National Steinbeck Center
1 Main Street
Salinas, CA
(831)
796-3833
steinbeck.org
Hours & Admission -
Open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.,
7 days a week.
Closed Thanksgiving,
Christmas and
New Years Day.
subject to change
Nobel Prize recipient John Steinbeck is commemorated with an excellent museum in downtown Salinas. Located at the very end or start of Main Street, the building fits the neighborhood of early to mid 20th century buildings, even though it was actually built in 1998.
When you enter the open air lobby with sunlight filtered through the windows and stained glass that casts blue patterns of light on the wood flooring, all eyes are drawn to the huge script lettering on the wall above. It says "Steinbeck". There's no doubt that it's all about the famous author. Even as you pass the gift store to the left and pay your admission fee to begin your very own Steinbeck journey, you'll see his likeness in a life size statue of a man sitting in a chair with a book.
Steinbeck, who wrote novels set in the Monterey Bay and Salinas Valley
region, is honored with
a 37,000 square feet facility which
contains permanent exhibits, a wing for
special programs, museum store and a
research room with a collections area of
over 45,000 artifacts, manuscripts,
historical documents and film archives.
Scholars and researchers from around the
world have found single point access to
items relating to the prolific author.
Built at the historical center of
Salinas on the end of South Main Street, initial funding for the National
Steinbeck Center came from the Packard Foundation, a philanthropic organization
based in Los Altos which also funded the internationally famous Monterey
Aquarium.
An American author with an international
following, John Steinbeck's books have
been translated into over 30 languages.
When he received the 1962 Nobel Prize
for Literature, the Swedish academy
noted, "His sympathies always go out to
the oppressed, the misfits, and the
distressed; he likes to contrast the
simple joy of life with the brutal and
cynical craving for money. But in him we
find the American temperament also
expressed in his great feeling for
nature, for the tilled soil, the waste
land, the mountains and the ocean
coasts, all an inexhaustible source of
inspiration to Steinbeck." The Steinbeck
Collection began in the 1950s with the
purchase of several of the author's
first edition books. Donations received
from family members include Elaine
Steinbeck, Steinbeck's widow;
Steinbeck's sisters, Elizabeth Steinbeck
Ainsworth, and Esther Rodgers, and John
Steinbeck's sons, Thom Steinbeck, and
John Steinbeck IV. The collection
continues to grow with generous
donations from patrons around the world.
building
Inside the Center is a gift store,
exhibit halls which include hands on
displays, innovative graphics, big
screens with movie excerpts and personal
memorabilia from Steinbeck's life.
Valley of the World―the name John
Steinbeck gave to the Salinas Valley
when describing it in East of Eden-is
also the name of a new gallery at the
National Steinbeck Center. The 6,500
square foot addition focuses on the
human element and the technology of
farming over time. It also includes
personal items and artifacts related
farming and the local faces of people
who contribute to feeding the nation and
the world.
The exhibit includes photographs and film footage of farm workers of all ethnicities, personal memorabilia including unique tools and clothes used throughout the decades and personal histories of Salinas Valley families that have worked in the industry. The $4.6 million addition is a welcomed addition to this already world class museum.