Huntington Receives $32 Million Gift

The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Garden has received a donation of $32 million from financier Charles T. Munger, a "longtime supporter" of the institution.

Munger, who is a partner at the Berkshire Hathaway Corporation chaired by Warren Buffet, has ties to the local area.  His daughter, Pasadena attorney Molly Munger was the primary advocate for Proposition 38, a school financing measure that was on the November 2012 ballot, and his son Charles Munger Jr., has financially backed conservative causes in the state.

The full Huntington announcement:

The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens has received a gift of $32 million from longtime Huntington supporter Charles T. Munger for its new Education and Visitor Center. 

The Munger gift is the lead gift toward the $60 million project.  Construction is now under way and is expected to be completed in early 2015.  The center will feature 6.5 acres of new gardens and about 43,000 square feet of educational facilities and visitor amenities. 


“We are enormously grateful for Charlie’s vision and support of this project,” said Steven Koblik, president of The Huntington.  “Charlie, together with his late wife, Nancy, have helped move The Huntington to a much stronger position with respect to how we engage with our various audiences.  We are forever grateful for their support.” 

Previously, the Mungers provided the funding for the Munger Research Center, which opened in 2004. The 90,000 square-foot building provides storage for the Huntington’s library collections; space for scholars to conduct their research; conservation and imaging facilities, and exhibition preparation space; as well as administrative offices.

 The new Education and Visitor Center with its complex of buildings and gardens will provide much improved amenities for the more than 550,000 visitors who come to The Huntington each year; for the 1,500 scholars who conduct research there; and for the thousands of Southern California school children and their teachers who visit on field trips to learn about art, history, literature, and botanical science.

The new center will include a 400-seat lecture hall and four classrooms as well as meeting rooms and an expanded café and gift shop.  The project also includes the addition of more than 40,000 square feet of underground storage space for The Huntington’s growing collections of rare historical research holdings and other materials.
Previously, the Mungers provided the funding for the Munger Research Center, which opened in 2004. The 90,000 square-foot building provides storage for the Huntington’s library collections; space for scholars to conduct their research; conservation and imaging facilities, and exhibition preparation space; as well as administrative offices.
 The new Education and Visitor Center with its complex of buildings and gardens will provide much improved amenities for the more than 550,000 visitors who come to The Huntington each year; for the 1,500 scholars who conduct research there; and for the thousands of Southern California school children and their teachers who visit on field trips to learn about art, history, literature, and botanical science.

The new center will include a 400-seat lecture hall and four classrooms as well as meeting rooms and an expanded café and gift shop.  The project also includes the addition of more than 40,000 square feet of underground storage space for The Huntington’s growing collections of rare historical research holdings and other materials.
 The new Education and Visitor Center with its complex of buildings and gardens will provide much improved amenities for the more than 550,000 visitors who come to The Huntington each year; for the 1,500 scholars who conduct research there; and for the thousands of Southern California school children and their teachers who visit on field trips to learn about art, history, literature, and botanical science.

The new center will include a 400-seat lecture hall and four classrooms as well as meeting rooms and an expanded café and gift shop. 
The new center will include a 400-seat lecture hall and four classrooms as well as meeting rooms and an expanded café and gift shop.  The project also includes the addition of more than 40,000 square feet of underground storage space for The Huntington’s growing collections of rare historical research holdings and other materials.