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Monday, September 24, 2012

Imaging an Icon: Ted Huggins and the Golden Gate Bridge


Thursday, October 11, 2012, 6:00 p.m.

Imaging an Icon: Ted Huggins and the Golden Gate Bridge

Free event at the California Historical Society, 678 Mission Street, San Francisco


Using Ted Huggins’ images and recently discovered journals, historian John C. Harper will lead a discussion on Ted Huggins and his work to promote the Golden Gate Bridge and the West. Over three-and-a-half years, Ted Huggins took hundreds of photographs that captured the majestic beauty of the bridge and helped turn it into a world-famous tourist destination. He photographed construction from both shores, from airplanes and a blimp, from construction boats and ferries, from inside a caisson underneath the bay, and from atop the two towers. Join us this evening to view these wonderful photographs and hear about Ted Huggins.

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Soul Calling: A Photographic Journey through the Hmong Diaspora


Thursday, October 4, 2012, 6:30 p.m.

Soul Calling: A Photographic Journey through the Hmong Diaspora

Book signing and discussion with Joel Pickford

Free event at the California Historical Society, 678 Mission Street, San Francisco


In a lively and informative presentation, photographer and author Joel Pickford weaves the story of his personal journey through the Hmong Diaspora, showing photographs from his book, Soul Calling: A Photographic Journey through the Hmong Diaspora, and some that are not in the book. A Q&A session and book signing will follow his presentation. The result of five years of courageous and heartfelt commitment, Soul Calling opens our eyes to the beauty, resilience and daily lives of the Hmong people, so recently displaced from their traditional homeland by the traumas of the Vietnam War. From the rice harvests and funerals of remote Hmong villages in the mountains of Laos to the shamanic ceremonies and overflowing apartment-complex vegetable gardens of Hmong Americans living in Fresno, writer and photographer Joel Pickford leads us into a world of deep-rooted custom and the harsh realities of cultural adaptation. His exquisite photographs and intimate stories take us into living rooms and through the memories of a remarkable people.

San Francisco’s Chinatown: A History


Sunday, October 7, 2012, 1:00 p.m.

San Francisco’s Chinatown: A History

$5 suggested donation at the door, or free admission with LitQuake Museum Pass

Author and historian Philip P. Choy presents San Francisco Chinatown: A Guide to Its History and Architecture, an “insider’s guide” to one of America’s most celebrated ethnic enclaves. A history of America’s oldest Chinese community and a guide to its significant sites and architecture, the book traces development of the neighborhood from the city’s earliest days to its post-quake transformation into an “Oriental” tourist attraction as a pragmatic means of survival.

This is a part of LitQuake’s Words and Pictures: A Cultural Stroll through Yerba BuenaSan Francisco is a world-class city when it comes to literature…and cultural institutions. Litquake invites you to wander with us through an array of museums and galleries in the city’s Yerba Buena cultural neighborhood. We’ll explore art, language, culture, and all intersections between. Free entry to events at UC Berkeley Extension Art & Design Center and California Historical Society. $10 Litquake Museum Pass allows entry to events at CJM, MoAD, CHS, Cartoon Art Museum, and YBCA and can be purchased at litquake.org. This event is co-sponsored by the Chinese Historical Society of America.


Yerba Buena Alliance Gallery Walk


Saturday, October 13, 2012, 4:00 to 7:00 p.m.


Free event at the California Historical Society and in the surrounding Yerba Buena neighborhood

The Gallery Walk is an exciting way to explore the Yerba Buena neighborhood and the artistic offerings within it. The participating galleries offer a diverse look at contemporary, emerging, and established artists working in a variety of mediums. Start with a kick-off champagne reception at Visual Aid, 57 Post Street, Suite 905 from 3:00 to 4:00 pm. To see a full listing of participating galleries, visit www.yerbabuena.org/gallerywalk.

