Healdsburg Museum Winter History Talks Start With ‘Healdsburg 101’

HEALDSBURG – The Healdsburg Museum Summer History Talks are on seasonal hiatus but the docents will present a series of four talks this winter in the community room at the Healdsburg Library from 6 to 7 p.m. on the first Tuesdays of the month in January through April.

The first winter season presentation will be “Healdsburg 101” at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 6, with Nita Miller presenting The Healdsburg Story and Joanne Taeuffer presenting Halcyon Healdsburg.

This is a chance to get an overview of the town’s history.

• If you don’t know who put the “Heald” in Healdsburg…
• If you’ve never seen the town’s first grand city hall building…
• And if you wonder who owned all the great old houses back in the day…

…This talk’s for you.

All the winter talks will be at the library 6 – 7 p.m. History Talks topics are:

• Tuesday, Feb. 3: Coming to Healdsburg, Italian Style
  Speakers: Don Anderson, Julie Seghesio Neumiller and Joe Pelanconi
  In the late 1800s, Healdsburg grew mostly through an influx of European immigrants. And the biggest group to come were from Italy. We’ll explore what drove the exodus from the old country and meet some of the immigrant families who settled here. Two descendants of early Italian settlers in the area will share their favorite personal family stories.
  
  
• Tuesday, Mar. 3: Healdsburg in WWII and the 1950s to 1960s
  Speakers: Jerry Haag, Patrick Mukaida and Jim Dreisback
  WWII didn’t just happen in Europe and the Pacific. It also changed life on the home front, including in Healdsburg. We’ll talk about those changes, including the fate of the Japanese families living in town. And then we’ll move on to the post-war years of the 1950s and 60s, with a look at life, businesses, agriculture, recreation….and those great classic cars.
  
  
• Tuesday, April 7: Shopping in Old-Time Healdsburg
  Speakers: Lillie Deas and Meredith Dreisback
  Back in the day, Healdsburg was filled with small, family-owned stores and markets offering residents everything they needed. Small grocery stores were scattered around town and everybody had their favorite. And you could find a plethora of stores offering products like medical prescriptions, clothing, cigars, phonograph records, shoes, candy, hardware….you name it. Come with us and we’ll take you shopping the old-fashioned way.