Sponsors
501(c)3 Educational Foundation
Formed in 1993 the Historical Society became a California 501c3 educational non-profit in 1995. Donations to the Historical Society are tax deductible.
Grant from the Golden Age Foundation in 2022
In 2022 Golden Age Foundation (GAF) Board Member and Tax Program manager Diana Lambert championed our proposal asking for funds from GAF to update the Society's computers, backups, storage, and furnishings. The Golden Age board voted to support the proposal. Thanks to GAF's support we have brought the Historical Society into the 21st centry.
Achievements
- Digitization of the Leisure World weekly newspaper from 1963 to present into online databases for public access.
- Collection and storage of organization records as the organizations were closing. The records include clubs, churches, educational programs, employees who were also residents, and shareholders.
- Preservation of Artifacts from early Leisure World.
- Oral History recordings and photos of first residents were collected beginning in 1993. Collection continues for current residents and organizations.
- Video conversions from VHS to digital. As of 2024 we have converted 210 videos that were recorded on VHS while playing on the SB3 (Seal Beach 3) TV Station. The movies were moved to our Youtube.com channel so they could be watched. We have the original digital files that are higher resolution than the Youtube.com channel on disk at the Historical Society. Clips from our videos have been used in history videos made by video producers such as Owen Hughes' 2020 The Beginning of Leisure World.. Once the software and computer were set up to convert the videos Historical Society board member Richard Erickson came into the Historical Society several times a week to convert tapes.
- Oral History tapes conversion from cassette to MP3.
- Document scanning of histories, correspondence, legal papers, clipping files, etc.
- UCI creation of an archive for Seal Beach Leisure World. Inventoried and scanned papers before the move. Contacted owners of materials to sign donation forms. Removed artifacts from collections that were not appropriate for UCI and inventory them. The Historical Society hired movers to take the archive materials to UCI.
- Updated the Museum with a display framework so that materials can be hung on the walls and moved around easily for changing exhibits.
- Inventory and organization of papers donated to the Historical Society.
- Sharing early Leisure World photos with the Golden Rain Fdn for projects like the new photo murals in Clubhouse 3, 4, and 6 that were added when the clubhouses were remolded.
- Keeping the museum open and welcoming people who drop in and have questions about the community.