Founded in 1988 by Hollywood and Western legend Gene Autry, his wife, and Joanne and Monte Hale, the Autry National Center began as the Museum of the American West. The museum was intended, in the words of Gene Autry, to ?exhibit and interpret the heritage of the west, and show how it has influenced America and the world.?

By 2003, the Museum of the American West merged with the Southwest Museum of the American Indian, which had been founded by Charles Fletcher Lummis. Mr. Lummis had been the first city editor of Los Angeles's newspaper, the LA Times. The year 2003 also marked the merger of the museum with the Institute for the Study of the American West, which sponsors workshops, public programs, publications, scholarship, and many other programs designed to delve into and propagate the study of the West.

With the merger of the three centers, the Autry National Center was formed. The National Center was named after Gene Autry, beloved founder of the original museum who passed away just five years before in 1998. Autry had a career that spanned over 60 years in the Entertainment industry, involved in everything from film, to radio, television, rodeo, and live performances. He was known as the ?Singing Cowboy? for his unforgettable entertainment roles, and he is the only one to have five different stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Ever since its founding, the Autry National Center has acted to pursue its mission statement through programs, exhibits, collections, and many other means.