Chinatown Sketches & Book Club of California's Centennial Party


Friday, October 19, 2012, 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Chinatown Sketches & Book Club of California's Centennial Party

Free event at the California Historical Society, 678 Mission Street, San Francisco

RSVP at bccatchs.eventbrite.com

The Book Club of California and the California Historical Society invite you to a party celebrating the Centennial of The Book Club of California and the release of Book Club of California’s publication number two hundred and thirty: Paul Frenzeny's, Chinatown Sketches, by award winning author, Claudine Chalmers with a preface by Philip P. Choy. Evening program includes a short talk by Claudine Chalmers. Artifacts and original artwork from the book will be on display. Refreshments will be served. Bring your friends and fellow bibliophiles.

The 7th-Annual Los Angeles Archives Bazaar


Saturday, October 27, 2012, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The 7th-Annual Los Angeles Archives Bazaar

Free Event at Doheny Memorial Library, University of Southern California
3550 Trousdale Parkway, Los Angeles, CA 90089

Visit the California Historical Society at the LA History Bazaar at USC. Learn about our Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce Collection and the Title Insurance and Trust Company (TICOR) Collection as well as ongoing California Historical Society projects and our archives.

Los Angeles history comes alive at the 7th-annual Los Angeles ArchivesBazaar. Organized by L.A. as Subject and presented by the USC Libraries, the annual event celebrates the diversity of Southern California’s history. For scholarly researchers, journalists, history buffs, and those simply interested in exploring the stories of Los Angeles, discovery awaits everyone at the Archives Bazaar. This event is free and open to the public.
The Archives Bazaar draws its strength from the breadth and variety of its participants’ collections. Large institutions such as the Autry National Center of the American West and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County will be represented at the bazaar along with smaller organizations and private collections whose materials fill the gaps left in the city’s official history. Other participating organizations include the ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives, the California African American Museum, El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument, and the Japanese American National Museum. In all, more than 70 archives are expected to be represented.

Friday, September 21, 2012

Golden Gate Bridge History First Hand


Wednesday, October 3, 2012, 6:00 p.m.

Golden Gate Bridge History First Hand

Free event at the California Historical Society, 678 Mission Street, San Francisco


Come hear Bob David, an architect and photographer and a long time Bridge District employee, informal historian and archivist of the Bridge. He began working for the Bridge 39 years ago, during which time he has photo documented various construction projects including the Bridge redecking project in the 1980s and the still ongoing Seismic Retrofit project. He will also describe his personal journey to meet the architects and artists of the bridge and uncover their work, some of which is manifest in the current exhibit, for which he acted as curatorial advisor. Bob David will be in conversation with Jessica Hough, curator of A Wild Flight of the Imagination.

Thursday, September 20, 2012

California Wool Growers Association finding aid

Cheryl Ann Holt, Miss Wool California, ca. 1968. California Wool Growers Association photograph collection (PC 014), PC 014.002.tif.


The California Historical Society is pleased to announce the completion of the processing of the California Wool Growers Association photography collection and the publication of its finding aid on the Online Archive of California.  The sheep industry has long been an integral part of California’s rich agricultural history and the photographs in this collection demonstrate the California Wool Growers Association’s (CWGA) active role in the industry as advocates for sheep ranchers, proud sponsors of agricultural events such as livestock shows and symposiums, and promoters of wool and lamb products. 

The collection, dating from the early 1900s to the mid-1980s, contains photographs, negatives, slides, contact sheets, banquet camera photographs, transparencies, ephemera, correspondence, promotional materials, press releases, and newsletters collected by the CWGA for use in publication or possible publication in the association's journal California Livestock News.

The collection was processed in conjunction with the California Historical Society’s upcoming exhibit I See Beauty in this Life: A Photographer Looks at 100 Years of Rural California.  Featuring roughly 150 photographs, I See Beauty in This Life brings together writer and photographer Lisa M. Hamilton’s large-scale color prints and her selections from California Historical Society’s vast photography collections, including many images culled from the California Wool Growers Association photography collection.

