Blog Archives

Monthly Program: Kissing Cousins: The Artistic Lives of San Francisco’s Albert M. Bender and Anne M. Bremer

Sunday, March 19, 2:00 pm, Monthly Program via Zoom.

Kissing Cousins: The Artistic Lives of San Francisco’s Albert M. Bender and Anne M. Bremer
A Presentation by Ann Harlow

When Anne M.

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Monthly Program: The Who, What, When, Where, How and Why of Paraplegic Vivian Edward’s Transcontinental Goat Cart Odyssey, 1907-10

Sunday, February 19, 2:00 pm, Monthly Program via Zoom

The Who, What, When, Where, How and Why of Paraplegic Vivian Edward’s Transcontinental Goat Cart Odyssey, 1907-10
A Presentation by Oliver B.

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Monthly Program: Mindful Surrealism: Practice-Based Research in San Francisco

Sunday, January 15, 2022 2:00 pm, Monthly Program via Zoom.

Mindful Surrealism: Practice-Based Research in San Francisco

A Presentation by Nathan Foxton

Surrealism is a cultural and art historical movement that evolved over the 20th century,

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Monthly Program: The Genocide in California’s Closet

Sunday, December 18, 2022 2:00 pm, Monthly Program via Zoom.

The Genocide in California’s Closet
A Presentation by Robeert Aquinas McNally

Most Californians are unaware that in the second half of the 19th century their state sponsored and funded a campaign to exterminate its Indigenous peoples — a mass atrocity known under contemporary international law as genocide.

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Monthly Program: Eternal Flames: Excerpt from a work in progress

Sunday, October 16, 2:00 pm, Monthly Program via Zoom. View a video of this presentation here.

Eternal Flames: Excerpt from a work in progress
A Presentation by Jim Gasperini

Jim presented a chapter of his work in progress,

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Monthly Program: How to Create Your Own Legacy Book

Sunday, September 18, 2:00 pm, Monthly Program via Zoom.

How to Create Your Own Legacy Book
A Presentation by Margaretta Mitchell

Margaretta is both photographer and writer, who always brings research and history into her books.

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Public Program: Writing and Revising Narrative History

Sunday, August 21, 2:00 pm, Public Program. view a video of this presentation here.

Writing and Revising Narrative History
A Presentation by Megan Kate Nelson

Join the Mechanics’ Institute and the Institute for Historical Study for this exciting talk about writing with historian Megan Kate Nelson who left academia in 2014 to become a full-time writer.

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Monthly Program: The Joy of Life: Impressionists and Post-impressionists in Russia

Sunday, July 17, 2:00 pm, Monthly Program via Zoom.

The Joy of Life:
Impressionists and Post-impressionists in Russia
A Presentation by Marina Oberatova

Russia has one of the world’s best collections of French Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings. It rivals the holdings of French museums—especially when it comes to the masterpieces of Paul Gauguin,

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Monthly Program: General Vallejo’s Efforts to Establish a Mission in Santa Rosa

Sunday, June 19, 2:00 pm,  via Zoom.

A Presentation by Peter G. Meyerhof

In 1834, all of the 19 missions in Alta California were turned over to civil administrators who were to take over secular control from the mission priests and arrange distribution of assets including the land to the baptized Native Americans who had worked there.

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Monthly Program: Second Wave Feminism in a Post War Suburban Synagogue

Sunday, May 15, 2:00 pm,  via Zoom
A Presentation by Michael Several

Between 1968 and 1979, women at the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center wrote and produced five musical comedies. These productions are an example of women forging a presence in an institution that barred them from equal participation in religious ritual and prevented them from fully participating in temple governance.

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Monthly Program: Why the Jews Won’t Accept Jesus, and Why This Is a Problem for Christians

A video of this presentation can be viewed on our YouTube Channel.

