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Education Resources: 2020-2022 Speaker Series
During the height of the pandemic, Old Mission Santa Barbara and SBMAL collaborated on a series of virtual lectures about the history of California. As a Franciscan community, we value peace and justice, and strive for reconciliation through facing our history and providing a platform for diverse voices to engage in discussion. View the recordings below.
2020: Exploring the History of Race in California
An Overview of Race and Ethnicity in California History - Dr. Robert Senkewicz
California has been a multicultural region for centuries. This introductory session provides a summary overview of the ways in which struggles over race and ethnicity have been constant features of the California experience from the 18th century to the present.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Robert M Senkewicz is Professor of History Emeritus at Santa Clara University. Together with Rose Marie Beebe he has written a number of books on early California. They include Lands of Promise and Despair: Chronicles of Early California (2001), Testimonios: Early California through the Eyes of Women (2006), and Junípero Serra: California, Indians, and the Transformation of a Missionary (2015). Their current project is the life and writings of Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo (1808-1890). Bob spent fourteen years on the Board of Directors of the Santa Barbara Mission Archive-Library, including seven as the board's Chair.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Robert M Senkewicz is Professor of History Emeritus at Santa Clara University. Together with Rose Marie Beebe he has written a number of books on early California. They include Lands of Promise and Despair: Chronicles of Early California (2001), Testimonios: Early California through the Eyes of Women (2006), and Junípero Serra: California, Indians, and the Transformation of a Missionary (2015). Their current project is the life and writings of Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo (1808-1890). Bob spent fourteen years on the Board of Directors of the Santa Barbara Mission Archive-Library, including seven as the board's Chair.
The Journey Continues: My Family’s Long Association with the Santa Barbara Mission - James Yee
This session is a personal account of James Yee’s family history with the Santa Barbara Mission and how that history continues today in the form of cultural revitalization efforts in the Barbareño Band of Chumash community.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Born in Santa Barbara and raised in Goleta, James Yee is a descendant of a long line of Native American Chumash ancestors who have lived in the Santa Barbara area for untold generations. James has a master’s degree in Education from Temple University, Japan Campus. He is the former chairman of the Barbareño Band of Chumash Indians. Currently, he is a graduate student in the Department of Linguistics at the University of California at Santa Barbara, studying the language of his ancestors.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Born in Santa Barbara and raised in Goleta, James Yee is a descendant of a long line of Native American Chumash ancestors who have lived in the Santa Barbara area for untold generations. James has a master’s degree in Education from Temple University, Japan Campus. He is the former chairman of the Barbareño Band of Chumash Indians. Currently, he is a graduate student in the Department of Linguistics at the University of California at Santa Barbara, studying the language of his ancestors.
“Don’t Kill Me Sister”: Race and Gender in Mexican California - Dr. Miroslava Chavez-Garcia
This session examines a murder and a controversy over Mexican-Indian relations in Mexican California. At the heart of the story is the relationship between two women, Guadalupe Trujillo, the perpetrator, and Ysabel, Trujillo's servant and victim, as well as the larger questions it raises about the meanings of gender and racial power relations and legal justice in Mexican California.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Miroslava Chávez-García is Professor in the Department of History at UCSB and holds affiliate status in the Departments of Chicana/o Studies and Feminist Studies. Author of Negotiating Conquest: Gender and Power in California, 1770s to 1880s (2004) and States of Delinquency: Race and Science in the Making of California’s Juvenile Justice System (2012), Miroslava’s most recent book, Migrant Longing: Letter Writing across the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands (2018), is a history of transnational migration, gender, courtship, and identity as told through more than 300 personal letters exchanged across the U.S.-Mexico borderlands.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Miroslava Chávez-García is Professor in the Department of History at UCSB and holds affiliate status in the Departments of Chicana/o Studies and Feminist Studies. Author of Negotiating Conquest: Gender and Power in California, 1770s to 1880s (2004) and States of Delinquency: Race and Science in the Making of California’s Juvenile Justice System (2012), Miroslava’s most recent book, Migrant Longing: Letter Writing across the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands (2018), is a history of transnational migration, gender, courtship, and identity as told through more than 300 personal letters exchanged across the U.S.-Mexico borderlands.