I See Beauty in this Life: A Photographer Looks at 100 Years of Rural California will run from October 28, 2012 until March 24, 2013 in the California Historical Society galleries.  The finding aid for the California Wool Growers Association photography collection can be accessed through the Online Archive of California (http://www.oac.cdlib.org/) or you may search the California Historical Society’s online catalog (http://www.californiahistoricalsociety.org/).

African-American man sweeping wool, undated. California Wool Growers Association photograph collection (PC 014), PC 014.015.tif.
  
Slim Pickens, guest auctioneer at Red Bluff bull sale, 1960. California Wool Growers Association photograph collection (PC 014), PC 014.015.tif.

Les Bruhn, Bodega Bay, with “Queen”, won 2nd place, 26th annual Fox Western International Sheep Dog Trials at California Ram Sale, Sacramento, 1964. California Wool Growers Association photograph collection (PC 014), PC 014.002.tif.
--- Jaime Henderson, Project Archivist







Wednesday, September 19, 2012

The Laws Guide to Drawing Birds


September 26, 2012,  6:00 PM

The Laws Guide to Drawing Birds

Book Signing and Discussion with John Muir Laws

Free event at the California Historical Society, 678 Mission Street,San Francisco

RSVP at drawingbirds.eventbrite.com/.

Drawing is a way of training yourself to see. Drawing birds helps you to slow down and observe nature more carefully. In his book, The Laws Guide to Drawing Birds, John Muir Laws demonstrates step by step techniques to help you quickly sketch birds in the field or to accurately depict them in the studio. Join us for a book signing and discussion of nature study, birding, and improving your observation skills. Laws will demonstrate his approach to drawing birds and give tips to help you in your own sketching.

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Smithsonian Magazine Museum Day


Saturday, September 29, 2012, 12:00 to 5:00 p.m.

Smithsonian Magazine Museum Day

California Historical Society is proud to partner with Smithsonian Magazine for this yearly promotion offering free admission to two adults to our gallery when presenting a Museum Day Ticket.  Other neighborhood participating museums include the Museum of Craft of Folk Art, the Society of California Pioneers, the Cartoon Art Museum and many more.  For more information, and to sign up for your ticket visit smithsonianmag.com/museumday.

African American Out Movements of San Francisco


Thursday, September 13, 2012, 5:00 pm

African American Out Movements of San Francisco

Panel Discussion at the California Historical Society
Free event at the California Historical Society, 678 Mission Street, San Francisco

RSVP at zacchochs.eventbrite.com.

From September 13-16, 2012, Zaccho Dance Theatre will perform Sailing Away: San Francisco’s 1858 Black Exodus. Sailing Away is a site-specific performance inspired by San Francisco’s early African American settlers. Created by Choreographer and Director Joanna Haigood, Sailing Away features eight prominent African Americans who lived and worked near Market Street during the mid-nineteenth century and evokes their participation in the mass exodus of African Americans from California in 1858.  Free performances occur at 12pm, 1:30pm, and 3pm traveling along Market Street beginning at the Market & Powell Street Cable Car station.

On opening day, a panel discussion and reception will be held in conjunction with scholars, historians, and local community leaders who will discuss San Francisco’s African American out migration then and now at 5pm at the California Historical Society. This panel discussion is co-presented by Zaccho Dance Theatre, the Museum of African Diaspora and the California Historical Society.