Saturday, April 16, 2022 10:00 am

From the start, Christians have made special efforts to convert Jews. With rare exception, however, Jews have never been interested. Focusing mainly on Christianity’s first few centuries,

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Monthly Program: Matera and the Sassi: From National Shame to International Fame

Sunday, March 20 2022        A video of this presentation can be viewed on our YouTube Channel.
A Talk by Marilyn L. Geary
 
Its troglodyte residents ravaged by poverty and disease, its rock-walled churches all but forgotten,

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Monthly Program: George Daniel de Monfreid: Post-Impressionist Trailblazer & Gauguin’s Best Friend

Sunday, February 22, 2:00 pm
A Talk by Laure Latham

The French artist George Daniel de Monfreid (1856-1929) broke from mainstream impressionism early on, becoming a leading voice of the post-impressionist movement in his country.

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Monthly Program: Beyond Genealogy -Tips and Techniques for Researching and Presenting Family History Online

Sunday, January 16, 2:00 pm.
A Talk by Jim Gasperini

The internet can bring life to a tree of boxes listing who begat whom. Jim will show how – using The Colburn Chronicles,

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Monthly Program: The Four Wars That Shaped George Orwell, From the “Great” One to the “Cold” One

Sunday, December 19, 2:00 pm

A Talk by Peter Stansky

Peter Stansky will discuss how Orwell was shaped by his experiences of living through four wars: the First World War while he was growing up; the Spanish Civil War,

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Monthly Program: Exploring Indigenous California History

Sunday, November 21, 2:00 pm
Ann Harlow presented

An informal talk for Native American Heritage Month about my recent adventures in developing a group and blog site on “Honoring Indigenous Peoples,” formulating a land acknowledgment, paying Shuumi land tax,

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Monthly Program: Organized Crime, Big Business, and the Corruption of American Democracy

Sunday, October 12,  7:00 pm
Jonathan Marshall presented

Bay Area author Jonathan Marshall offers an original take on an old subject, political corruption, and challenges the myth of a past golden age of American democracy.

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Monthly Program: Out of the Fog: The Surprising Origin Story of the Cable Cars

Sunday, September 19,  2:00 pm
Taryn Edwards  presented

San Francisco’s historic cable cars have reopened! Beloved by tourists and locals alike, the cable cars are integral to the development, character, and culture of San Francisco. Join Taryn Edwards for a peek into her research about the cable car’s surprising origins and an update on the life of Andrew Smith Hallidie,

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Monthly Program: George Templeton Strong, the Civil War Sanitary Commission, and the Women’s Movement

Sunday, August 15,  2:00 pm, Monthly Program, via Zoom.
Christopher Webber presented

A Wall Street lawyer’s Civil War project to help preserve the Union inadvertently ended up empowering women and paving the way to health-care reform.

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Monthly Program: Solomon Schocken: Sonoma’s Preeminent Jewish Entrepreneur

Sunday, July 18,  2:00 pm
Peter Meyerhof presented

Solomon Schocken (1842-1932) was a Jewish immigrant who rose quickly to considerable significance in Sonoma and beyond, through his own business ventures and as a mentor to several future entrepreneurs.

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The Social Crusader: Berkeley Mayor J. Stitt Wilson’s Lifelong Quest for a Just Society

Thursday July 22 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM PDT

Author Stephen E. Barton introduced his new book, J. Stitt Wilson: Socialist, Christian, Mayor of Berkeley. Faced with the dramatic extremes of wealth and poverty that characterized Gilded Age America, Wilson (1868-1942) gave up a promising career in the ministry to advocate for “applied Christianity”—a democratic and socialist economy based on caring and cooperation that would embody Jesus’s message of love.

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Monthly Program: The Socialite and the Sea Captain – Louise Arner Boyd and Captain Bob Bartlett on the 1941 Arctic Voyage of the Effie M. Morrissey

Sunday, June 20,  2:00 pm
David Hirzel presented

A talk by David Hirzel on the prickly relationship between the socialite and the sea captain on his famous schooner Effie M. Morrissey. When war threatened U.S. neutrality in 1940,

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Monthly Program: Richard Hurley, “Campaigns of the California Volunteers”

Sunday, May 16,  2:00 pm, Monthly Program, via Zoom. Richard Hurley  presented:

Campaigns of the California Volunteers
 
This multimedia show chronicles the adventures (and misadventures) of the nearly 17,000 young men who volunteered for the Union army during the Civil War. Moved by passionate patriotism,

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Monthly Program: David Goldberg, A Family History

Sunday, April 18,  2:00 pm,  Institute member David Goldberg on

A Family History
a photographic historical essay using the language of contemporary visual art

This essay sits at the space where family and history intersect.

