An Evening with Richard White, author of Railroaded: The Transcontinentals and the Making of Modern America

Thursday, March 1, 2012, 6:00 p.m.


An Evening with Richard White, author of Railroaded: The Transcontinentals and the Making of Modern America 


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


Join us at the California Historical Society for an evening with Richard White when he will discuss his recent book Railroaded: The Transcontinentals and the Making of Modern America. Railroaded is a new, incisive history of the transcontinental railroads and how they transformed America in the decades after the Civil War. With characteristic originality, range, and authority, Richard White shows the transcontinentals to be pivotal actors in the making of modern America. But the triumphal myths of the golden spike, robber barons larger than life, and an innovative capitalism all die here. Instead we have a new vision of the Gilded Age, often darkly funny, that shows history to be rooted in failure as well as success. RSVP to rsvp@calhist.org or 415.357.1848, ext. 229.

A Wild Flight of the Imagination: the Story of the Golden Gate Bridge

The Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy has organized a region-wide celebration for the 75th anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge. The California Historical Society opens a ground breaking new exhibition: A Wild Flight of the Imagination: the Story of the Golden Gate Bridge, featuring art, photographs, films and historic bridge artifacts.

It was Joseph Strauss, Chief Engineer of the bridge, and Michael M. O’Shaughnessy, San Francisco’s iconic City Engineer who coined the soaring phrase which inspires our exhibition title and carried the seemingly impossible job to its completion.

The exhibition will include a look back at the Golden Gate itself – one hundred years before the building of the bridge – as well as the building and historic opening of the bridge in 1937. It will also examine the bridge’s influence as an inspirational landscape for artists, writers, tourists, and people worldwide.

Learn what life was like for travelers before the spanning of the Gate – when ferry travel could still accommodate traffic between San Francisco and Marin County. Follow the media campaign and efforts of San Francisco Mayor James Rolph to win over a reluctant public, and the victorious telegram informing Rolph of the bridge’s approval by the federal government.

See works of art and photography by Maynard Dixon, Chesley Bonestell, Carleton Watkins and Dorothea Lange, along with spectacular architectural drawings by John Eberson and Irving Morrow from the collections of the Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District, the California State Library and others. Some of his art will be out of storage and on view for the first time in decades.

Please join us on Sunday, February 26th at 2:30 pm for the opening reception of this exciting exhibition, which will be co-sponsored by the Art Deco Society of California.

Wear your best 1930s apparel, kick up your heels and celebrate with us on the 79th anniversary – to the day – of the groundbreaking of this world-renowned structure. The afternoon will be golden, drink will flow, and jazz will fill the air.

We hope to see you there! RSVP to 415.357.1848, ext. 229 or Wildflight.eventbrite.com.


A Wild Flight of the Imagination is on view Tuesday – Sundays from February 26 through October 14, 2012, 12:00 - 5:00 p.m. each day.

Open House at Breed Street Shul

Tuesday, March 6, 2012 , 5:00 p.m.

Open House at Breed Street Shul

Co- sponsored by the California Historical Society and Breed Street Shul Project, Inc.

Free Event at Breed Street Shul, 247 N. Breed Street, Los Angeles, CA 90033

Come celebrate the recently completed rehabilitation of the Breed Street Shul’s original 1915 building at this special event, which will include a reception, building tours, a dramatic reading of Josefina Lopez's play Boyle Heights by Casa0101 actors and musical entertainment by local artists.

RSVP to breedstreetshulopenhouse.eventbrite.com or 415.357.1848, ext. 229.

A Wild Flight of the Imagination Opening Celebration

Sunday, February 26, 2012,  2:30 - 4:30pm


A Wild Flight of the Imagination Opening Celebration


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

Put on your party clothes and come help us celebrate the opening of A Wild Flight of the Imagination: the Story of the Golden Gate Bridge. On this day in 1933 San Franciscans celebrated the ground breaking for the Bridge, a symbol of hope in a devastated economy. Come kick up your heels to the band, gather around the classic cars parked outside, and learn the story of the Bridge.  RSVP to wildflight.eventbrite.com  or 415.357.1848, ext. 229.