Panelist Biographies
As Co-Founder (1980) and Artistic Director of Zaccho Dance Theatre, Joanna Haigood's creative work focuses on making dances that use natural, architectural and cultural environments as points of departure for movement exploration and narrative. From harnessing the menacing energy of a 10-ton crane tofocusing on the delicacy of a butterfly’s nesting ground, her dances become extensions of their surroundings with choreography that interprets the site’s physical, cultural, and historical identities. Recent projects include The Shifting Cornerstone (2008) commissioned by Dancers’ Group and performed on the 3rd & Mission in collaboration with Yerba Buena Center; performance installation The Monkey and The Devil (2008) in collaboration with visual artist Charles Trapolin; Departure and Arrival (2007), commissioned by the SF International Arts Festival and performed at the SF International Airport; a remounting of Invisible Wings (first premiered in 1998 at SF’s Fort Point and based on the Underground Railroad) presented as the culminating event of the 75th anniversary season at Jacob’s Pillow; Breaking Ground (2005) a dance charette conceived and curated by Haigood, presented by Dancing in the Streets NYC; Ghost Architecture (2004) a meditative reflection on the controversial history of SF’s downtown redevelopment project at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts; A View From Here (2002) inspired by the paintings of Marc Chagall and presented at SF’s Theater Art and Picture conceived to be produced in three urban settings in celebration of communities,that while perceived as troubled, reveal unexpected and hopeful signs of renewal, Picture Powderhorn presented by the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis 2000 and Picture Redhook presented by Dancing in the Streets Brooklyn, NY 2002.
Joanna Haigood's work has been commissioned by leading arts presenters both nationally and internationally. Among them are the National Black Arts Festival, Festival d'Avignon and Festival d'Arles in France, the Exploratorium, Capp Street Project, Dancing in the Streets, the Walker Art Center, Jacob's Pillow, the San Francisco Art Commission, Kaatsbaan International Dance Center, and the McColl Center for Visual Art. Her choreography has also been commissioned by Alonzo King's Lines Contemporary Ballet, Robert Moses' KIN, and Axis Dance Company and is in the repertory of the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago. Ms. Haigood was honored in 2007 as recipient of the United States Artists Fellowship to further her work.
Gregory Hodge (panel moderator) is a youth development policy advocate and member of the Oakland Unified School District Board of Education from 2000-2008. Gregory Hodge also serves as an organizational development and community building consultant. He works with a range of groups from small nonprofitsand foundations to public agencies, particularly school districts. He was previously the Chief Executive Officer for California Tomorrow, an Oakland-based organization dedicated to building a strong multiracial and multicultural society. He also previously served as the Executive Director of Safe Passages, the Oakland Child Health and Safety Initiative. Prior to Safe Passages, Mr. Hodge was the Executive Director of the Urban Strategies Council, where he served as the director of the youth development initiative, managed the Freedom Schools program, and worked as the regional representative of the Black Community Crusade for Children, an effort coordinated nationally by the Children's Defense Fund.
Greg volunteered as the Master of Ceremonies of Bay Area Youth Arts’ annual Kwanzaa and Harvest Celebration for many years. His longtime support of Oakland’s esteemed Malonga Casquelourd Centerfor the Arts and of cultural arts, in general, as integral to positive community development is widely appreciated. Mr. Hodge continues to work as an attorney in private practice handling a variety of civillitigation matters. His involvements include member of the national Annenberg School District Reform Task Force. He holds a bachelor of arts degree from Northwestern University and a law degree from Golden Gate University, San Francisco, California. He is the father of four children.
Jan Batiste Adkins (panelist), an educator and lecturer, spent the last five years researching and documenting the history of San Francisco’s African American pioneers. Her master’s thesis from San Jose State University documented the history of the African American community as reflected in black newspapers of the 1850s through the 1890s. Her new book (January 2012) African Americans in San Francisco is an expansion of that project, for which she has consulted area archives, museums, and libraries, including the California Historical Society, the San Francisco African American Historical Society, the African American Museum and Library at Oakland, San Francisco Public Library History Center, California State Public Library, church and organization archives, and family albums. She has traveled to Canada and retraced the lives and destinations of many of San Francisco’s 1858 Canada-bound voyagers. In her book, she managed to weave a photographic tapestry of the amazing stories and history that began during the early years of the Gold Rush and continue into the present era.
Beginning in the 1840s, her book chronicles black men and women who heard the call to go west, migrating to California in search of gold, independence, freedom, and land to call their own. By the mid-1850s, a lively African American community had taken root in San Francisco. Churches and businesses were established, schools were built, newspapers were published, and aid societies were formed. For the next century, the history of San Francisco’s African American community mirrored the nation’s slow progress toward integration with triumphs and setbacks depicted in images of schools, churches, protest movements, business successes, and political struggles. Ms. Adkins book has been adopted by Bayview Superintendent Zone K-12 schools through San Francisco Unified School District.
Performer/presenter Cheryl Susheel Bibbs (panelist), Ph.D. who recently retired after 25 years teachingat UC Berkeley, is also a former EMMY-award winning WGBH-TV executive producer. Ms. Bibbs’ dramatic one-woman shows (chautauquas) on Mary Ellen Pleasant (depicted in Sailing Away) are part of the National Park Service Underground Railroad Network-to-Freedom Program that is acclaimed in the US and Canada. Susheel's dramatic one-woman chautauquas on Pleasant, which are part of the National Park Service Underground Railroad Network-to-Freedom Program, have been acclaimed in the US and Canada. Theresearch collection on which these works are based has been certified by the California Council for the Humanities.

