HSSC Tour of the San Gabriel Mission and La Casa de Lopez de Lowther Adobe
Saturday, June 10, 2017
The HSSC toured both the San Gabriel Mission and the La Casa de Lopez de Lowther Adobe.
The San Gabriel Mission, named for the Archangel Gabriel, was founded in 1771 by Spanish Franciscan missionaries and remains one of the best preserved missions in California. The Mission’s historic church, constructed in 1805, is the oldest functioning Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. The San Gabriel Mission continues to serve as a parish church for the City of San Gabriel. Since 1908, the Claretian Missionaries have overseen the care and maintenance of the mission’s historic grounds and museum collection.
Built in the early 1800s, La Casa de Lopez de Lowther was part of the San Gabriel Mission complex, situated near the northwest courtyard area. Juan Lopez moved into the house in 1849, and members of his family occupied the home until 1964. Today, La Casa de Lopez de Lowther is closed to the public and serves in a limited role for parish-related functions.
John Macias, History Instructor at Cerritos College and San Gabriel Mission Board chair, and Kim Walters, mission museum curator, led a tour of the San Gabriel Mission site, which included information about the mission itself, the museum collection, and preservation work. The group also toured the Lopez Adobe, which is only open for private tours.
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-Centinela Adobe Tour and Talk
Saturday, June 3, 2017
The event was co-sponsored by the Historical Society of Centinela Valley.
The Centinela Adobe, also known as La Casa de la Centinela, is a Spanish Colonial style adobe house built in 1834. It is one of the 43 surviving adobes within Los Angeles County. The Adobe was the seat of the 2,000 acre Rancho Aguaje de la Centinela, a Mexican Alta California era land grant. The Rancho, granted to Ygnacio Machado, was partitioned from the much larger Rancho Sausal Redondo (22,500 acres), which was granted to Antonio Ygnacio Avila.
After a tour of the adobe, Dr. Donna Schuele (Cal State LA) presented “The Roots of Inglewood: The Avila Family and the Fight for Rancho Sausal Redondo.”
After the tour and talk, the group met for an optional no-host lunch at Pann’s Restaurant.
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-HSSC Tour of Historical Society of Long Beach Exhibit “Long Beach Remembers Pearl Harbor”
Tour of Historical Society of Long Beach Exhibit, “Long Beach Remembers Pearl Harbor.”
On Saturday, April 1, 2017, attendees visted the Historical Society of Long Beach to view their exhibit “Long Beach Remembers Pearl Harbor.” HSLB Executive Director Julie Bartolotto and historians Craig Hendricks and Timothy Friden gave a tour of the exhibit and spoke about the history related to the exhibit.
About the exhibit: “On December 7, 1941, the bombing of Pearl Harbor shocked the nation and propelled the United States into World War II. Long Beach was a strategic stronghold as a major staging area for the Pacific conflict. The war touched everyone who lived here. Many of the ships in Hawaii on that fateful day spent months in Long Beach before the bombing. Officers and enlisted men on the ships left families and friends in Long Beach. The event not only transformed the war in the Pacific, it transformed the lives of Long Beach residents and the city’s economy and infrastructure. The bombing of Pearl Harbor was the catalyst for airport, harbor, and industrial development, and laid the groundwork for the Long Beach that we know today. Using photos, newspapers, items from its collection and others collected from the community, the exhibition commemorates this important anniversary of the event that forced the United States into the Second World War.”
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-Los Angeles Public Library Women’s Heritage Month- “Hiding Under Eastern Petticoats? The Emerging Women’s Suffrage Movement in California”
For women demanding the vote after the Civil War, California was a hot-bed of activity, especially with the rival National and American Woman Suffrage Associations battling for alliances in the Golden State.
Donna Schuele (UCLA, Cal State LA) explored California’s suffrage movement in the 1870s and the ways in which the California movement was driven—and riven—by circumstances both local and national.
This free event was sponsored by the History & Genealogy Department of the Los Angeles Public Library and the Historical Society of Southern California.
Sunday, March 12, 2017, 2:00pm
Los Angeles Public Library
Central Library
Meeting Room A
630 W. Fifth St., Los Angeles, 90071
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-HSSC Tour and Lecture at U.S. Navy Seabee Museum
Saturday, February 11, 2017
U.S. Navy Seabee Museum, Port Hueneme, CA
Co-sponsored by the U.S. Navy Seabee Museum
Lara Godbille, the Director of the Seabee Museum, spoke on “The U.S. Navy Seabees in Southern 
California During World War II.” Attendees visited the newly opened exhibit The U.S. Navy Seabees in Southern California During World War II.” The exhibit tour was followed by a behind-the-scenes tour of the collection, storage, and archives.
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-HSSC 2017 Conference with the 19th Annual George A.V. Dunning Lecture
January 21, 2017
University of LaVerne
The HSSC 2017 Conference theme was “World War II and the Homefront in Southern California”. The conference also included the presentation of the 2016 HSSC Awards.
The program included Sherrie Tucker, University of Kansas, speaking on “Jim Crow Away from Home: Dance Floor Democracy at Three California USO’s during World War II” as the Keynote/19th Annual George A.V. Dunning Lecture. Sessions included, “The Influence of the Military in World War II in Southern California,” “World War II and the Homefront,” “Race/Ethnicity and War,” “Redlands and the Inland Empire Respond to World War II,” “World War II and Long Beach,” and “Internment in Southern California.”