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Monthly Program:  a special webinar

Sunday, March 21,  2:00 pm, 
Beth Wright (daughter of longtime IHS member Georgia Wright) will provide practical information and guidance to help aspiring authors succeed with their self-published books. The webinar will include tips on how to find and work with the most suitable editors and other book publishing professionals;

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Institute Activities

See what’s coming up for Institute members or the public on our What’s New page. Prospective members can inquire about coming once or twice as a visitor before joining. Public events are irregular. 

old calendar

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Monthly Program: Lost Department Stores of San Francisco

Sunday, October 18, 2 pm, Monthly Program  via Zoom. Anne Evers Hitz presented:
Lost Department Stores of San Francisco: Six Bygone Stores That Defined an Era

In the late nineteenth century, San Francisco’s merchant princes built grand stores for a booming city,

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Revealing San Francisco’s Hidden 19th-Century Black History: A Tour of California Historical Society Artifacts

Saturday, September 26, 1:00 pm, Public Program  via Zoom – pre-registration required

Part of San Francisco History Days, this event is co-sponsored by the California Historical Society and the California African American Museum.

Join Susan D. Anderson,

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Monthly Program:  Black History in Marin County

Sunday, September 20,  Monthly Program:  Black History in Marin County: From the Spaniards to the Great Migration

IHS member Marilyn Geary presented unique stories of Black individuals who made their marks amid the biases of a predominantly white society.

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Monthly Program: Exploring the Links between Tourism and War

Sunday, July 26,  2 pm: Mills College history professor emeritus and 40-year Institute member Bert Gordon presented  “Exploring the Links between Tourism and War, based on the research for Bert’s most recent book, War Tourism: Second World War France from Defeat and Occupation to the Creation of Heritage,

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Harlem of the West: The Fillmore Jazz Era and Redevelopment

A lecture with Elizabeth Pepin Silva
Sunday, August 16 2020 at 2:00 PM
via Zoom

Ms. Silva is a documentary filmmaker, photographer, writer, and former day manager of the historic Fillmore Auditorium. She grew up all around the Bay Area 

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The Coit Tower Murals: Visual Feast, Political Controversy, Decades of Neglect, and a Spectacular Restoration

A lecture with Professor Emeritus Robert Cherny
Thursday, October 3, 2019 at 6:30 PM
Presidio Interfaith Chapel

The murals at Coit Tower were completed 85 years ago, in the early summer of 1934. They were, at the time, the largest art project funded by the New Deal, and they influenced other New Deal art across the country.

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Monthly Program – Museum Exhibit Talk and Tour

Monthly Program for May: Exhibit Talk and Tour at the Richmond Museum of History

Sunday, May 19, 2019 at 2 pm

Richmond Museum of History, 400 Nevin Avenue, Richmond

Prof. Oliver B. Pollak will give a talk and a tour of the exhibit:  Pioneers to the Present,

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South Asians in the South Bay

Friday, September 28  12:00 pm to 1:00 pm:  South Asians in the South Bay: The Privileged Immigrants – with Jeevan Zutshi

profile_jeevan2Offered in partnership with the Indo-American Community Federation and the Mechanics’ Institute, IACF founder Jeevan Zutshi will talk about the South Asian community that has developed in Fremont,

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Conversation on History Publishing

Malcolm and jackie
Speaking June 17, 2018:

Malcolm Margolin headed Heyday Books from 1974 to 2015, and Jackie Pels has run Hardscratch Press since 1990. Join us on Sunday, June 17 (our usual Work-in-Progress time slot, the 3rd Sunday) at the Berkeley Central Public Library,