Asian American Communities in California - Dr. Lily Anne Welty Tamai
This session explores the beginning of Asian American communities in late 19th and early 20th century California and how their lives centered around establishing businesses, family, and community. The experiences of Chinese, Japanese, and Filipino immigrants echoed one another due to the limitations in labor available to them, anti-Asian legislation, and the spaces they occupied in California’s racialized landscape.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Dr. Lily Anne Welty Tamai teaches at UCLA in the Asian American Studies Department, and previously served as the Curator of History at the Japanese American National Museum. She earned a doctorate in History from UC Santa Barbara. She conducted research in Japan and in Okinawa as a Fulbright Graduate Research Fellow and was also a Ford Foundation Fellow. Her forthcoming book titled, Military Industrial Intimacy: Mixed-race American Japanese, Eugenics and Transnational Identities (University of Nebraska Press) documents the history of mixed-race American Japanese born after World War II and raised during the post-war period. She serves on the U.S. Census Bureau National Advisory Committee on Racial, Ethnic, and Other Populations, and as the Japanese American Citizen’s League Ventura County chapter president.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Dr. Lily Anne Welty Tamai teaches at UCLA in the Asian American Studies Department, and previously served as the Curator of History at the Japanese American National Museum. She earned a doctorate in History from UC Santa Barbara. She conducted research in Japan and in Okinawa as a Fulbright Graduate Research Fellow and was also a Ford Foundation Fellow. Her forthcoming book titled, Military Industrial Intimacy: Mixed-race American Japanese, Eugenics and Transnational Identities (University of Nebraska Press) documents the history of mixed-race American Japanese born after World War II and raised during the post-war period. She serves on the U.S. Census Bureau National Advisory Committee on Racial, Ethnic, and Other Populations, and as the Japanese American Citizen’s League Ventura County chapter president.
Black Leaders of Leisure in their Struggle for Freedom and the California Dream during the Jim Crow Era: The Implications of these Stories for Our Lives Today - Dr. Alison Rose Jefferson
In the final session of the series, Alison Rose Jefferson, illuminates the local stories featured in her new book, Living the California Dream: African American Leisure Sites during the Jim Crow Era, about African Americans who fought for equal access to California’s recreation and relaxation offerings as they contributed to the broader U.S. freedom rights struggle during from the 1900s to 1960s. Leisure, was not an optional add-on to civil rights, but an essential component of liberty.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
A third generation Californian, Alison Rose Jefferson, M.H.C, Ph.D. is a historian and heritage conservation consultant. She writes history and does programming around it as a tool in the struggle for social justice. She reconstructs the stories of the African American experience which have been left out or marginalized in the telling of American history. She is currently working on public history projects to recognized and commemorate the historical African American experience during the Jim Crow era in Santa Monica and Los Angeles. Her work has garnered attention in KCET-LA programming, the Los Angeles and New York Times newspapers, AltaObsura.com, and Los Angeles Magazine, among other media outlets. Learn more about Dr. Jefferson’s work at: www.alisonrosejefferson.com.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
A third generation Californian, Alison Rose Jefferson, M.H.C, Ph.D. is a historian and heritage conservation consultant. She writes history and does programming around it as a tool in the struggle for social justice. She reconstructs the stories of the African American experience which have been left out or marginalized in the telling of American history. She is currently working on public history projects to recognized and commemorate the historical African American experience during the Jim Crow era in Santa Monica and Los Angeles. Her work has garnered attention in KCET-LA programming, the Los Angeles and New York Times newspapers, AltaObsura.com, and Los Angeles Magazine, among other media outlets. Learn more about Dr. Jefferson’s work at: www.alisonrosejefferson.com.
