An evening with Matt Garcia, author of From the Jaws of Victory

Tuesday, November 13, 2012, 6:00 PM at the California Historical Society, 678 Mission Street, San Francisco

RSVP at http://jawsofvictory.eventbrite.com/.

 

Join us for an evening with author Matt Garcia. His book, From the Jaws of Victory: The Triumph and Tragedy of Cesar Chavez and the Farm Worker Movement is the most comprehensive history ever written on the meteoric rise and precipitous decline of the United Farm Workers, the most successful farm labor union in United States history. Based on little-known sources and one-of-a-kind oral histories with many veterans of the farm worker movement, this book revises much of what we know about the UFW. Matt Garcia’s gripping account of the expansion of the union’s grape boycott reveals how the boycott, which UFW leader Cesar Chavez initially resisted, became the defining feature of the movement and drove the growers to sign labor contracts in 1970. Garcia vividly relates how, as the union expanded and the boycott spread across the United States, Canada, and Europe, Chavez found it more difficult to organize workers and fend off rival unions. Ultimately, the union was a victim of its own success and Chavez’s growing instability.

From the Jaws of Victory delves deeply into Chavez’s attitudes and beliefs, and how they changed over time. Garcia also presents in-depth studies of other leaders in the UFW, including Gilbert Padilla, Marshall Ganz, Dolores Huerta, and Jerry Cohen. He introduces figures such as the co-coordinator of the boycott, Jerry Brown; the undisputed leader of the international boycott, Elaine Elinson; and Harry Kubo, the Japanese American farmer who led a successful campaign against the UFW in the mid-1970s. Copies of From the Jaws of Victory will be available for purchase at the event. 

Poetry and Photography: Five Poets on I See Beauty in This Life

Poetry reading and discussion

Friday, November 16, 2012, 7:00 PM at the California Historical Society, 678 Mission Street San Francisco, CA

RSVP at http://poetsandphotography.eventbrite.com/

The new exhibition I See Beauty in This Life: A Photographer Looks at 100 Years of Rural California features nearly one hundred fifty photographs that, together, tell a complex story about the vast mosaic of California’s rural life. At this event, notable poets Richard Silberg, Robert Sward, Jack and Adele Foley, and Tess Taylor, all published by California’s Red Hen Press, will respond to I See Beauty in This Life and read some of their own recent work.

I See the Beauty in this Life: A Photographer Looks at 100 Years of Rural California - Opening Party

Sunday, October 28, 2012, 4:00 to 6:00 p.m.

I See the Beauty in this Life: A Photographer Looks at 100 Years of Rural California - Opening Party

$5 suggested donation
California Historical Society members are always free

RSVP at iseebeautyopening.eventbrite.com

Join us for the opening celebration of I See Beauty in this Life: A Photographer Looks at 100 Years of Rural California. This exhibition was curated by writer & photographer Lisa M. Hamilton, the first visiting scholar in a new series Curating California. 

About the exhibition:

            In many people’s experience, California consists of Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento, and the highways that connect them. In reality these urban centers make up only a fraction of the whole; according to the 2010 Census, geographically the state of California is more than 94 percent rural. Surprise Valley, Lost Hills, Raisin City, Mecca—these are the communities that make up “the rest” of California.

            Over the past two years, writer and photographer Lisa M. Hamilton has been telling the stories of these rural communities in her multimedia work Real Rural. For this exhibition she has delved into the collections of the California Historical Society to connect these present-day stories with the past. Featuring roughly 150 photographs, I See Beauty in This Life is a combination of large-scale color prints by Hamilton and her selections from California Historical Society’s vast photography collections—material dating from the 1880s through the mid-twentieth century, much of which has never been exhibited before. Led through CHS’s vast collection of historic photographs by the director of Library and Archives Mary Morganti, Hamilton has selected images that are not predictable views of pastoral windmills or heroic mule teams, but rather images that reflect her own keen interest in revealing the unexpected. Her approach to the Historical Society’s collections is different from that of an historian in that her first priority was to choose images that are outstanding for aesthetic reasons. Taken by amateur and mostly unknown photographers, the photographs are remarkable for their beauty and unusual perspective.  These press prints, snapshots, and publicity stills are also intimate records of struggle, celebration, community, and the endless work required to wrest a livelihood from the land. Together, they tell a complex—and sometimes humorous—story of the many different individual lives and landscapes comprising the vast mosaic that is the Golden State.

            I See Beauty in this Life: A Photographer Looks at 100 Years of Rural California is on view from October 28, 2012 through March 24, 2013. The California Historical Society Gallery is open Tuesday through Sundays from 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. each day.

Stern Grove Festival Association Records

Stern Grove Festival Association Records, MS 2063

San Francisco’s open-air summer concert series, the Stern Grove Festival, presented its 75^th season this year. In acknowledgment of this milestone, the Stern Grove Festival Association (SGFA) records have been reprocessed with a finding aid made available on the Online Archive of California.

Inspired by its bucolic setting and natural acoustics, Mrs. Rosalie Stern purchased and deeded Stern Grove to the city in 1931. Since then, Stern Grove has functioned as a nonprofit city recreational and park facility, featuring a diverse array of performances by renowned classical and jazz musicians, and theatre and dance companies. 

 Allied Relief Benefit Concert program, 1940, Stern Grove Festival Association Records, MS 2063

The Stern Grove Festival Association Records consist of correspondence, meeting minutes, programs, posters, photographs, and scrapbooks, which document the activities of the SGFA, as well as the city’s long history of support and appreciation for the arts.  

The new guide to the collection can be found on the Online Archive of California at

http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8zc8253

Megan Hickey Nespeco, Library Volunteer

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

RSVP at huggins.eventbrite.com

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.

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

RSVP at soulcallingchs.eventbrite.com

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.

Yerba Buena Alliance Gallery Walk

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.