The History of Japanese Americans in San Diego

Linda Canada, former archivist and past president, Japanese-American Historical Society of San Diego

For more information call 858-775-5788

Kumeyaay-Ipai Interpretive Center

Robert Holton, Docent

The Rancho Bernardo Historical Society Speakers Series presents Robert Holton, docent at the Kumeyaay-Ipai Interpretive Center of Poway, speaking on “How the Kumeyaay Have Lived in Harmony with Nature for the Past 12,000 Years.” Admission is free, 11 a.m., Saturday, October 12, 2024 at the Rancho Bernardo History Museum in the Bernardo Winery.

For more information call 858-775-5788

“Demystifying Aztec Culture,”

Javier Gonzalez-Meeks, Professor of history at Grossmont College

“Come celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month by demystifying some misconceptions about the Aztecs,” says Gonzalez-Meeks. He notes that a lot of information about this ancient indigenous culture comes from Spanish Colonial-era sources “so that even today, they are labeled as ‘Cannibals, Savages and Heathens.’ This presentation will help demystify common misconceptions about the Aztecs, or, as they called themselves, the Mexica.” 

For more information call 858-775-5788

The Sugar King of California: The Life of Claus Spreckels

Dr. Sandra Bonura

Bonura calls her book “the rags-to-riches story” of a man “who came to America with only 75 cents in his pocket and became one of the richest Americans in history.” Along the way Spreckels and his family played signficant roles in the development of Hawaii and then California, including San Diego. But, she adds, “there’s always a cost for single-minded determination and his story is one of both triumph and tragedy, a portrait of  a family torn apart by money, jealousy and ego.”

For more information call 858-775-5788

A Willow Tree Becomes a Forest – The Story of Hop Lee

Dr. Russell Low, Retired radiologist and former medical professor at Sharp and UCSD

Will discuss his new book: A Willow Tree Becomes A Forest: The Story of Hop Lee. Based on his research into his immigrant roots, Dr. Low’s book, in his words, “explores the trials of establishing roots and pursuing dreams amid the era of Chinese Exclusion. It commemorates the enduring immigrant American spirit that resonates with us today,juxtaposed against the backdrop of Anti-Chinese laws and biases endured by the Chinese community from 1882 to 1943.”​

For more information call 858-775-5788

Leo Carrillo Ranch Historic Park

Rick Evans, Docent

For more information call 858-775-5788

Monsters On the Loose: The True Story of Three Unsolved Murders in Prohibition Era San Diego;

Dr. Richard Carrico

For more information call 858-775-5788

Searching for Calle Judeo: Old Town San Diego State Historic Park’s Forgotten Street of Pioneer Jewish Merchants

Alexander Bevil

In 2012, while researching the history of a Caltrans office building in Old Town, Alex Bevil discovered the site of an 1850s-era dry goods store. His subsequent research uncovered a community of Jewish men and women entrepreneurs who, from 1850 to 1872, helped transform Old Town from a small farming village to a market-driven American town

For more information call 858-775-5788

The Allure of the San Dieguito River Valley

Christopher Khoury,
San Dieguito River Valley Conservancy

Chris will share “My personal review of some of the river valley’s many intriguing features and the decades-long community effort to preserve and protect it.”

For more information call 858-775-5788

Behind the Mask

Javier Gonzalez-Meeks, Professor of history at Grossmont College

The Historical Zorro and Mexican-American Experience in Early California

For more information call 858-775-5788

USS Midway Carrier Museum

Brian Butler and Steve Walker, Longtime Midway Docents

“Our two-part presentation details the whole history of the U.S. Navy’s longest serving aircraft carrier of the 20th century,” says Butler, “including a visual tour aboard the museum today.”

For more information call 858-775-5788

The Nate Harrison Historical Archaeology Project

Dr. Seth Mallios,
SDSU anthropologist

Spoke on the latest discoveries of the Nate Harrison Historical Archaeology Project. 

For more information call 858-775-5788

Ghost Stories of San Diego County

Marilyn McPhie
Storyteller

Marilyn McPhie is President of the Storytellers of San Diego. She has telling stories professionally since 1985, performing for groups of all ages from Massachusetts to California  as well as in England, Scotland, Ireland, Denmark and Germany.

For more information call 858-775-5788

The History of San Diego Through Music

Many Strings Musical Group
with Jamie Burns and Chris Burns

For more information call 858-775-5788

The 130,000 Year-Old Cerutti Mastodon Site

Tom Demere,
Curator of Paleontology, San Diego Museum of Natural History

In the early 1990s a team of scientists from the San Diego Natural History Museum and other institutions, working at a site near San Diego Bay, discovered the bones of a mastodon and evidence of humans processing those bones with tools. Their discovery made this the oldest archaeological site in the Americas, in the words of the museum’s website, “pushing back the record of early humans on this continent by more than 100,000 years.” Dr. Deméré, who was part of that team of discoverers, will discuss their findings and the reactions that followed.

