Laura Hecox Collections
About Laura
Laura Hecox was an extraordinary woman and a brilliant amateur scientist who even had species named after her. Laura was the Santa Cruz lighthouse keeper from 1883 to 1916, and a renowned collector whose lighthouse museum was known far and wide. Contemporary descriptions in newspapers, correspondence, and other publications describe a stunning collection that occupied a room’s worth of cabinets on subjects from marine life to gems and minerals to ethnographic collections. Her collection of natural history specimens, artifacts, and curios was gifted to the people of Santa Cruz in 1904 and is the foundational collection of the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History.
Over the years, as Laura’s museum found homes in different community locations, portions of the collection were lost to time. Today, we strive to reconcile this loss with the honor of preserving what we still have, and the responsibility of making it available to our community. To learn more about the Laura Hecox collection or set up a research appointment please contact us.
Learn More About the Natural & Cultural History of 19th Century Santa Cruz in Laura’s Scrapbook
Laura Hecox Scrapbook
While Laura meticulously cataloged her collection, she kept no known diary. Contemporary authors reference her scientific correspondence, yet none of these writings is known to have survived. Laura was, however, an avid scrapbooker. We are excited to provide complete access to the largest of Laura’s surviving scrapbooks. The scrapbook is one of the few means by which we can learn more about Laura’s private life and the historical context in which she lived.
Her interests on the page were just as diverse as when collecting physical materials. In her scrapbook, beginning with an 1895 article on women lighthouse keepers, you will see articles on topics ranging from shell identification to women’s suffrage.
The content reflected in these clippings is historical in nature. The views and opinions expressed within are not necessarily those of the museum itself.
Explore the Hecox Collections
Portrait of Laura Hecox from the Family bible, 1873. Image credit: Santa Cruz MAH.
Display cabinet in the Santa Cruz Lighthouse.
Fragment from the shipwreck of The Active.
Bird egg collection catalog book.
Trays of oology collections.
California quail eggs.
Laura Hecox in front of a natural bridge in Santa Cruz.
Cinnabar specimen.
Green parrot taxidermy.
Souvenir bottle of oil from Kern County.
Quartz specimen.
Stibnite specimen.
The Hecox family in front of the Santa Cruz Lighthouse in the early 1880s.
A newspaper clipping from Laura’s scrapbook.