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Local History Excursion May 20: Niles Canyon

Niles pano

Join the California and the West Group at Niles Canyon in Fremont on Sunday, May 20, for an entire day of history-laden activities organized by Rose Marie Cleese. “Tentative plans call for a late-morning half-hour ride on the historic Niles Canyon Railway from Fremont to Sunol (for a nominal fee),

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The Future of the Past in the Digital Age

RS19165_Case15wallGIS_800px-qut-768x434This March! Two illuminating panels that explore the intersection of digital technology and history. Whether you’re a researcher, writer, history teacher, student, archivist, historian, or simply a history buff, you’ll discover how today’s technology tools are changing the study and accessibility of all things historical forever. 

Panelists include:

  • Chris Carlsson,

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Save the Date: Feb. 24

 

Our annual membership meeting will be on Saturday, February 24 at the Mechanics’ Institute Library, San Francisco. Come hear what we’ve been up to, elect some new board members, have lunch, and hear a presentation by Monika Trobits, one of our mini-grant recipients.

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Holiday Greetings from the Institute!

Christmas greetings

May you have a fun-filled or restful holiday season, whichever you prefer. We hope to see you in the New Year—see our Upcoming Events.

Prospective members, we hope you will join us in 2018. Existing members, please recruit someone new!

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Thank You!

potluckJody Offer once again hosted our annual potluck at her house, and a good time was had by all! Many thanks to Jody and her husband Stuart, and to the fabulous chefs among our group. Eating and drinking together has always been a favorite activity of the Institute for Historical Study!

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Public Event: “Siberia and California”

Siberia and California: Connections during the Russian Revolution and Civil War

Late in 1917 (25 October according to the Old Style calendar, 7 November according to the New Style), shortly after the US entered World War I and began sending troops to France on the side of the Allies,

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History Play Readers Invite Newcomers

Screen Shot 2017-10-17 at 3.14.48 PMThe history play readers will meet on Friday, October 27, at 1 pm at the San Francisco home of Nancy Zinn to read and discuss Breaking the Code by Hugh Whitemore. The title refers both to Alan Turing’s work as a mathematician  and computer science pioneer,

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Fandango!   

Martinez adobeThe California and the West Study Group is sponsoring an event on September 30th open to the whole Institute membership.  We will be attending a fandango in Martinez at the historic Martinez adobe, with a number of added inducements. The fandango, a traditional community dance, has been organized by a group that sings historic Californio songs and also plays for dancing,

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It’s Mini-Grant Time!

Screen Shot 2017-07-17 at 5.42.41 PMThe Institute Board of Directors is pleased to announce the Mini-Grant Program for 2017-18. The deadline for this year’s application is September 15. The Mini-Grant Committee will examine the applications and report its decisions to the Board, which will have the final say. Checks will be issued by October 15.

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Mother Lode Trip, Sept. 23–25, 2016

Members of the Institute, along with members of the Italian-American Studies Association, had a fabulous history trip to the heart of California’s Gold Country the weekend of September 23–25, 2016.

Thank you to Rose Marie Cleese for organizing it! For a report on the weekend, see our Fall 2016 newsletter.

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History of Art Venues in Berkeley

Howard Sketch croppedAnn Harlow and the California and the West Study Group invite Institute members and their guests to a day of local art and architecture history in Berkeley on Saturday, January 23, 2016. We will meet at 10 am at the Berkeley Historical Society, Veterans Memorial Building, 1931 Center Street.

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It’s Mini-Grant Time!

US-$500-LT-1880-Fr-185lThe Institute Board of Directors is pleased to announce the Mini-Grant Program for 2015-16. The deadline for this year’s application is September 15. The Mini-Grant Committee will examine the applications and report its decisions to the Board, which will have the final say. Checks will be issued by October 15.

