Refreshments sponsored by
2448 San Diego Avenue
in Old Town San Diego
Save Our Heritage Organisation
SOHO is pleased to announce the Third Thursdays Author Series, a series of lectures about San Diego's history, architecture and its culture. Authors will discuss their passion and guests will learn how each community or topic is uniquely San Diego's own.
The 10-Month series is from February through November, 6-7:30pm at the SOHO-operated city museum, the Adobe Chapel, located at 3950 Conde Street in historic Old Town San Diego. The one-hour lectures include a 15-minute question and answer period followed by a book signing session and light refreshments.
SOHO has partnered with Arcadia Publishing to produce the series. Arcadia is the leading local history publisher in the United States with hundreds of new titles released every year. San Diego has been prolific in its response to the publisher's request for the history and stories of our region and every third Thursday of the month you can meet and greet many of these authors and learn about the fascinating subjects that have so engaged their passion to write about the stories of our region's heritage.
The Third Thursday lectures will be the first in a series of interesting and informative SOHO programs geared towards educating and engaging San Diegans about their own community. We invite the public to come out and enjoy themselves with an evening in San Diego's oldest neighborhood, historic Old Town.
For tickets call (619) 297-9327 · Reserve in advance at discounted rate & save $10
$25 includes Lecture & Book · $35 at the door includes Lecture & Book; or $15 Lecture only at the door or in advance
February 21
Mission BeachJoin coauthors Terry Curren and Phil Prather as they discuss their new book Mission Beach.
Mission Beach is a neighborhood of narrow streets with homes that began in the early 1900s as summer vacation cottages, many of which are now being replaced by condominiums and McMansions. This new volume from Arcadia Publishing pays tribute to the historic sites, residents and visitors who have played a part in the development of this classic seaside community.
Terry Curren is a native San Diegan who has lived in Mission Beach off and on since 1937. An ocean lifeguard from 1952 until 1958, he has served on the San Diego Park and Recreation Board for nearly 10 years. Phil Prather moved with his family to Mission Beach in 1941 where he served as a lifeguard during World War II and after. More than 200 images from their own private collections, from longtime Mission Beach residents, and from the archives of the San Diego Historical Society are used to illustrate this community's unique history.
March 20
San Diego's Little ItalyCoauthors Kimber M. Quinney and Thomas J. Cesarini will share their passion for the history of San Diego's Little Italy.
Through photographs contributed by local community members, they trace the evolution of a humble fishing village into the urban neighborhood that is Little Italy today. Vivid images highlight essential elements of this community, such as labor and longing, fishing and family, ritual and revitalization.
Learn how Italian immigrants settled along San Diego's waterfront in the early 1900s and formed the "Italian Colony," a tightly knit community that provided refuge, shared culture, and heritage. Extended families, new businesses, and church traditions formed the foundation for a lasting social code. It was no coincidence that the area would become known as Little Italy, it was exactly that for its inhabitants, a home away from their native land.
Kimber M. Quinney is adjunct faculty in the Department of History at California State University, San Marcos. Thomas J. Cesarini is the founder and executive director of Convivio, a nonprofit organization for Italian humanities.
April 17
Early Escondido: The Louis A. Havens CollectionAuthor Stephen A. Covey, an Escondido native, acquired 60 original glass-plate negatives from his father, who, as a child, had found them cast in a pile of rubble from a demolished Escondido barn.
Realizing the significance of such a community treasure, Covey began printing these plates in 2000, commencing research to tell a story of early Escondido. The result, combined with numerous photographs from local historical collections, Havens family relatives, and private donors, culminates in this volume, featuring over 200 historic images depicting early Escondido.
Covey tells the story of photographer Louis A. Havens, the first successful photographer in the thriving north San Diego County agricultural city, incorporated in 1888. Havens's work from 1911 to 1944 documents Escondido's early residents, architecture, events, and landscapes, and it now importantly documents the historic record of past events, culture, and development of the fourth largest city in San Diego County, Escondido.
May 15
San Diego's Balboa ParkAuthor and preservation architect David Marshall dug into his personal collection of over 5,000 postcards to create this illustrated history of Balboa Park.
More than 200 historic images have been compiled, most never before published.
Balboa Park began in 1868 when San Diego's civic leaders dedicated 1,400 prime acres to create an urban oasis. Originally the land, crisscrossed with canyons and dominated by native scrub, was called simply "City Park." In later years, Balboa Park hosted two successful world expositions: the 1915-1916 Panama-California Exposition and the 1935-1936 California Pacific International Exposition. The unique evolution of the park included occupation by the U.S. Navy, a zoo, a Native American village, and even a nudist colony. Balboa Park also suffered periods of neglect and demolition before citizens groups united to save and restore the beloved Spanish Colonial Revival buildings.
As an architect, author David Marshall has been involved in the restoration and reconstruction of many of Balboa Parks Exposition buildings.
June 19
Chula VistaJoin coauthors Frank Roseman and Peter Watry as they present a photographic history of Chula Vista.
In 1868, Frank Kimball and his brothers purchased a 26,000-acre Mexican land grant rancho in the San Diego area. The area comprised the present-day communities of National City, Bonita, and the western half of Chula Vista. Kimball developed National City first and secured a branch of the Santa Fe Railway. The railroad company financed the building of nearby Sweetwater Dam, thus allowing the development of Chula Vista in 1888 as a planned agricultural community. Chula Vista remained as planned until World War II when the arrival of Rohr Aircraft Corporation caused a population boom that would continue even after the war, creating the desirable "bedroom community" that Chula Vista is today.
