Marty was interviewed by Andree Hurst in August 2024. In 1955, when he was five years old, he moved with his family to a home with a pear orchard in Lafayette. His memories of growing up here include exploring a large culvert that went under the newly-opened Highway 24 and being called home to dinner […]
Oral History: Kim Conti Clutts — August 7, 2024
Kim Conti Clutts was interviewed by Andree Hurst on August 7, 2024. She was born in 1959, the same year in which her parents moved into a brand new home in Lafayette and her father bought the Butler-Conti Dodge Dealership, which he operated for the next 52 years. She has great memories of going through […]
Oral History: John D. (Johnny) Marchant — March 23, 2025
John D. (Johnny) Marchant was interviewed by Annie Lupardus on March 23, 2025. He is one of two adopted sons of Jack and Esther Marchant. His brother Donny was three months older, and the two of them shared many experiences together as they grew up and attended local schools. Their family first lived in a […]
In Case You Missed It…You Can Now Watch Our Program On Prohibition In Lamorinda
In case you couldn’t make it on July 31, 2025 to see Leslie Crenna speak about Prohibition In Lamorinda–you can now watch it. Please consider making a donation so that we can continue to do programs like this one.
Speaker Series: Prohibition in Lamorinda: Temperance leaders, law enforcement, and the saloons, resorts, moonshiners, and blind pigs they shut down
Update: You can now watch the presentation here. Join the Lafayette Historical Society for a presentation by Leslie Crenna at the Lafayette Branch of the Contra Costa County Library in the Don Tatzin Community Hall, 3491 Mount Diablo Blvd, Lafayette, CA, Thursday, July 31, 2025. Doors open at 6:30pm. Presentation and questions: 7:00pm to 8:30pm. […]
Oral History: Maeve Pessis — July 22, 2009
Summary: Maeve Pessis was interviewed by Mary McCosker on July 22, 2009. Through her work with Friends of the Lafayette Library and the Lafayette Vision Committee. Maeve was one of the members of the community who knew the difference a new library could make. She describes the collaborative effort, involving a large and diverse group […]
Lafayette Library Display – Honoring the Bicentennial Farewell Tour of the Marquis de Lafayette
Be sure to stop by the Library to explore the Lafayette Historical Society’s new display honoring the Bicentennial Farewell Tour of the Marquis de Lafayette! Who was Lafayette, and why does he still matter today? Born in France in 1757, the Marquis de Lafayette was no ordinary teenager. At just 19, he defied expectations—and his […]
Oral History: Gwen Lennox — August 8th, 2009
Summary: Gwen Lennox was interviewed by Barbara Baratta on August 4, 2009. Gwen remembered being a voracious reader while she was growing up in Selma, a small farming community in the central valley. Her parents had been active in their community, and when Gwen moved to Lafayette in 1993 she soon became an early and […]
Oral History: Lois Laine — June 12th, 2009
Summary: Lois Laine was President of the Friends of the Lafayette Library in the late 1980s. She became part of the Lafayette Vision Committee, a diverse group of individuals which was assembled by Anne Grodin to anticipate the growing city’s future needs. In this interview, Lois Laine describes how the committee proceeded to recognize that […]
Out Of The Archives: The 1942 Acalanes High School Yearbook
Recently, we’ve begun trying to digitize our collection and make it available on Internet Archive. Click here to view the yearbook on Internet Archive. Also, some of our volunteers have had some fun feeding these items into Notebook LM to hear their AI podcast hosts discuss it. We were going to make the actual items […]