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Annual Meeting New Member Presentations

Library Albemarle Constantine cropped

Excerpts from the report in the Spring 2015 Newsletter:

Sue Mote is working on a novel, “An Ordinary Viking,” the story of an adventure-seeking youth who really doesn’t like the shedding of blood. When researching the Viking age for a work of fiction,

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Report on San Francisco Main Library Tour

SF History Center
Nine Institute members received an exclusive tour of the main San Francisco Public Library on January 31, 2015. Our guide, Susan Goldstein, has served as City Archivist since 1995. In her position, she works with all the city departments to preserve and make accessible their historical records.

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SFPL Tour 1/31/15

SFPL-archictectureBrought to you by the California and the West Study Group:  Please join us for a special tour of the New Main Library on Saturday, January 31st, from 10:15 AM to 12 noon. The New Main (now almost 20 years old!) opened its doors on April 18,

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Public Program: World War I Films

All QuietA series of major films about World War I begins in January and continues into May. Showings will be on Sunday afternoons, at the San Francisco Main Library on the dates indicated below. Each film will be introduced by an Institute member, and there will be time for discussion afterwards.

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Local History Field Trips for 2015

Brush_Stroke_2015_CalendarSix members of the Institute whose specialties include California got together on November 8th at Jody Offer’s house to plan for a year of programs.  Meeting were Jody, Ann Harlow, Joanne Lafler, Rose Marie Cleese, Peter Meyerhof, and Edith Piness.  After some discussion, the group concluded that having a series of visits to historic sites had proven to be a winning formula for 2014 and that there was plenty of material for another year of such explorations. 

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Report on Richmond Waterfront Field Trip

On July 26 a dozen or so Institute members and friends visited aboard the SS Red Oak Victory ship moored in Richmond (an exhibition of the Richmond Museum of History). This Victory ship, built in 1944 at the Kaiser Shipyards, was one of ten built for the Navy.

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Report on Los Gatos Field Trip

Institute members converged from the East Bay, South Bay, and San Francisco at the History Museum of Los Gatos on March 27th.  Dawn Maxson gave us a leisurely tour, beginning with the story of the handsome stone building, part of a flour mill from the 1850s that hosted rock concerts in the early 1970s.

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Los Gatos Field Trip

Los Gatos catsLos Gatos gateThe California and the West study group invites you to tour the exhibition at the History Museum of Los Gatos, American Bohemia: The Cats Estate in Los Gatos.  The exhibition explores the storied lives of Charles Erskine Scott Wood and Sara Bard Field,

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History Expo

For the first time, the Institute for Historical Study will have an information booth at the San Francisco History Expo at the Old Mint, presented by the San Francisco Museum and Historical Society on March 1 and 2, 2014, from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.  

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Visit to Juana Briones Exhibition

Juana tour

On  January 25th about sixteen of us had the privilege of a preview tour of the new exhibition at the California Historical Society, San Francisco, guided by Executive Director Anthea Hartig with commentary by Institute member Jeanne Farr McDonnell. (More to come soon.)

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Report on Archives Program

We had a good turnout at the San Francisco Main Public Library on October 10th for the program on “Treasures in Archives: Research Possibilities for Students, Teachers and Scholars.”  All four speakers gave interesting presentations. Susan Goldstein spoke about the City Archives in the library’s San Francisco History Center.  They have recently acquired huge amounts of records from city departments from the Police Department to the Redevelopment Agency to the Medical Examiner (coroner). 

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Public Program on Archives, October 10

Where would historians be without archives? Come to the San Francisco Main Public Library and learn about some lesser-known archival treasures of San Francisco. Four archivists will highlight resources for local history and national history within a local setting: Chris Doan, Archivist for the Sisters of the Presentation; Susan Goldstein,

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Annual Potluck, September 7

About 25 Institute members and guests gathered on Saturday, September 7th, at Margaretta Mitchell’s house on the Berkeley/Oakland border. Thank you, Gretta, for hosting us! After a sumptuous dinner we discussed possible uses for the Frank Brechka bequest. A task force was created to explore some of the options, to be chaired by Ellen Huppert.