For more information call 858-775-5788

A Brief History of San Diego’s Chinese-American Community

Jacinta Wong,
Executive Director of the San Diego Chinese Historical Museum

Michael Yee,
Historian and Educator

Speaking on A Brief History of San Diego’s Chinese-American Community and the San Diego Chinese Historical Museum

For more information call 858-775-5788

Black Vacqueros

Javier Gonzalez-Meeks,
Assistant Professor of History, San Diego Miramar College

“This presentation highlights the lesser known story of Black Vacqueros or Cowboys of the ‘Wild West,’” says Professor Meeks, “such as Bass Reeves, who inspired the story of The Lone Ranger.”

For more information call 858-775-5788

Block 112: The Untold Story of San Diego’s Working Class in the 1880s

Cindy Stankowski
San Diego Archaeological Center

Will speak on the Untold Story of San Diego’s Working Class in the 1880s

For more information call 858-775-5788

The Railroad Project that Never Happened

Bruce Semelsberger
The Pacific Southwest Railway Museum

The 1887 railroad project connecting the Escondido, Poway, Bernardo and El Cajon valleys never came to be. Find out why.

For more information call 858-775-5788

Dan Rios Photographic Collection

Alexa Clausen
The Escondido History Center
Sean Visintainer
Cal State San Marcos Library

In 2018 Dan Rios, a former photographer for the Escondido Times-Advocate newspaper, donated
his entire collection of photographic negatives to the CSUSM University Library. The collection
holds an estimated one million images showing people, places and events covering almost 40
years of North County history.

For more information call 858-775-5788

The History of Oceanside

John Daley
Co-founder and board member, Oceanside Historical Society

“I will hit the highlights of Oceanside history and add some insights as a third generation Oceansider,” says Daley. “My great-grandparents came to Oceanside about five years after it was incorporated in 1888.” Daley’s business ventures include “running and owning the 101 Café, the oldest café along Historic US Highway 101, and helping to “start many non-profits, including the Oceanside Historical Society,” which he helped found in 1986.

For more information call 858-775-5788

Resources for Historic Research at the San Diego County Archives

Aditi Worcester, County Archives Manager,
Kiera Sullivan, Archivist and Records Manager,
Val Handfield, Assistant Recorder/County Clerk

Located within the Office of the Recorder/County Clerk in Santee, the San Diego County Archives was established in 2020 as the repository for official county records going back to the creation of San Diego County in 1850. Those records range from property deeds and mortgage documents to birth, marriage and death records. Our speakers will describe how to access these documents which provide historic snapshots of county life.

For more information call 858-775-5788

Past Programs from Previous Years

Click on a Month Below to View Video on YouTube

2021 – Speakers Series on Hold

2019

October 12- Rediscovering the Historic MiraMar Restaurant and Hotel
Annemarie Cox

September 14 – The History of Indian Gaming
Ethan Banegas

August 10  – The La Jolla Atlas and Map Museum
Richard Cloward

June 8 – 10,000 Years: Prehistory of the San Diego Region
Cindy Stankowski

May 18 – The Mexican War – How It Shaped Two Nations (No Video)
Blaine Davies

April 13- The Kings Highway
Max Kurillo

March 11- Rancho Bernardo Study of Healthy Aging
Linda McAvoy and Gail McLaughlin

February 9- History of the Bernardo Winery
Ross Rizzo Jr.

January 12- Prayer and Politics: The Hawaiian Revolution
Dr Sandra Bonura

2017

October – The Poway Midland Railroad
Chuck Cross

September – The History of Water Development in San Diego
Garry Butterfield

August – Local History Stories for Children
Marilyn McPhie

July – Palomar: Bridge to the Stars
Mark Carlson

May – SD County Agricultural History
Eric Larsen

February – Times were tough but pioneers were tougher.
Marilyn McPhie

January – Flights to Oblivion, Flights to Fame, The New York to Paris Race
Mark Carlson

2015

October – Hiking around San Diego
Tom Leech

September – Contributions Made by the Women of Vista
Jack Larimer
Director of the Vista Historical Society Museum.

July – Evaluation, valuation and care of precious works of art and artifacts.
Jennifer Garey
Museum Director

June – Background of the Escondido History Center
Wendy Barker
Executive Director, Escondido History Center

May – Significance of Native American placenames in our region.
Richard Carrico

April – Origins of the San Diego County fair, which has been in existence since 1880.
Linda Zweig

March – Story of Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton.
Faye Jonason
Museum Division Officer MCB Camp Pendleton.

January – The story of the Californios
Bonnie Martland