Real Rural Launch Party

Tuesday, January 31, 2012  5:00 – 7:00pm


Real Rural Launch Party

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

The Bill Lane Center for the American West and Roots of Change are proud to announce the launch of journalist and photographer Lisa Hamilton's innovative multimedia project "Real Rural" — bringing California's rural life to the state's urban public. Hamilton's portraits of people and places, along with surprising, provocative quotes from the subjects, will be featured on BART trains throughout the Bay Area beginning in late January, and on an interactive web site.  The California Historical Society will mount a related exhibition this fall of Hamilton's photographs shown in conjunction with relevant materials from the California Historical Society's vast collection.  Join us to see a preview of the project and meet Lisa Hamilton. RSVP to rsvp@calhist.org or 415.357.1848, ext. 229.

Working Landscapes, Working Waterscapes: Appropriate Uses on Public Lands

Wednesday, January 18, 2012, 6:00 p.m.

Discussion with beverages and hors d’oeuvres served.

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

The panel will reflect on the Drake's Bay story and controversy over the Oyster Farm’s continuation, but more importantly use it as a way to think about a larger question: how can we build a consensus, a movement even -- across sectors -- that could change the ways we think about and manage cultural and working landscapes within parks, natural areas, and wildernesses? Is there a fundamental shift in the ways we think about nature, people, ecology, and environmental history coming and how do we conceptualize it and solidify it to become better stewards of our public lands?  The panel will be moderated by award-winning journalist Jon Christensen, currently the Executive Director of the Bill Lane Center for the American West at Stanford University with panelists Richard Walker, author of The Country in the City: The Greening of the San Francisco Bay Area, and Kelly Cash, Environmental Consultant; along with invited representatives of the National Park Service. RSVP to rsvp@calhist.org or 415.357.1848, ext. 229.

California Historical Society Collections at the Autry National Center

Saturday, January 21, 2012, 3:00 p.m.

California Historical Society Collections at the Autry National Center

Tour and Reception

Free Event for California Historical Society members held at the Autry National Center, 4700 Western Heritage Way, Los Angeles

California Historical Society members are invited to a special tour of the Romance Gallery at the Autry National Center of the American West. Curators will introduce you to four pieces of iconic art from the California Historical Society collections currently on view at the Autry. Meet the California Historical Society’s new Executive Director and board members in a post-tour reception. Reservations required. RSVP to rsvp@calhist.org or 415.357.1848, ext. 229. 

Story of an Oyster

Thursday, Jan. 12, 2012, 5:30 – 7:30 p.m.


Oyster farming discussion


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


Ever wonder what it takes for an oyster to make it to your plate? Join us for an evening with Nancy and Kevin Lunny, owners of the Drakes Bay Oyster Company. They will share the many facets of oyster farming in Drakes Estero, including its history, culture and ecology, research and education at the farm, and the ABCs of how an oyster is grown. For the story of the oyster after it leaves the farm, Christian Caiazzo, chef and owner of Osteria Stellina in Point Reyes Station, will share his perspective as a chef and commitment to using local and organic ingredients at his restaurant.  RSVP to rsvp@calhist.org or 415.357.1848, ext. 229.

Oyster Farm exhibition extended through January 31, 2012

The California Historical Society hosts the exhibit Oyster Farm: Photographs of the Drakes Bay Oyster Company, featuring the documentary photography of artist Evvy Eisen. Discussing Oyster Farm, Evvy Eisen explains, “I set out to photograph the workers at the Drakes Bay Oyster Company because they are part of our community, though few of us have ever seen them or understand what they do. They stood before my camera, with dignity and patience. Their portraits communicate information specific to these individuals, but also illuminate essential aspects of the universal human condition.” Eisen’s photographs are accompanied by pieces of ephemera and other materials from the rich collections of the California Historical Society. 


The California Historical Society's gallery is open from 12pm to 5pm, Wednesdays through Saturdays. The gallery will be closed on December 24th and December 31st.  

Happy New Year!

Annual Duck Festival on the shores of Lake Merritt, Oakland, staged each New Year's Day.

Photographer: Unknown. 1923. Silver gelatin print. CHS2010.442.tif