2021: A Deeper Dive into the Mission Period and Its Legacy
Junípero Serra: The Statues, the Myths, and the Man - Dr. Robert M. Senkewicz
Dr. Robert M. Senkewicz, Professor Emeritus of History at Santa Clara University, tells a multifaceted story of Junípero Serra and his legacy across more than two centuries. By understanding that he has often been viewed through a series of different and conflicting perspectives, we can better understand what he meant in his own time and means in ours.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Robert M Senkewicz is Professor of History Emeritus at Santa Clara University. Together with Rose Marie Beebe he has written a number of books on early California. They include Lands of Promise and Despair: Chronicles of Early California (2001), Testimonios: Early California through the Eyes of Women (2006), and Junípero Serra: California, Indians, and the Transformation of a Missionary (2015). Their current project is the life and writings of Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo (1808-1890). Bob spent fourteen years on the Board of Directors of the Santa Bárbara Mission Archive-Library, including seven as the board's Chair.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Robert M Senkewicz is Professor of History Emeritus at Santa Clara University. Together with Rose Marie Beebe he has written a number of books on early California. They include Lands of Promise and Despair: Chronicles of Early California (2001), Testimonios: Early California through the Eyes of Women (2006), and Junípero Serra: California, Indians, and the Transformation of a Missionary (2015). Their current project is the life and writings of Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo (1808-1890). Bob spent fourteen years on the Board of Directors of the Santa Bárbara Mission Archive-Library, including seven as the board's Chair.
Coping with Radical Change: The Intersection of Indians, Franciscans, and Soldiers on the California Frontier during the Mission Era - Dr. James (Jim) Sandos
In this presentation, Professor Sandos will discuss the impact of the Missions in California specifically during the Mission Era (1769-1836). Drawing on life stories from the Mission registers, he will explore adaptations and resistance within indigenous communities. He will focus on the creation of a Mission Indian elite that occurred along with the continuing practice of tribal customs. He will also address the impact of disease, the charges of Spanish genocide, and Indian enslavement in California.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Jim Sandos has published on California missions and mission Indians for over thirty-five years. His “Junípero Serra’s Canonization and the Historical Record,” an award-winning essay in The American Historical Review (1988), was the first to raise the question of the use of historical evidence to advance Serra’s canonization (sainthood). Jim authored the well-reviewed and widely distributed book, Converting California: Indians and Franciscans in the Missions (Yale University Press, 2004 hard cover; 2008 paper). In 2010, his wife Tish joined him as collaborator. Together, Jim and Tish have produced two essays for the SBMAL.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Jim Sandos has published on California missions and mission Indians for over thirty-five years. His “Junípero Serra’s Canonization and the Historical Record,” an award-winning essay in The American Historical Review (1988), was the first to raise the question of the use of historical evidence to advance Serra’s canonization (sainthood). Jim authored the well-reviewed and widely distributed book, Converting California: Indians and Franciscans in the Missions (Yale University Press, 2004 hard cover; 2008 paper). In 2010, his wife Tish joined him as collaborator. Together, Jim and Tish have produced two essays for the SBMAL.
Who Were Those Guys? Franciscan Friars in Santa Barbara after Colonial Times - Father Jack Clark Robinson, OFM
Old Mission Santa Barbara has been the destination of hundreds of Franciscan friars ever since the founding of the Mission in the 1780s, the origins of those friars have varied greatly. The first friars came from Mexico, but were not all Mexicans. Friars later came as laymen from the Gold Rush, as German immigrants through the Midwest, and in recent times from far corners of the world. This lecture will look at some of their fascinating stories.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Father Jack Clark Robinson is a Franciscan friar, who has spent over thirty years studying and trying to teach the history of his brothers in the United States lives in Albuquerque. He earned a Ph.D. in U.S. History from UC Santa Barbara while having the pleasure of living here in the Old Mission. His Franciscan Friars: Coast to Coast (Arcadia Press) was published in 2019. He is currently at work on a history of Franciscan men in the United States from 1800 to the present.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Father Jack Clark Robinson is a Franciscan friar, who has spent over thirty years studying and trying to teach the history of his brothers in the United States lives in Albuquerque. He earned a Ph.D. in U.S. History from UC Santa Barbara while having the pleasure of living here in the Old Mission. His Franciscan Friars: Coast to Coast (Arcadia Press) was published in 2019. He is currently at work on a history of Franciscan men in the United States from 1800 to the present.
