This Land Is.: Field Notes on American Ground

A richly illustrated reflection on the conflicting visions of American land that engages with colonial legacies, national identity, and resilience

The territory of the United States is both common and contested ground. On the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, This Land Is . . . tells a deeper story about place in US history and culture. The title borrows from Woody Guthrie’s iconic anthem evoking the vast and varied nature of this land. The ellipsis emphasizes the unfinished nature of historical narratives, as well as the voices that are missing from those stories. Writers, scholars, and artists address topics such as mapping and ecology; displacement and dispossession; preservation and property; representation and repair. The publication is richly illustrated with historical documents, photographs, and artworks spanning from before 1776 into the twenty-first century. Collectively, these items chart intertwined and conflicting visions of American land that engage with colonial legacies, national identity, and resilience.

Growing out of the grounds and collections of The Huntington, a combined library, art museum, and botanical garden in Southern California, This Land Is . . . follows six themes that connect the physical and cultural properties of land: Roots, Uprootings, Amendments, Edge Effects, Disturbances, and Regenerations. Contributors link the original thirteen colonies with the US-Mexico borderlands and the Pacific. Indigenous perspectives reframe concepts of homeland. Garden histories from Virginia to California and beyond reveal parallels in cultivating both land and democracy. Through a variety of formats and viewpoints―graphic novel pages, a photo essay, an artist interview, botanical writing, and field notes―the volume embraces the many layers of this land, both beautiful and unsettling.

The publication accompanies an exhibition at The Huntington, This Land Is . . . , which runs from June 14, 2026, to January 11, 2027.

Contributors: Gustavo Arellano, Lonnie G. Bunch, Dennis Carr, Nicole Cavender, Rep. Judy Chu, Joy Columbus, Lauren Cross, Mercedes Dorame, Julie Fiveash, Letitia Huckaby, Kiku Hughes, Jeremy Johnson, Jamaica Kincaid, Katelyn Lucas, Sandy Masuo, Natalia Molina, Armando Pulido, Matt Ritter, Sandy Rodriguez, Claudio Saunt, Lisa See, Terry Tempest Williams.

Josh Garrett-Davis is H. Russell Smith Foundation Curator of Western American History at The Huntington. He is the author of What Is a Western? Region, Genre, Imagination.

Linde B. Lehtinen is Philip D. Nathanson Senior Curator of Photography at The Huntington. She has contributed to several exhibition catalogues and journal articles on American photography.