Tours

Photo: Tom Yi

Group Tours

This tour introduces the permanent galleries at the Museum of the American West. Docents use hands-on carts and teaching replicas to explore western lands, cowboys, popular culture, changes and transformations of the West after the Civil War, and the diverse communities of people that shaped the American West in the late 19th century.

Please click here for group rates and to book group visit reservations.

NEW! Autry Audio Guides
Museum of the American West
Southwest Museum of the American Indian

Free to Autry National Center Members
$3 for non-members

The Autry National Center is offering adults and children a whole new way to explore our galleries with audio tours. Visitors can choose the artifacts or works of art you want to learn more about and hear brief presentations, with quotes, music and sound effects to inspire a closer look. Families will find specially created scripts to help them talk about what they see, think about key moments in time and learn about the history of the American West.

Photo: Tony Bailey.

PC Users
• Western Resources (19 MB)
• West as Crossroads (17 MB)
• Native Voices (10.5 MB)
• Violence & Justice (11 MB)
• Museum Highlights (29 MB)

MAC Users
• Western Resources (20 MB)
• West as Crossroads (17 MB)
• Native Voices (11 MB)
• Violence & Justice (11.5 MB)
• Museum Highlights (27 MB)

School Tours & Programs

Welcome!

The Autry National Center of the American West offers fun, engaging, one-of-a-kind experiences for schoolchildren of all ages.  Our unique, interactive environment invites students to experience the art, history, and cultures of the American West.  In doing so, we hope to broaden horizons and challenge perceptions of what it means to be a Westerner.  No other place welcomes so many traditions, ideas, cultures, and people as the Autry.

We are committed to helping teachers meet their professional goals through prepared lesson plans linked to curriculum standards, free bus transportation for Title I schools, gallery activity guides and much more.  Read on to discover the possibilities.

“Thank you for providing our students the opportunity to visit your museum. The guides were wonderful. Their knowledge provided the students a better understanding of the exhibits.”

      - Teacher, Park School

Students enjoy Trails West at the Museum of the American West in Griffith Park.

Each year, more than 40,000 school children from throughout Southern California take guided tours at the Museum of the American West in Griffith Park. Museum tours are designed to meet the needs of classroom teachers by addressing local, state, and national history and social studies standards and frameworks. Each tour is age-appropriate and relevant to classroom curriculum.

Students visit display featuring a restored 1912 International Harvester farm truck.

Tour Reservations:

• Beginning June 16, 2008, reservations will be taken for September 23, 2008 through January, 2009
• Beginning November 11, 2008, reservations will be taken for February, March, and April, 2009
• Beginning February 10, 2009, reservations will be taken for May and June, 2009

Call 323.667.2000, ext 336, for more information and to book one of our school tour programs.

Guided Tours:

Join us for an interactive, conversational visit to the permanent galleries of the Museum of the American West.  Led by our expert Museum Docents, your students will have the chance to visit some of the Museum’s signature displays, including our restored Concord Coach and our early 1900’s farm truck, while learning about major trends in the history of the American West.

”Please Touch!“ Students in the Family Discovery Gallery experience some hands-on history. Photo: Tom Yi.

McCormick Tribune Foundation Family Discovery Gallery Tour:

“I had never been to a museum where they let us learn and play.”

      - Student, Grade 4
        Euclid Avenue School

Early Opportunities Program:

In this hands-on experience, led by our trained Museum Docents, your young students will investigate replica objects and role-play to discover the history of Western communities, Plains Indians, and cowboys and cowgirls.

A young ”49er“ pans for gold at the Museum of the American West. Photo: Tony Bailey.

Gold Rush Program:

“Thank you for teaching us a lot about the Gold Rush. It was really interesting to learn how to pan gold! It was really fun to pretend like we were forty-niners.”

      - Student, Grade 4
        Palisades Charter Elementary

Life in the West Programs:

Life in the West, Plains Indians

In this interactive program highlighting the original peoples of the Plains and how their lives were shaped by following their food source, Museum Teachers will make use of our extensive hands-on replica collection, as well as the Plains Indians displays from our permanent galleries.  
Starting in February 2009, we will offer an expanded version of this program.

Life in the West, Cowboys and Ranchers

We’ve all heard of cowboys, but what did they actually do?  In this highly entertaining program, a Museum Teacher will introduce your class to some of the practical, everyday responsibilities of the cowboy, then round them up ‘to head out on the range’ to visit displays in our permanent galleries, as well as share hands-on replicas used by the cowboys of yesterday and today.

Museum teacher shares the gold panning display with a student group.

NEW! Go West! The Westward Expansion Tour

In this program, your students will be inspired to imagine themselves in the time of Westward Expansion, using replica objects from the Education collection, along with some of the noteworthy depictions of the American West by artists and newspaper reporters at that time.  In addition, they will explore why so many people from the eastern United States and from countries around the world decided to re-locate to the west during this pivotal period in American history.  Through close observation of hands-on discovery items, your students will learn how and why these people from around the world made their new homes in the American West.