Chumash Transformations: Cultural Change and Continuity during Mission Times - Dr. John R. Johnson
What was Chumash life like before Spanish colonization? How did Chumash people cope and adapt to the profound changes that occurred following the establishment of the missions and presidio? Although the broad outlines of cultural transformation have been understood for years, a more nuanced history of cultural change and continuity emerges from detailed research using archival records preserved in the Santa Barbara Mission Archive-Library and elsewhere.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
John R. Johnson, Ph.D., Curator of Anthropology Dr. John Johnson has served as Curator of Anthropology at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History for 35 years. He received his Ph.D. in anthropology at UCSB in 1988. For seventeen years, he has taught an annual course on California Indians at UCSB, where he holds an appointment as Adjunct Professor of Anthropology. Dr. Johnson has served on the Board of Directors for the Santa Barbara Mission Archive-Library since 1993. His written contributions include more than 100 studies regarding the cultures, history, and prehistory of California’s native peoples, especially emphasizing the Chumash Indians of the Santa Barbara region.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
John R. Johnson, Ph.D., Curator of Anthropology Dr. John Johnson has served as Curator of Anthropology at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History for 35 years. He received his Ph.D. in anthropology at UCSB in 1988. For seventeen years, he has taught an annual course on California Indians at UCSB, where he holds an appointment as Adjunct Professor of Anthropology. Dr. Johnson has served on the Board of Directors for the Santa Barbara Mission Archive-Library since 1993. His written contributions include more than 100 studies regarding the cultures, history, and prehistory of California’s native peoples, especially emphasizing the Chumash Indians of the Santa Barbara region.
Chumash Perspectives on the Legacy of the California Missions
In this panel discussion, Ernestine Ygnacio DeSoto, (Barbareño Band of Chumash Indians) and Dr. Niki Sandoval (Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians) will share their perspectives on the California Mission period, it’s impact on their communities, and what it means for them today. Session moderated by Old Mission Santa Barbara Executive Director, Monica Orozco.
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Ernestine Ygnacio De Soto is a Barbareño Chumash elder whose DNA stretches back 13,000 years; her family can be documented in Santa Barbara from the Mission era to the present. Great-great grandmother, Maria Ygnacia, farmed the Indian Orchard in San Marcos Pass through the 1900s. Ernestine’s mother, Mary Yee, was the last fluent speaker of the Barbareño Chumash language. Throughout Ernestine’s childhood she heard spoken Chumash. Her mother told stories full of mottos/lessons to guide her through life. Ernestine wrote and illustrated one such tale, The Sugar Bear, for children. She has lectured on Chumash culture since 1981, after writing family history for a Native Studies class at SBCC it was made into film “6 Generations”. Ernestine has lived a life of service: working in the medical profession for 40+ years, founding the Barbareño Band of Chumash Indians, is active in the Mission community to preserve Chumash culture/language, mentors students, scholars, and museums with research, and is an advisor to the Museum of Natural History. Ernestine dedicates her life to preserving Chumash heritage for future generations.
