Much of the Glendale History Collection has been digitized and made available online. Follow any of the links below to view historic photographs, listen to oral histories, read a 1913 description of Glendale or Tropico, and much more!

Processing of collections and publication of finding aids housed in the Glendale History Room has been made possible by generous donations from the Community Foundation of the Verdugos and the Glendale Library Foundation.

The Online Archive of California (OAC) provides free public access to detailed descriptions of primary resource collections maintained by more than 200 contributing institutions, including libraries, special collections, archives, historical societies, and museums throughout California and collections maintained by the 10 University of California campuses. The Glendale Library, Arts & Culture Department currently has information relating to some of their collections on the OAC.  These collections include documents and photographs of housed at two Glendale Library, Arts & Culture sites: the Library’s Glendale History Room and the Brand Library & Art Center. Highlights of the Library’s collection include documents and photographs related to Leslie C. Brand and his home El Miradero, promotional brochures for Glendale and Tropico from the early 1900s, and Brand Library & Art Center Annual National Juried Exhibition Catalogs dating back to 1981. Also included on the OAC are the Forest Lawn Memorial-Parks Collection; the Tave and Roy Wilson Collection relating to early aviation, stunt flying, and the motion picture industry; and the Ruth G. Babcock WAC Mothers’ Association Collection.

Calisphere is the University of California's free public gateway to a world of primary sources. More than 200,000 digitized items — including photographs, documents, newspaper pages, and more — reveal the diverse history and culture of California. Calisphere contains content related to the history of Glendale and the surrounding areas, provided both by Library, Arts & Culture and libraries, museums, and cultural heritage organizations across California. Start with the Library’s profile page, or explore the themed collections listed on Calisphere’s home page! 

The Glendale History Room has a small collection of historic photographs on Flickr, featuring the Verdugo Views set, containing images used in the popular Glendale News-Press column written by Katherine Yamada.

The Glendale Oral History Collection features interviews with long-time residents, pioneers, and prominent citizens, from Glendale's early days to the 21st century. The interviews contained here come from a variety of sources, from programs and ceremonies sponsored by the Glendale Historical Society in the 1950s to interviews conducted by the Glendale Planning Division in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Additional oral and video histories will appear on this site as they become available.

There are a number of collections available online that feature content related to Glendale history, including:

The Planning Division of the City of Glendale Community Development Department oversees the City’s historic preservation activities and initiatives. Their historic preservation page includes information and photographs of the Glendale Register of Historic Resources and the City’s Historic Districts, guides to researching the history of your home, and links to other historically significant resources in the City of Glendale.

The Cal State Northridge Oviatt Library’s San Fernando Valley History Digital Library includes materials from numerous public and private collections. While the Library has provided some images for the collection, much of the content related to Glendale comes from other collections.

The Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection includes hundreds of images documenting Glendale’s history from the late 1800s to the present.

Launched in 2013, DPLA (The Digital Public Library of America) pulls together digital collections from libraries, museums, and archives across the country. The collection includes materials from the USC Digital Libraries, which feature significant content related to Glendale.