Museum volunteer Ann Beasley with Rep. - Dana Rohrabacher, (CA - 45th District) Photo: Natalie Kotsch |
Surfing
"Commemorating the ageless quest for the
perfect wave," the Huntington Beach International Surfing
Museum archives materials relating to surfing as both a sport
and a lifestyle, including music, art, clothing, and film.
With its eight miles of beaches and several major surfing
competitions, including the OP Surf Tournament every August,
Huntington Beach is a natural for a museum dedicated to
surfing. Its local high school even boasts surfing as a
varsity sport. The town, known as "Surf City" because of its
consistent surf, has been immortalized in the song of the same
name by resident Dean Torrance of "Jan & Dean" fame.
Resembling a surfer's dream attic, the museum is a
suitably laid-back tribute to the sport's pioneers and the
California beach culture that is a worldwide export. Founded by
real estate agent Natalie Kotsch in 1989, this tiny
2,000-square-foot museum is the only one in the world officially
accredited by the International Surfing Association. The
collections include materials on the evolution of the surfboard and
the spin-off sports of skateboarding, snowboarding, and
windsurfing. The Museum currently has an exhibit of surfing music,
and on Sunday afternoons from 1 to 3 has live surfing music in its
outdoors "Black Bottom Room," aka "the parking lot." Included among
the Museum's exhibits have been Women in Surfing - 1920-1980;
Evolution of the Skateboard;
Hole in the Wall Gang - Circa 1960;
Endless Summer - Bruce Brown, Robert August; and
History of Surf Lifesaving.
Project materials include a history of the
International Surfing Museum, a photograph, a newspaper article, a
flyer, a membership brochure, and copies of
Shorebreak,
the Museum's newsletter.
Originally submitted by: Dana Rohrabacher, Representative (45th District).
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