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Dr. Sandoval is Senior Strategic Development Manager for WestEd, a research, development, and service agency working throughout the United States and abroad to improve educational outcomes for children, youth, and adults. She also serves as Education Director for the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians (2009-2020), she worked in partnership with tribal government leaders to refine education policies and strategic educational investments, including school readiness, educational attainment, and career transitions. She is a Continuing Lecturer in the Department of Education at UC Santa Barbara where she engages undergraduates in the examination of equity issues in education. A Trustee of the Santa Barbara Foundation since 2013, she served two terms as a member of the California State Board of Education (2013-2020). Her career began at the J. Paul Getty Museum of Art and continued at the Smithsonian Institution, where she held the position of Assistant Director of Community Services for the National Museum of the American Indian. Sandoval holds a Ph.D. in Education from University of California at Santa Barbara, M.A. in Museum Studies from the George Washington University, and B.A. in Public Relations from Pepperdine University.
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Ernestine Ygnacio De Soto is a Barbareño Chumash elder whose DNA stretches back 13,000 years; her family can be documented in Santa Barbara from the Mission era to the present. Great-great grandmother, Maria Ygnacia, farmed the Indian Orchard in San Marcos Pass through the 1900s. Ernestine’s mother, Mary Yee, was the last fluent speaker of the Barbareño Chumash language. Throughout Ernestine’s childhood she heard spoken Chumash. Her mother told stories full of mottos/lessons to guide her through life. Ernestine wrote and illustrated one such tale, The Sugar Bear, for children. She has lectured on Chumash culture since 1981, after writing family history for a Native Studies class at SBCC it was made into film “6 Generations”. Ernestine has lived a life of service: working in the medical profession for 40+ years, founding the Barbareño Band of Chumash Indians, is active in the Mission community to preserve Chumash culture/language, mentors students, scholars, and museums with research, and is an advisor to the Museum of Natural History. Ernestine dedicates her life to preserving Chumash heritage for future generations.
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Dr. Sandoval is Senior Strategic Development Manager for WestEd, a research, development, and service agency working throughout the United States and abroad to improve educational outcomes for children, youth, and adults. She also serves as Education Director for the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians (2009-2020), she worked in partnership with tribal government leaders to refine education policies and strategic educational investments, including school readiness, educational attainment, and career transitions. She is a Continuing Lecturer in the Department of Education at UC Santa Barbara where she engages undergraduates in the examination of equity issues in education. A Trustee of the Santa Barbara Foundation since 2013, she served two terms as a member of the California State Board of Education (2013-2020). Her career began at the J. Paul Getty Museum of Art and continued at the Smithsonian Institution, where she held the position of Assistant Director of Community Services for the National Museum of the American Indian. Sandoval holds a Ph.D. in Education from University of California at Santa Barbara, M.A. in Museum Studies from the George Washington University, and B.A. in Public Relations from Pepperdine University.
Shaping Inclusive Approaches to Early California History: New Work on Public Education, Commemoration, & Exhibitions
In 2021 we continue to navigate a global pandemic and a nation-wide social justice reckoning that includes the toppling of statues and other public monuments. We also have a collective opportunity to prepare for a future that reflects the world we want to live in. In this panel discussion we will explore the ongoing work of Native people on historical representation, new approaches to commemoration by historians, and new exhibition strategies in museums to create a more inclusive history of Early California.
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Born and raised in California, Steven W. Hackel earned his B.A. at Stanford University and his Ph.D. in American History from Cornell University with specializations in early America and the American West. From 1994 to 1996 he was a post-doctoral fellow at the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture in Williamsburg, Virginia. He taught at Oregon State University from 1996 to 2007 and joined the faculty at UCR in the fall of 2007. Within the larger field of American history, Hackel's research specializes on the Spanish Borderlands and the California Missions. He is especially interested in Native responses to colonialism, the effects of disease on colonial encounters, and new ways of visualizing these processes through digital history. His publications include a biography on Fray Junípero Serra, a monograph on the California missions, numerous essays, a textbook, and two edited volumes. He is the general editor of the Early California Population Project and the Project Director for the Early California Cultural Atlas. He co-curated the Huntington Library’s international exhibition, “Junípero Serra and the Legacy of the California Missions.” He currently is co-chair of the Early Modern Studies Institute’s Seminar on the Spanish Borderlands. His current work involves a study of immigration and community formation in California before 1850.
