Legacy in Black: Jazz Concert April 14, 2018: 7:00PM - 9:00PM Jazz Appreciation Month began in 2001 by the National Museum of American History (Smithsonian) “to recognize and celebrate the extraordinary heritage and history of Jazz.” This year the National Museum of American History (Smithsonian) will celebrate Jazz and Justice Highlighting the life of Norman Granz. In keeping with the national theme, the San Diego African American Museum of Fine Art and San Diego History Center invites Pianist and saxophonist…

The Disappearing L: Preserving Lesbian Culture & Visibility Lecture & Conversation with Dr. Bonnie Morris LGBTQ+ Lecture Series  The San Diego History Center + Lambda Archives of San Diego present a series of lectures aimed at highlighting the great diversity of issues in the LGBTQ+ community. While much has been done to advance the collective LGBTQ+ movement in the past few decades, there is still much work to be done at the local, regional, and national level to bring about true…

Chicano San Diego: A Neglected Heritage SDSU Professor Emeritus Richard Griswold del Castillo presents a survey of the major themes and contributions to San Diego's history by the Spanish speaking people. His presentation will cover the little-known events and people that have shaped our region's development and contributed to a vital and growing Latino population. Based on a book published by the University of Arizona Press, and will be available in our gift shop. Part of our Free Tuesday lecture…

Makers of San Diego History 2019
Saturday, March 23, 2019

Events Historic Places is a KPBS series highlighting the region’s rich and diverse history, starting from the First People of the Kumeyaay Nation, the Spanish, Mexicans, Americans, to the first African American’s living in Julian, the first Chinese immigrants who worked the railroad and so many other fascinating people, topics and historic sites throughout the region. Elsa Sevilla, Executive Producer of Historic Places for ten years, recently joined the San Diego History Center as the Director of External Affairs or…

Set to debut September 2020, San Diego’s Latino Legacy will pay tribute to the region’s modern Latino civil rights movement, its milestones and most notable pioneers and visionaries who have contributed to the betterment of our region and humanity.San Diego’s Latino Legacy is a first-time educational partnership that brings together the San Diego History Center with San Diego State University’s Chicana & Chicano Studies Department, which will also mark its 50th anniversary in 2020.Please join us for a special presentation…

Events Join San Diego History Center's Elsa Sevilla as we launch a series of new, fun opportunities to learn about what makes San Diego unique! Elsa is the San Diego History Center's Ambassador and the Host of Historic Places on KPBS television. Learn about local history, Elsa's filmmaking career and the critical role the San Diego History Center's Collections have played in this award winning series. Date: September 13th, 2019 Time: 11:30am - 1pm Place: San Diego History Center Tickets:…

The Research Archives will be CLOSED September 20There will also be limited access to the documents archives on Wednesday, September 18 and Thursday, September 19.

Museum Day is an annual celebration of boundless curiosity hosted by Smithsonian magazine. Participating museums and cultural institutions across the country, including the San Diego History Center and the Junipero Serra Museum, provide two free entries to anyone presenting a Museum Day ticket on Saturday, September 21, 2019.

We are celebrating LGBT History AND American Archives Month by taking a look back at how one of the best-maintained collections of LGBTQ+ history in the country came to be! Did you know that archives like the one SDHC maintains and the one maintained by Lambda Archives, SDHC's institutional partner in the ground-breaking exhibit LGBTQ+ SD: Stories of Struggles and Triumphs, much of what we understand about the past would be lost? Lambda Archives is dedicated to collecting, preserving and teaching the LGBTQ+…

In conjunction with the exhibition LGBTQ+ San Diego: Stories of Struggles + Triumphs, the San Diego History Center presents a panel discussion regarding the remarkable impact of the LGBTQ+ community on San Diego's political landscape. From the early beginnings to today's significant community leadership, the LGBTQ+ community has fought for, and won significant advances, helping pass laws prohibiting discrimination, as well as working toward the passage of legislation that has made San Diego a national leader in the LGBTQ+ civil rights…

Tuesday, November 12, 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.In the early 1900s, San Diego was a growing and thriving city, but with no rail transportation eastward. Spearheaded by John D. Spreckels—with his persistence and money—a railroad was constructed that engineers warned would be impossible to build. Starting in San Diego and dipping into Mexico, the “Impossible Railroad” snaked through brutal mountain and rugged desert terrain to connect with the transcontinental Southern Pacific in El Centro. It took twelve challenging years to…