Frank M. Roseman, a Chula Vista super volunteer, was asked by the Chula Vista Public Library director in 1991 to develop the Chula Vista Heritage Museum in a small building in Memorial Park. For the next 10 years, Frank worked thousands of hours to collect, catalog, archive, and display the history of Chula Vista. Peter J. Watry, Jr. is active in the Chula Vista Heritage Museum, has edited the museum's newsletter, and enjoys presenting the history of Chula Vista to schoolchildren and others.
July 17
Del Mar FairgroundsJoin author Diane Y. Welch as she shares the history of the Del Mar Fairgrounds and the San Diego County Fair.
The Del Mar Fairgrounds, which hosts the county's annual fair and the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, unites local communities in an arena that attracts worldwide attention. The stunning beauties who were crowned Fairest of the Fair and the smoldering good looks of TommyHernandez as Don Diego symbolized the hospitality of the San Diego County Fair, whose historic roots began humbly in the genteel port town of National City, just ten miles north of the Mexican border. That 1880 inaugural autumn fair initiated by developer Frank A. Kimball, showcased citrus, agriculture, and horses. Today, the 22nd District Agricultural Association now hosts the summer fair, which features international superstars, flower shows, livestock contests, exhibits, sports events, carnival rides and its famed fast food, together with the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club's racing meet, which has helped make the city of Del Mar a star-studded world-class destination with a colorful history.
Authors Diane Y. Welch, history columnist for the San Diego Union Tribune, and her husband B. Paul Welch, a fiction writer, have delved into archives of the the 22nd District Agricultural Associations and the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club to cull many rare and never-before-seen vintage photographs for this evocative window into the Del Mar Fairground's celebrated past.
August 21
Lighthouses of San DiegoJoin coauthors Kim Fahlen and Karen Scanlon as they present new glimpses of the lesser-known lighthouses of San Diego thanks to the memories and photographs belonging to families of the men who kept the lights burning.
"As we made the high point off San Diego, Point Loma, we were greeted by the cheering presence of a light-house," so wrote Richard Henry Dana, Jr. in 1859. In reality, beams from San Diego's first lighthouse were repeatedly lost in cloud and fog, and all too soon came agitation for a more effective light at a lower elevation. By 1891 two new lighthouses, a harbor light at Ballast Point and another at the tip of Point Loma, were constructed to achieve what one could not. Although abandonment of the first lighthouse structure was catastrophic, it still survives today to charm millions of visitors.
Kim Fahlen and Karen Scanlon are identical twin sisters who work together on lighthouse-related projects and volunteer at Cabrillo National Monument tending its lighthouse's lenses. Karen is an early-childhood educator and writer, and an award-winning freelance author of maritime history. Kim travels the U.S. and Europe photographing and studying lighthouses, with particular interest in their optics.
September 18
La JollaJoin coauthors Carol Olten and Heather Kuhn, along with Patricia Dahlberg of the La Jolla Historical Society as they trace La Jolla's history with many rare and never before published photographs selected from the archives of the LJHS.
La Jolla, California, famously known as The Jewel, is noted for its natural beauty and appealing Mediterranean-like climate. Magnificent sea cliffs and caves, bathing coves, and sandy beaches have attracted visitors, developers, and residents since the 1880s.
Author Carol Olten is the historian for the La Jolla Historical Society and a former journalist on subjects of art, film, history, and architecture. She is a longtime resident and currently owns and resides in one of the community's oldest homes. Contributor Heather Kuhn is the society's archivist and curator, experienced in the interpretation and preservation of primary historical resources.
October 16
Cemeteries of San DiegoCoauthors Seth Mallios and David M. Caterino will present a photographic record of the city's historic graveyards over the past three centuries.
San Diego has a rich and unique cultural history that can be effectively told through the commemoration of its dead. Local cemeteries throughout the city reflect San Diego's multiethnic cultural dynamism. Graveyards, with their individually detailed and hauntingly beautiful monuments, offer an unrivaled historic yet continuous glimpse at the essence of our diverse community.
They present the results of the San Diego Gravestone Project and include the discovery of many lost San Diego cemeteries that have been unceremoniously erased from the current landscape.
Seth Mallios is Associate Professor and Chair of the Anthropology Department at San Diego State University, and David Caterino, a Registered Professional Archaeologist, is the coordinator of the South Coastal Information Center, the archaeological archive for San Diego County. Volume II will be published by the date of this lecture and both will be available for sale and autographing.
November 20
Aviation in San DiegoArchivists for the San Diego Air and Space Museum Katrina Pescador and Alan Renga will share some of the amazing
photographs in the museum's collection and describe how for nearly a century, San Diego has been a hub of aviation development, air power, and flying adventure.
San Diego's aviation history is unrivaled, from the pioneering days of Glenn Curtiss and naval aviation at North Island to the present cutting-edge aerospace technology, Aviation.
Their book and lecture documents the people and events that made San Diego's aviation heritage unique. From Ryan to Consolidated, Curtiss to Lindbergh, and everything in between, Aviation in San Diego is the preeminent photographic record of flight in "America's Finest City."
Head Archivist for the San Diego Air and Space Museum, author Katrina Pescador holds a bachelor of arts and a master of arts in history with an emphasis in archival administration from California State University, Northridge.
Alan Renga assistant archivist with the museum holds a bachelor of arts in history from University of California, Santa Barbara, and a master of arts in history from San Diego State University. He also teaches American history at local community colleges.
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