Lafayette Historical Society

Lafayette, California

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President’s Message

April 21, 2015 Leave a Comment

Spring is upon us and we’re looking forward to gearing up at the Historical Society with more programs and regularly scheduled newsletters! We were short of volunteers last year and not able to be as active as we would have liked to have been.

We are following our March Speaker Series “It’s Name was M.U.D. – a Story of Water” with “Water: a Photographic Journey from the San Francisco Bay to the Sources of the Sacramento River” with Stuart Swiedler, a very popular speaker in the area. We hope you can join us on May 6.

This year has brought some additional volunteer help to the History Room.  Ryan McKinley, who is working on his MFA at St. Marys College, is conducting oral histories of longtime Lafayette residents.  These interviews are being transcribed by volunteer Andrew Van Etten, and will be available on our website in the near future.  The Society is appreciative of these efforts to capture the details of life in Lafayette in an earlier time.

Jay Nelson and Jenna Tidd have joined us recently. Jay’s vast experience with archival projects is a great help. He is working with long-time volunteer and LHS supporter, Ray Peters in entering our large collection of maps into our PastPerfect software. Jenna’s experience in social media is bringing life to our Facebook and Twitter feeds.  Like us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/LafayetteHistoricalSociety

Laura Torkelson’s displays upstairs in the Library continue to exceed expectations. Visit the current ‘Hood exhibit of the History of Burton Valley. You may be surprised what was there before Lafayette became the city it is today!

If you missed the celebration of Marechal Duncan’s contributions to Lafayette as Citizen of the Year, you can visit the History Room any Saturday morning and Marechal will be happy to tell you how honored he was. AND the Historical Society is honored to have him as our Vice President and volunteer.

Marechal Duncan receiving award

Lafayette’s Town Hall is celebrating its Centennial this year and the Lafayette Improvement Association, the building’s stewards, invite you to support the ongoing  maintenance and upkeep efforts for the building by contributing to it’s Endowment Fund.  More details can be found on LIA’s website:  www.lia-ca.org.

We reached out to many of our members early this year to renew their membership dues and are grateful for the response. Many of you not only renewed your individual or family dues, but also made additional contributions. You can still renew your annual membership in the Lafayette Historical Society….your support is always appreciated.  Contact our website for details:  www.lafayettehistory.org.

We hope that you are enjoying the wonderful weather and will make plans to visit the History Room soon. Watch for our programs in the fall that will be announced soon!

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Location and Hours

History Room
open Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday
10:00 am to 2:00 pm
Lafayette Library
& Learning Center,
enter on Golden Gate Way
925-385-2297


Mailing Address: PO Box 133 Lafayette, CA 94549

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Your Memories Tell The Story of Lafayette

Memories of living and working in Lafayette are precious. Let us help you share those memories with others who value the town’s history. Call the Lafayette Historical Society’s Oral History line to set up a brief oral history phone interview with one of our friendly volunteers. Together, we can preserve the vibrant narrative of our town for generations to come.


Call 925-297-5397

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Recent Posts

  • Oral History: Maeve Pessis — July 22, 2009
  • Lafayette Library Display – Honoring the Bicentennial Farewell Tour of the Marquis de Lafayette
  • Oral History: Gwen Lennox — August 8th, 2009
  • Oral History: Lois Laine — June 12th, 2009
  • Out Of The Archives: The 1942 Acalanes High School Yearbook

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