Dr. Bibbs' award-winning book on Pleasant and Marie LaVeaux (Heritage of Power) and her documentary films on Pleasant -- The Legacy of Mary Pleasant and Meet Mary Pleasant, have won 6 broadcast and film-festival awards: The shorts -- Best Documentary Peace Reel Medallion at the Berkeley Film Festival and a Silver Telly (Northern Calfornia's premiere TV broadcast) Award, and the PBS documentary -- Best Historical Documentary and Best Director of a Documentary (for Bibbs) from the New York International Independent Film Festival and, most recently, The Gold Kahuna Award for Filmmaking Excellence from the Honolulu Film Festival. Dr. Bibbs' three-DVD archive on Pleasant, which demonstrates the research background forher chautauquas, is housed at the African American Museum and Library at Oakland, CA and at the San Francisco Public Library; her films on DVD are available there, at the Bancroft Library at UC Berkeley, on www.mepleasant.com and on Amazon.com.

Monday, September 3, 2012

White Wash


Sunday, September 16, 2012, 2:00 PM.

White Wash 

Film Screening and Discussion

Free Event at the Santa Monica Public Library Main Branch’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Auditorium, 601 Santa Monica Blvd. Santa Monica, CA

Seating is limited for this special screening. Guests should arrive in a timely manner, as seating will be offered on first come, first serve basis.

White Wash explores the history of African Americans and water culture, from slavery and civil rights wade-ins to surfing in contemporary times. This 2011 documentary includes archival footage and interviews with professional surfers, and features the historic beach site known as the “Ink Well.” A discussion with director Ted Woods, historian Alison Rose Jefferson and blacksurfing.com founder, Rick Blocker follows the screening. The California Historical Society is proud to join Heal the Bay, The Santa Monica Conservancy and the NAACP to sponsor the White Wash documentary screening event.

Sunday, September 2, 2012

California and the Civil War


Friday, September 21, 2012 at 6:00 PM

California and the Civil War

A Panel Discussion featuring Al Camarillo, Michael Magliari, Glenna Matthews, Ruthanne Lum McCunn, James Tejani, and Michael Green, moderated by Robert Cherny

RSVP at civilwarcalifornia.eventbrite.com/

For many, the words California and the Civil War seem to have nothing to do with each other. However, California played a significant role in the Civil War. Join us at the California Historical Society for a panel discussion of this fascinating topic. Historians and scholars will discuss many aspects including the Californio community, Indian slavery in California and what changed--or didn't--during the war, Chinese participation in the war, the impact of the war on the infrastructure of southern California and the twin sesquicentennials of the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation and the launching of the huge fund-raising for the Sanitary Commission that week in San Francisco. This program is presented in collaboration with the Presidio Historical Association.