ABOUT THE MODERATOR
Dr. Anne Petersen holds Bachelor of Arts degrees in History and American Ethnic Studies from the University of Washington; an M.A. in American Civilization and Museum Studies from Brown University; and a Ph.D. in Public History from the University of California at Santa Barbara. She has interned at history museums large and small across the country. Petersen has worked for the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation (SBTHP) for the last twenty years in several capacities, including Curator and Associate Director, and has held the position of Executive Director for the last four years. Among other project, SBTHP operates El Presidio de Santa Barbara State Historic Park for California State Parks. Petersen has served on the board of directors of the Goleta Valley Historical Society, including a three-year term as President, and she currently serves as Vice President on the board of Downtown Santa Barbara. She is also a proud 2015 graduate of the AASLH Seminar for Historical Administration. Petersen is especially interested in the ways historic sites can become more responsive community resources and she champions the role of public historians in helping communities manage change.
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Born and raised in California, Steven W. Hackel earned his B.A. at Stanford University and his Ph.D. in American History from Cornell University with specializations in early America and the American West. From 1994 to 1996 he was a post-doctoral fellow at the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture in Williamsburg, Virginia. He taught at Oregon State University from 1996 to 2007 and joined the faculty at UCR in the fall of 2007. Within the larger field of American history, Hackel's research specializes on the Spanish Borderlands and the California Missions. He is especially interested in Native responses to colonialism, the effects of disease on colonial encounters, and new ways of visualizing these processes through digital history. His publications include a biography on Fray Junípero Serra, a monograph on the California missions, numerous essays, a textbook, and two edited volumes. He is the general editor of the Early California Population Project and the Project Director for the Early California Cultural Atlas. He co-curated the Huntington Library’s international exhibition, “Junípero Serra and the Legacy of the California Missions.” He currently is co-chair of the Early Modern Studies Institute’s Seminar on the Spanish Borderlands. His current work involves a study of immigration and community formation in California before 1850.
ABOUT THE MODERATOR
Dr. Anne Petersen holds Bachelor of Arts degrees in History and American Ethnic Studies from the University of Washington; an M.A. in American Civilization and Museum Studies from Brown University; and a Ph.D. in Public History from the University of California at Santa Barbara. She has interned at history museums large and small across the country. Petersen has worked for the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation (SBTHP) for the last twenty years in several capacities, including Curator and Associate Director, and has held the position of Executive Director for the last four years. Among other project, SBTHP operates El Presidio de Santa Barbara State Historic Park for California State Parks. Petersen has served on the board of directors of the Goleta Valley Historical Society, including a three-year term as President, and she currently serves as Vice President on the board of Downtown Santa Barbara. She is also a proud 2015 graduate of the AASLH Seminar for Historical Administration. Petersen is especially interested in the ways historic sites can become more responsive community resources and she champions the role of public historians in helping communities manage change.
Listening to the Cry of the Earth and the Cry of the Poor
Dr. Veerabhadran Ramanathan—the discoverer of the greenhouse effect of chlorofluorocarbons— discusses climate change from scientific and humanitarian perspectives.
Speaker: Dr. Veerabhadran Ramanathan, UCSD
Moderator: Dan Misleh, Catholic Climate Covenant
Speaker: Dr. Veerabhadran Ramanathan, UCSD
Moderator: Dan Misleh, Catholic Climate Covenant
Ecospirituality: Journey into Greater Ecological Consciousness
Franciscan Friar Br. Keith explores the spiritual connection between humans and the environment through the lens of Laudato Si, Pope Francis’ call for humanity to act in response to climate change and climate justice.
Environmentalism: Responses Across Faiths
Cassandra Carmichael, executive director of the National Religious Partnership for the Environment, leads a panel discussion with spiritual leaders of different faiths about how their faith views the environment, their responsibility toward it, and what they see as their faith’s call to environmental action.
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