Learn about the Theosophical Society in San Diego Join us at the San Diego History Center for lunch with Elsa Sevilla, watch a KPBS Film clip on the Theosophical Society's history and join the conversation about San Diego's past stories. You can also participate in our historical photo drawing.   Followed by Q & A with Curator Kaytie Johnson Kaytie Johnson will answer questions and provide a behind the scenes look at The Path of the Mystic: Art and Theosophy…

Events Now is your chance to get a sneak peek at the History Center's Research Archives. Thirty-minute tours are offered at 12:00 pm, 1:30 pm, and 3:00 pm and will be led by SDHC Documents Archivist Renato Rodriguez. First-come, First-served! Limit of 20 patrons for each of the three available tour slots. Meet at the History Center blue canopy in front of the building!

Events Make the San Diego History Center your Hub for celebrating a San Diego tradition - Balboa Park December Nights this Friday and Saturday!The History Center will have special extended hours each night, running from 5 to 9pm.  In addition to our exhibitions, decorative lights, festive music and family fun in Marston’s History Emporium, visitors can relax and sip some holiday cheer as the History Center partners with Little Miss Brewing in a new 21+ venue. This exclusive opportunity is…

Join Linda Canada, SDHC Community Historian and former archivist and president of the Japanese American Historical Association, for an energizing discussion on five San Diego women who impacted the development and success of Balboa Park and the institutions within it. Some of the five names will be familiar, and there will be at least one new to you! Each woman’s story reflects the era in which she lived and prospered, and each tale illustrates how one woman made a difference…

Events January 11, 2020, 10:00AM-4:00PMHistory Center, on the Prado, Balboa ParkHistory Outside Our Walls is a way to connect with visitors and give them a closer look at San Diego history. Watch for our San Diego History Center tent on the Prado opposite the museum front doors where visitors can learn about our region through photos and artifacts, including an early-1900s toaster, a darning egg, an agave fiber sandal, and many others. Visitors will be able to pick up, smell and…

Events February 5, 2020, 11:00AM-1:00PM @ the San Diego History Center$20 for Members, 25 for Non-Members Join us for another Lunch & Learn with Elsa Sevilla featuring Dr. Seth Mallios of San Diego State University. Catch a KPBS film clip about African American history in San Diego County since the 1850s, and a behind-the-scenes look at SDHC’s upcoming exhibition, Nathan Harrison: Born a Slave, Died a San Diego Legend.   Join Dr. Mallios as he describes his 15-year archaeological excavation…

Events DateSaturday, February 8, 2020Time4:30 pm Scanning event begins5:30 pm Reception6:00 pm Program begins7:30 pm Program endsThe 3rd Annual Keepers of the Culture is a celebration of Black Heritage and the individuals who have dedicated themselves to making sure African American culture continues to have a meaningful presence in San Diego.The San Diego African American Museum of Fine Art (SDAAMFA) in collaboration with the San Diego History Center are hosting the reception which will give San Diego an opportunity to…

Events San Diego has always been a diverse town, even before San Diego became incorporated as a city.  African Americans have contributed to San Diego for more than a century.  This presentation highlights the many African Americans and their contributions to the city of San Diego. Yvette Porter-Moore is a native Californian who has been conducting genealogy research since 1991 when she successfully found her birth mother, and then in 1994 found her birth father's side of the family.  …

Events Prior to the onset of the Great Depression, San Diego was often viewed as a provincial coastal town; a cultural wasteland perhaps, and certainly not a major art center. Young professional artists in the decades before the Great Depression centered themselves in New York or Chicago, but not in California. The New Deal injected federal government funds into the arts, and brought sweeping changes to the region that have had a lasting impact in San Diego. Although Belle Baranceanu was…

Events May 15, 2020 - 7:00pmFor the past nine years, students enrolled in Mesa College’s Fashion Program have used garments from the History Center’s vast costume collection as an inspirational springboard for their own contemporary designs.For the 2020 iteration of Fashion Redux – the exhibition has gone virtual – digitally showcasing the student’s reinterpretations of four garments from the 1970s alongside their archival counterparts.Virtual Zoom event featuring discussions withthe student designers participating in Fashion Redux 2020, Mesa College Fashion Professor…