Santa Bárbara Mission Archive-Library

Santa Bárbara Mission Archive-Library A nonprofit archive-library dedicated to preserving Franciscan Missions history.

​The Santa Bárbara Mission Archive-Library is a non-profit 501 (c)(3) educational and historical research institution which acquires, maintains and preserves books, maps, photographs, and documents, and other sources relating to the history of the California missions, Franciscan history, and the history of native peoples in the Southwest, up to roughly 1846.

J. Frank Waldo (1832-1920)"Near Mt. Tamalpais, Cal."1884Sketch, from artist bookletCollection of the Santa Bárbara Missi...
06/05/2026

J. Frank Waldo (1832-1920)
"Near Mt. Tamalpais, Cal."
1884
Sketch, from artist booklet
Collection of the Santa Bárbara Mission Archive-Library

See this and many more artworks on our upcoming Members Only Art Tour on Saturday June 6th. More details can be found at our website.
🎨www.sbmal.org/events

🎨 It's always a pleasure to enjoy the art from  even after the festival is over! Here are a few of our favorites from th...
06/04/2026

🎨 It's always a pleasure to enjoy the art from even after the festival is over! Here are a few of our favorites from this year. 🤩

🖼️ If you're in an arty mood, Friends of SBMAL can join us for a tour of some of our rarely seen artwork on June 6. Head to our website to RSVP.

www.sbmal.org/events

Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo was founded on this day in 1770. 📸Pictured: [detail] August 15, 1779 Annual Repor...
06/03/2026

Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo was founded on this day in 1770.

📸Pictured: [detail] August 15, 1779 Annual Report from Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo, Photocopy, Collection of the Santa Bárbara Mission Archive-Library. Original in the Archivo General de la Nación, Mexico City.

Reports were filled out by the friars posted at each of the missions. Annual reports provide statistics about the population, as well as crops, livestock, and construction.

Join us from 9:30-12:30 on Saturday June 6th to see treasures from the SBMAL collection, and learn about the archive-lib...
06/02/2026

Join us from 9:30-12:30 on Saturday June 6th to see treasures from the SBMAL collection, and learn about the archive-library.

Free to attend!

🔍A patron getting a closer look at a painting during a tour of the archive-library. See this and many more artworks on o...
05/31/2026

🔍A patron getting a closer look at a painting during a tour of the archive-library.

See this and many more artworks on our upcoming Members Only Art Tour on Saturday June 6th. More details can be found at our website.

🎨www.sbmal.org/events

Ferdinand Deppe, The Mission of San Gabriel, Alta California in May 1832, oil on canvas, 42 3/4 x 33 1/2 inches (collection of Santa Bárbara Mission Archive-Library)

June 24, 2026 | Featuring: Bishop Slawomir Szkredka - "Biblical Commentary as Testimony: Nicholas de Lyra and the Vitali...
05/30/2026

June 24, 2026 | Featuring: Bishop Slawomir Szkredka - "Biblical Commentary as Testimony: Nicholas de Lyra and the Vitality of the Biblical Text"

🗣“When I visited the Mission Archives, they showed me one of their early printed biblical treasures: the Postilla of Nicholas of Lyra. I understand that the lecture series highlights selected artifacts from the library’s collection. My hope is to focus on the art of biblical commentary itself, using Nicholas and his Postilla as a concrete and intriguing example…”

🎟️A collaboration with Saint Barbara Parish

📍 Location: Santa Bárbara Mission Archive-Library, 2201 Laguna Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93105

💲 Cost: $30 public ($25 members) admission fee to support the work of the Archive-Library

Early Access for Saint Barbara Parish & SBMAL's Good Friends+ starts May 15. General public tickets start May 16.

ℹ️ Logistics: RSVP Required | Light Refreshments | Doors at 5:30pm

About the series: Join a select group of those interested in an informative conversation with experts who will first share from a vast store of knowledge, then engage with those present in a lively give & take.

About our speaker: Bishop Szkredka was born in the town of Czechowice-Dziedzice in southern Poland, less than 50 miles from St. Pope John Paul II’s hometown of Wadowice. He began his studies for the priesthood at Kraków’s Metropolitan Seminary and continued at SS. Cyril & Methodius Seminary in Orchard Lake, Michigan. He was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in 2002. Following his ordination, Szkredka served as Parochial Vicar at St. Genevieve Church in Panorama City and at St. John the Baptist Church in Baldwin Park, before beginning graduate studies at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome in 2008. He returned to the Los Angeles Archdiocese to serve as a professor and formator at St. John’s Seminary in 2015 and earned his doctorate in Sacred Scripture in 2017. Archbishop Gomez appointed him as Episcopal Vicar for the Santa Barbara Pastoral Region​ on September 26, 2023 at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels.

For Tickets: www.sbmal.org/events

Last month we had a special appreciation event for our SBMAL volunteers. They were treated to a tour of the Santa Barbar...
05/28/2026

Last month we had a special appreciation event for our SBMAL volunteers. They were treated to a tour of the Santa Barbara County Courthouse. 👩‍⚖️

Thank you to our guides from the !

📸A guest getting a closer look at a photo of   from 1871 during a recent tour. This photo was used as part of research f...
05/26/2026

📸A guest getting a closer look at a photo of from 1871 during a recent tour. This photo was used as part of research for the recent ramp project.

Marine Corps pilots over Old Mission Santa Barbara, ca. 1940s.  H. Edgerton and Florence McAllister. Collection of the S...
05/25/2026

Marine Corps pilots over Old Mission Santa Barbara, ca. 1940s.

H. Edgerton and Florence McAllister. Collection of the Santa Bárbara Mission Archive-Library.

We’ve got several events coming up in the next few weeks, including a new exclusive members-only art tour. www.sbmal.org...
05/22/2026

We’ve got several events coming up in the next few weeks, including a new exclusive members-only art tour.

www.sbmal.org/events for details.

Address

2201 Laguna Street
Santa Barbara, CA
93105

Opening Hours

Wednesday 10am - 4pm
Thursday 10am - 4pm
Friday 10am - 4pm

Telephone

+18056824713

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