NEW! Life in the West for Our Early Learners

In this entirely hands-on experience, your young students will have the opportunity to try on outfits, handle replica objects, and discover how people lived and worked the American West in the 19th century.  This tour allows your students to discover what life was like over 100 years ago for different groups who made their way in the 19th century American West.

“I really liked when we saw what people used to wear. I also liked when we saw the real buffalo. I enjoyed going to the museum. Our family is looking forward to going to your museum.”

      - Angie, student

Changing Exhibition Programs:

Windows on the West: People of the Plains

In this interactive program highlighting the original Peoples of the Plains and how their lives were shaped by following their food source, Museum Teachers will make use of our extensive hands-on artifact collection, as well as the Plains Indian displays from our permanent galleries.   Once the tour of the galleries has concluded, your students will return to the Museum’s classroom to create a Native American craft. 

Things to Come: Maverick Art/Sonic Convergence

As part of this interactive arts-based tour, our Museum Teachers will explore the central question—what is the American West?  Is it just a place, or a state of mind? After a question-based tour focusing on some of the exciting art and artifacts on display, your students will have a chance to answer these questions, as well as pose their own questions about the sights—and sounds---around them.

Viva La Revolution!  Tour of Bold Caballeros y Noble Bandidas

In this provocative tour of our latest changing exhibition, Bold Caballeros and Noble Bandidas, your students will examine some of the famous (and infamous) characters to grow out of the Mexican Revolution of 1910. Learn how along the borderlands region between the United States and Mexico, one person’s hero can be another person’s villain.  Students will examine artifacts and images based on Francisco ‘Pancho’ Villa, Emiliano Zapata, along with some of the figures in popular culture (Zorro, the Cisco Kid) who grew out of this tradition.

First Peoples' California Traditions 

During this program, Culture Bearers will share elements of dancing, storytelling, and other traditions of California Indians. Students will discover the differences between popular cultural images and the realities of Native life.

Self-Guided Visits:

Teachers who wish to spend additional time in the museum, or who want to explore on their own, can reserve a self-guided visit.  Explore and Record sheets are available to download, copy, and use during your visit.

Download your Explore and Record Sheet here.

Explore and Record Sheets:

Are you a teacher planning a field trip, a parent bringing your family, or a visitor who just wants to know how much a bison weighs? Then these trip Explore and Record sheets are just for you.

Download and print out these sheets and bring them with you to the Museum of the American West. They highlight an object in each gallery and include fun facts and questions. On the back of each sheet there is an activity for you, your students, or your family to complete.

“It is truly impressive to read about the creative educational programs planned for the Center and we are pleased to support your effort to ensure a museum experience for children that complements their classroom studies. We hope that, over time, every child in Southern California will have the opportunity to benefit from these visits.”

      - Norman C. Osbrow
        Joseph Drown Foundation

All Aboard! Free bus program

All Aboard! provides Title I schools with free bus transportation to the museum. Teachers are given curriculum materials and free Outreach Kit rentals enabling them to create and reinforce classroom learning. In addition, the Autry National Center of the American West offers each student free family access to the museum for one year, which allows families to explore, learn, and grow together. Click here to view a short video clip.

Name Tags
We encourage all students to wear name tags on the day of their visit. Being able to call a student by his or her name creates a more personal experience for your students. Click here to download a name tag template – or create your own in the classroom.

Visit Evaluation—Tell Us What You Think!
As your educational partner, we welcome your feedback and suggestions. Please take a moment to give us your feedback by clicking here.

Click here to fill out the All Aboard! online application

Southwest Museum of the American Indian

Living History: Casa de Adobe Program

Built in 1918, the Casa de Adobe is the Museum’s reproduction of a traditional 19th century Spanish style home that marked the period of Spanish and then Mexican control of the Southwest region. Through hands-on demonstrations, offered by the Arroyo Seco Museum Science Middle School Junior Docents in period clothing, your students will learn about the process of adobe brick making, the skill and style of the vaquero, and the important role of both Californios and Native peoples in the history of our region.

The Southwest Museum

The Autry has embarked on extensive renovations to upgrade and improve the Southwest Museum of the American Indian making access to the galleries limited in 2008-2009. For this reason, we regret that we cannot accept reservations for school tours this year.

Southwest Preservation Tours and special interest lectures

Members and their guests are invited to an insider's tour of the preservation efforts at the Southwest Museum and special-interest lectures by Autry staff. By reservation only; please call 323.667.2000, ext 391.

Click here for dates and lecture subjects.

Open to:	Members Only
Times:	Fourth Saturday of each month
Cost:	Free to Members Only