Thomas L. and Betty Lou Young Family Endowed Collection in Southern California History

When Betty Lou Young was growing up in Long Beach, she and her family often took weekend excursions to Santa Monica and Pacific Palisades, and she grew curious about what she described as “the wooded canyon where the public roads ended.” Some twenty years later she and her physician husband, Thomas, made their home in Rustic Canyon, where they raised their three children and became deeply rooted in the community. So deeply rooted, in fact, that she became the local historian, which brought her back to her alma mater, UCLA, to use UCLA Library Special Collections while researching her books about the area. As a member of Gold Shield Alumnae of UCLA, Mrs. Young also worked with the UCLA Library's Oral History Program on "Westwood Pioneers," interviews with Gold Shield members and others involved in the move from the Vermont campus to Westwood in the 1920s. To create resources for future historians, Mrs. Young donated many of her own research resources, including rare original materials, to the UCLA Library. She also expanded her support by establishing the Thomas L. and Betty Lou Young Family Endowed Collection in Southern California History to acquire, preserve, and make available print and non-print materials, including visual and digital holdings, that focus on the region's complex, fascinating history.