to create a gathering place where fans can honor his legacy in the place he made his final home. Bukowski lived in San Pedro from 1978 until his death in 1994. During that time he wrote his most prolific and reflective works, including Ham on Rye, which is, arguably, his most personal.
Fans of Bukowski travel to San Pedro from all around the world looking for a way to feel close to a man who words touched them so deeply. They're looking to experience even a small part of the town he chose as his final home. There is no better place for a monument to Bukowski than within the downtown arts district, among many sites he frequented.
For this unprecedented endeavor, the San Pedro Heritage Museum has enlisted world-renowned sculptor and San Pedro resident Eugene Daub to work on the monument renderings. Daub is known for works including his 2013 statue of civil rights icon Rosa Parks in the National Statuary Hall in Washington, D.C., and his 2000 monument commemorating the Lewis and Clark expedition at Case Park in Kansas City, Missouri. The final statue design will be a collaboration between Daub and Bukowski's widow, Linda Lee Bukowski, who has given the SPHM her blessing for the project.
Bukowski in Bronze Press