Thank you to the sponsors of the conference:
Provost’s Office, University of La Verne, in celebration of the University’s 125th Anniversary
Dept. of History and Political Science, University of La Verne
Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West
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-Lec
ture: Get Square With the Rebs”: The Charles M. Jenkins Civil War Diary
Wednesday, November 9, 2016
Leatherby Libraries, Chapman University
Co-Sponsored by the HSSC and the Leatherby Libraries, Chapman University
From January to September 1865, Charles M. Jenkins, the only Los Angeles-area resident to see combat for the Union Army during the Civil War, kept a diary of his experiences in Virginia during and after the final days of the conflict. This remarkable document was forgotten in storage for over 60 years until it was unearthed last year. Speakers included: Louis Di Donato, Wayne Sherman, Paul R. Spitzzeri.
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-18th Annual George A. V. Dunning Lecture
Saturday, November 5, 2016
University of California, Irvine
Professor Vicki Ruiz spoke on “Why Latino History Matters to U.S. History.”
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-Archives Bazaar at USC
Saturday, October 15, 2016
Doheny Memorial Library, University of Southern California Library
The HSSC displayed artifacts from its collection and copies of the Southern California Quarterly.
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-HSSC Tour of Downtown Los Angeles Noir Sites
Saturday, October 8, 2016
El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Angeles del Río de Porciúncula is the second oldest city in California. Participants learned about Los Angeles and its story, with a focus on noir sites.
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-Lecture: “The Jenkins Brothers: An Eye to the Substantial”
Saturday, September 17, 2016
Drum Barracks Civil War Museum
Co-sponsored by the Drum Barracks Civil War Museum
For 80 years, from the 1850s to the 1930s, Charles and William Jenkins were notable figures in greater Los Angeles. A panel of speakers spoke about these remarkable and controversial brothers in the greater Los Angeles area. A guided tours was given immediately following the program. Speakers included: Louis DiDonato, Alan Pollack, Wayne Sherman, Paul R. Spitzzeri.
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-Lecture: “The Jenkins Brothers: An Eye to the Substantial”
Saturday, August 27, 2016
Old Town Newhall Library
Co-sponored by the Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society
For 80 years, from the 1850s to the 1930s, Charles and William Jenkins were notable figures in greater Los Angeles. A panel of speakers spoke about these remarkable and controversial brothers and their impact on Los Angeles and the Santa Clarita Valley. Speakers included: Louis DiDonato, Alan Pollack, Wayne Sherman, Paul R. Spitzzeri.
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-Tour of St. Francis Dam and the William S. Hart Museum
Saturday, June 4, 2016
The day included a tour of the St. Francis Dam disaster area and a tour of the William S. Hart Museum and Ranch.
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-2016 HSSC Annual Conference on “Journalism in Southern California”
April 16, 2016
Occidental College
Conference speakers included: Bill Boyarsky, Paul Bryan Gray, Félix Gutiérrez, Larry Harnisch, Amina Hassan, David Hayes-Bautista, Jim Newton, Merry Ovnick, and, Kevin Roderick.
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-Los Angeles Times Festival of Books
April 9-10, 2016
University of Southern California
HSSC publications and pre-1951 quarterlies and annuals were available for sale.
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-Behind-the-Scenes Tour of the Homestead Museum and the Rowland House
Saturday, March 19, 2016
Behind-the-Scenes Tour of the Homestead Museum and Rowland House. The tour included visiting the basements in both the Workman House and La Casa Nueva, the second floor in the Workman House, and storage rooms with archival material, including artifacts owned by the HSSC and temporarily housed at the Homestead.
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–Associated Historical Societies of Los Angeles County Mini-Conference
January 30, 2016
Workman and Temple Family Homestead Museum
Co-hosted by the Workman and Temple Family Homestead Museum
The HSSC and the Workman and Temple Family Homestead Museum co-hosted the Associated Historical Societies of Los Angeles County’s mini-conference. Attendees learned about the current situation of the HSSC, learned about collections management from Paul Spitzzeri, the Assistant Director of the Homestead Museum and Second Vice-President of the HSSC, and took of tour of the Homestead, which included viewing items from the HSSC collection.
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-17th Annual George A. V. Dunning Lecture
Sunday, November 15, 2015
Workman and Temple Family Homestead Museum
Nat Read spoke about Don Benito Wilson.
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-Tour 
of San Fernando Mission and Archives
Saturday, November 7, 2015
The HSSC toured two venerable San Fernando Valley historic landmarks, the San Fernando Mission and the Lopez Adobe. The day included visiting the library and archive at the mission as well as touring the 1883 adobe, recently reopened after several years of restoration.
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-Admissions Day 2015
Wednesday, September 9, 2015
Old Mill
San Marino, California
Alan Jutzi, Avery Chief Curator, Rare Books, spoke on, “The Huntington Library & Southern California History: A Recollection by Alan Jutzi.”
Henry E. Huntington had no personal interest in California history or in documenting his contributions to Southern California. Why then in 1916 did he begin to collect California and Western American history, and after his death how did his library become a major resource for the study of Southern California? Alan Jutzi, longtime Huntington curator, gave his own interpretation of key people and seminal collections in this development and recounted stories of his own encounters with donors, historians, and regional archival collections.
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-HSSC 2015 Annual Conference
Saturday, April 4, 2015
Occidental College
This one-day conference explored some key issues regarding religious and cultural beliefs and practices in the colonial Southwest.
Seven speakers presented: Robert Senkewicz (Santa Clara University), gave the 16th Annual George A.V. Dunning Lecture as the conference keynote, Andy Galvan (Curator, Mission Dolores, San Francisco), Vincent Medina (Asst. Curator, Mission Dolores, San Francisco), Jim Sandos (University of Redlands), Tish Sandos (independent scholar), Craig Russell (Cal Poly San Luis Obispo), and John Koegel (Cal State Fullerton). Steve Hackel (UC Riverside) and Kenneth Marcus (University of La Verne) moderated the panels.