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Trip to Green Gulch Farm Zen Center

On August 15, a beautiful, sunny Thursday, fourteen Institute members and friends ventured to Marin County to the Green Gulch Farm Zen Center near Muir Beach. Jody Offer worked on arrangements, and David Chadwick, our long-time member, whose work on a website on Shunryu Suzuki he had summarized in a work-in-progress recently,

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Vallejo Outing April 13, 2013

Twelve Institute members had a history-filled day in Vallejo on April 13, with private viewings of two institutions: the Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum, where Executive Director Jim Kern gave us a tour before regular open hours, and the McCune Collection at the Vallejo Public Library.  Highlights at the museum included artifacts from Mare Island (the first U.S.

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2012 Annual Dinner Lecture Report

The Global Migrations of Ornamental Plants

Plants migrate across the globe by hitching rides on exported building materials, riding as seeds in the entrails of animals, stowing away in the luggage of plant-loving travelers, or simply floating on wind that sweeps across continents. Author-neurologist Judith M. Taylor not only traced the migratory movements of numerous plants but also introduced botany’s earliest explorers,

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Upcoming Events

Sunday, March 19, 2:00 pm, Monthly Program via Zoom.

“Designed for Large Explosions” - The Port Chicago explosion and the Manhattan Project
A Presentation by Daisy Brown Herndon

Daisy Brown Herndon, a former school librarian, was “working” as a free-lance researcher in the WWII reading room at the National Archives in College Park, MD in 1995 when she “met” the protagonist of her novel (in-progress) Scrap Mettle: In 1942, when the Navy opens all ratings to Negroes, young Booker T. Taylor joins up to prove his mettle. Herndon’s research for the historic novel led her to the Port Chicago explosion, the subsequent mutiny trial, and the outlandish but intriguing nuclear explosion theory (PCnet) that changed both the focus of her writing and the course of her life. In 2020, Herndon began publishing articles on MEDIUM, including Uncle Sam’s Nuclear Cloak, a four-part series featuring a new perspective on the history of the bomb.

Of the 320 Americans killed in the explosion at Port Chicago, 202 were African American sailors who loaded ammunition at the segregated base. Only 51 victims could be identified. A local newspaper reported “Most Victims Atomized.”
The presentation will be recorded, and the question-and-answer part will be posted on YouTube for IHS members only. If you don’t want to be on the recording, just make sure your video is off. And please remember to mute your microphone!
Saturday, April 8, 1:30 pm, Writers Group, via Zoom. Ann Harlow will present.

Member News

Members' Recent Activities:

On October 14 and 15, 2022, Marilyn L. Geary presented her book Miners, Milkers & Merchants: From the Swiss-Italian Alps to the Golden Hills of Australia and California at “Settimane Ticinesi,” a series of events dedicated to Switzerland’s Italian-speaking Canton of Ticino held at the Consulate General of Switzerland in San Francisco. On the first day focused on Ticino’s immigration to California, actors from the American Conservatory Theater read letters from Marilyn’s book dramatizing the immigrant experience. On the next day she gave a talk on the history of Swiss-Italian immigration to California, a mass migration which brought 28,000 Ticinesi to California between 1850 and 1920. Marilyn also conducted oral histories of the Rev. Dr. Jane Spahr and Paula Pilecki for the Anne T. Kent California Room of the Marin County Free Library.
Presbyterian Minister Janie Spahr has committed her life to advocating for justice and greater inclusivity for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people. She was the founder and first executive director of Spectrum, the Center for Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Concerns in San Anselmo, California, now called the Spahr Center. Paula Pilecki served as its executive director for over sixteen years. Both were instrumental in providing services for the LGBTQ community and in changing attitudes by reaching out to and
collaborating with organizations throughout Marin County.
In October, California Audubon published Leslie Friedman’s poem, “Meeting the Vulture.” “At a very large online gathering discussing raptors,” Leslie writes, “my name was picked out of a pot. I was asked if I had a
comment or story about raptors, so I read ‘Meeting the Vulture.’ I was immediately asked for permission to publish it.
Jim Gasperini’s work in progress Fire in the Mind won the Grand Prize in the 2022 San Francisco Writers Conference Writing Contest. For this annual contest, literary-agent judges read excerpts from unpublished manuscripts and choose First Prize Winners in four categories. The Grand Prize Winner is then selected from among the four winners. Fire in the Mind took top honors in Adult Non-Fiction.
At the November meeting of the American Academy of the History of Dentistry, held in New York City, Peter G. Meyerhof was awarded the Hayden-Harris Award. “This award is the Academy’s highest award and given to those who have made outstanding contributions to the advancement of the history of dentistry. Dr. Meyerhof shares an interest in dental history as well as in the history of California.”
Dan Kohanski’s latest book is now out: A God of Our Invention: How Religion Shaped the Western World (Apocryphile Press, 2023). The book examines the history of the development of Jewish and Christian ideas of God and then explores how this history has led to Christianity’s enormous impact on the Western world. Dan wishes to acknowledge the tremendous help of the Writers Group, without whom
this project would not have been successful. On April 4th, Dan will speak about A God of Our Invention at the Commonwealth Club of San Francisco, in conversation with Club member George Hammond.
The paperback edition of Robert McNally’s The Modoc War is now available. “It was a nonfiction finalist in the Northern California Book Awards and the winner of a California Book Awards gold medal from the Commonwealth Club as the year’s best book on California. Available online from Bookshop.org
and University of Nebraska Press.”
A book launch and reception for Peter Stansky’s The Socialist Patriot: George Orwell and War (Stanford University Press, 2023) took place Thursday, February 23 at the Green Library at Stanford at 4:30, in the Bender Room. The program featured  a talk by the Orwell scholar John Rodden about Peter’s earlier
Orwell work, The Unknown Orwell and Orwell: The Transformation. Peter himself spoke about his new book. The Socialist Patriot was available for sale, along with the combined edition of the two previous books.
Katya Miller’s essay “Conversations with Clan Mothers: Searching for Meaning in a National Statue” can be found on the website of Women Rising Radio. Katya’s work to bring these North American leaders together also resulted in WRR’s program 44, “Indigenous Women Envision Rematriation,” a half-hour listen.
Welcome new members:

Vince Emery created Vince Emery Productions http://www.emerybooks.com/
where he combines his skills as writer, literary detective, editor, and publisher, producing books and videos by and about established writers. “Our goal,” he writes, “is to give readers a deeper, closer connection with their favorite authors.” Dashiell Hammett, Harvey Milk, Jack London, and George Sterling are among the featured authors. Vince is currently working on “George Sterling's Greatest Hits,” “The Harvey Milk Letters,” and soon, “Writers of Carmel: An Anthology.”

Nathan Alexander Foxton is an artist living in San Francisco. Before moving here last year he had been working in Indianapolis, Indiana at the Harrison Center for the Arts (curator), at Ivy Tech Community College, University of Indianapolis, and Herron School of Art + Design (adjunct instructor). He’s a figurative painter, constructing space from a two-dimensional perspective. Nathan is interested in telling stories through his art about the soul of place and has a background teaching art history among other subjects. He has exhibited his work in group and solo shows.

John Hyde Barnard is a musician, writer, historian, and a retired Los Angeles City Librarian. He recently signed a publishing contract for “The Creole Incident: The Beginning of the End of Slavery,” a runner-up in the San Francisco Writers Conference Adult Non-Fiction Category (2021). “This historical narrative,” he writes, “details how the Union and the Constitution were saved, twenty years before the Civil War, by the actions of a few select members of the House of Representatives, led by the venerable John Quincy Adams, along with a handful of radical abolitionists and 19 enslaved individuals. The book is slated for release in late 2022.” John is still active as a musical arranger, director, publisher and performer and divides his time between Sausalito, Los Angeles and New York.

Members:  Please submit news of your history-related publications, lectures, awards, research finds, etc. to info@instituteforhistoricalstudy.org.

Contact Us

Institute for Historical Study
1399 Queens Road
Berkeley, CA 94708
info@instituteforhistoricalstudy.org

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