The center's origins date to 1971 when Martha Heasley Cox, then a professor of English at San José State University, recognized the need for a comprehensive archive of author John Steinbeck’s work.

[1] As a university research center, it has hosted conferences, exhibitions, and publications dedicated to exploring Steinbeck’s influence on literature and social commentary, as a cultural center it has hosted lectures, film screenings, and exhibitions that explore Steinbeck’s influence on American literature, social history, and environmentalism.

Recipients have included renowned figures such as Arthur Miller, Rachel Maddow, and Dolores Huerta, whose work reflects the enduring relevance of Steinbeck's social advocacy.

which awards annual fellowships to emerging writers whose work resonates with Steinbeck's themes of social justice, ecological awareness, and empathy for the marginalized.

[3][14] Some of the center's most notable items include early manuscript drafts of works like The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men, and correspondence with contemporaries such as John Kenneth Galbraith, William Faulkner, Douglas Fairbanks, and Ed Ricketts.