The Finding Aid of the Anne Salenger Papers 0217
Salenger (Anne) PapersPepperdine University. Special Collections and University Archives.
January 2024
24255 Pacific Coast Highway
Malibu 90263-4786
Business Number: (310) 506-4434
Fax Number: (310) 506-4117
specialcollections@pepperdine.edu
Contributing Institution:
Pepperdine University. Special Collections and University Archives.
Title: Anne Salenger Papers
Identifier/Call Number: 0217
Physical Description:
.21 Linear Feet
1 Half Hollinger Box
Date (inclusive): 1941 to 1989
Abstract: Anne Salenger has been a resident of Malibu's Sunset Mesa since 1970. Salenger served the Malibu Lagoon Museum and the Adamson
House in the late 1980s as the Head of Recruitment and Training on the Docent Advisory Council. This collection includes the
Malibu LAgoon Museum Docent Manual and related materials that were used in this capacity.
Physical Location: PAYSON 360 Row 3
Language of Material:
English
.
Advance notice required for access.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The collection was transferred to Pepperdine Libraries Special Collections and Archives by Anne Salenger in March 2023.
The Anne Salenger Papers were removed from the binder and postcards sleeves they were donated in and rehoused in folders for
preservation concerns. The materials have been foldered in original order.
[Box/folder# or item name], Anne Salenger Papers, Collection no. 0217, Malibu Historical Collection, Special Collections and
University Archives, University Libraries, Pepperdine University.
This collection was arranged and described by Anastasia Armendariz and Jess Kovie, January 2024.
The bulk of these papers are made up by the February 1989 Docent Manual, revised from the March 1988 printing, includes rules,
tour routes, and pointers for volunteers but an abundance of assorted records relaying the museum's contents and history.
These materials include maps of the house and its grounds, a record of the plants in the garden, and information about wedding
venue rentals.
There are also several lectures, news clips, and letters detailing the history of the museum, from land acquisition and construction
to operation in the 1980s, along with those about Californian architecture and notable figures in Malibu history, especially
the Adamsons and Rindges. As notable Malibu residents, the Rindge family genealogy is also recorded in these papers along
with several magazine clippings from the 1980s highlighting the Adamson house. The papers contain modern color photographs
of the Rindge family's home in West Adams. Built in 1904, the house is Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 95 and is
listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. The collection also includes 7 historic Malibu postcards from Anne
Salenger's personal collection.
Anne Salenger is a longtime Malibu resident. She and her husband, Gary Salenger, have lived on Sunset Mesa since 1970. Anne
served as the Head of Recruitment and Training on the Docent Advisory Council for the Malibu Lagoon Museum in the late 1980s.
As such, she was responsible for training and supporting volunteer docents at the museum in accordance with the Malibu Lagoon
Museum Docent Manual, so that they could educate visitors about Malibu and the museum's history. Marge Merrick inscribed and
dedicated the very first copy of "Ceramic Art of the Malibu Potteries" (1988) to Anne Salenger because of her key role as
Museum Docent Chair.
The contents of these papers are primarily related to the Malibu Lagoon Museum, which is located alongside the historic Adamson
House near Surfrider Beach in Malibu, California. The museum contains a collection of artifacts, rare photographs, and documents
depicting the history of Malibu from the early Chumash Indian era through the development of a Spanish California culture.
The Adamson House also is open to visitors. Docents, offering tours showcasing the house's unique Californian architecture,
beautiful Malibu tiles, original furniture, and preserved 1930s gardens. Both the museum and house showcase Malibu's unique
history with special emphasis on the influential Adamson family that lived on-site before the preservation of the site by
the Malibu Historical Society. With continued support from docents and a volunteer board, California State Parks currently
stewards the Adamson House and the Malibu Lagoon Museum.
The museum and Adamson house have a rich history in Malibu. Rhoda Rindge, daughter of Frederick Hastings Rindge, renowned
businessman and the last owner of Malibu, married Merritt Adamson, the son of an Arizona legislator and sheep rancher. The
land where the Adamson house now sits was then donated to Rhoda Rindge Adamson by her mother, May Knight Rindge, so the couple
could build a vacation home outside of Los Angeles. The house, designed by well-known architect Stiles Clements for the Adamson
family, was constructed in 1929 and was first used as a beach house beginning in 1930. Rhoda Adamson resided in the house
until her death in 1962. As Pepperdine's Malibu campus opened, the family of Helen and Norvel Young lived in the Adamson House
for 13 years. When the State of California bought the property from the Adamson family in 1968 with plans to use the land
for beach parking, the house was saved by a passionate group of Malibu residents concerned about the location's unique architecture
and Malibu tiles in 1977. In 1982, the house was converted into museum space in just ten months.
Copyright restrictions may apply.
Books have been removed from the archival collection and added to Malibu Historical Collection Books
Los Angeles Blue Book, 1932
Huffman, Margaret.
Wild Heart of Los Angeles: The Santa Monica Mountains. 1998
Banks, Michael.
Malibu: Hiking Along the Meaning of Life. 2004
Mulholland, Catherine.
Calabasas Girls. 1976 (signed by author)
Malibu Lagoon Museum.
Ceramic Art of the Malibu Potteries. 1988 (signed by all authors)
Shulman, Julius.
Malibu: A Century of Living by the Sea. 2004 (signed by the author)
Malibu Lagoon Museum.
The Malibu Story. 1985
Basten, Fred E.
Paradise by the Sea: Santa Monica Bay. 1997 (signed by the author)
Hall, Marian.
Malibu: California's Most Famous Seaside Community. 2005
Lovas, Paul.
Topanga Beach Experience. 2011.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Adamson House (Malibu, Calif.)
Cards, Postal ; Picture postcards ; Post cards ; Postal cards ; Postal cards
Malibu (Calif.) -- History -- 20th century
box 1, folder 1
Malibu Lagoon Museum Docent Manual 1989 February
box 1, folder 2
Adamson House and Malibu Lagoon Museum Pamphlets undated
box 1, folder 3
Malibu Magazine Clippings 1989 July
box 1, folder 4
Rindge Family Genealogy undated
box 1, folder 5
Rindge House West Adams Photographs undated
box 1, folder 6
Malibu Postcards 1941, undated