Petaluma Historical Library & Museum

Haunted History Ghost Walks
2024-11-16 15:00 - 2025-02-09 17:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Petaluma Historical Library & Museum, 20 4th St, Petaluma, CA, United States
Explore the darker side of history on an enlightening walking tour of downtown with ghostly hosts from Petaluma’s past!
Weekends (and more) from November 16, 2024 to February 9, 2025
Detailed dates on Eventbrite
Meet on the Front Steps of the
Petaluma Historical Library & Museum
20 4th Street Petaluma (Corner of 4th and B Streets)
$20.00
Purchase Tickets Here
The Ghostly Season approaches once again! As the weather turns brisk, the thoughts of the historically-minded, young and old, long-time residents or short-time visitors, turn once again to the dark and the macabre. Historic Downtown Petaluma is rife with true tales of tragic incidents, mysterious happenings, and dark crimes. Join our ghostly hosts on the steps of the Petaluma Historical Library and Museum for an enlightening walking tour of downtown. They will regale you with stories of Victorian victims, pesky poultrygeists, and sentimental spirits in the very same places that they used to call home. Transcend time and go beyond the grave, but don’t get left behind!
Tours depart from the steps of the Petaluma Historical Library & Museum. Tours take place rain or shine!

Author Event and Book Signing with Alan Butler and Katherine J. Rinehart
2024-11-09 17:00 - 19:00 | Petaluma Historical Library & Museum, 20 4th St, Petaluma, CA, United States
Authors Alan Butler & Katherine J. Rinehart will discuss and sign their new book, The Petaluma River, A Sketch Journal and Brief Historical Overview.
Saturday, November 9, 2024
Time: 5:00 – 7:00 pm
Petaluma Historical Library & Museum
20 4th Street (Corner of 4th and B St.)
Free, Please Reserve a Seat Here
The Petaluma River: A Sketch Journal and Brief Historical Overview is a compilation of sketches, photographs, and watercolors by architect and artist Alan Butler, showing the Petaluma River as it reveals itself today. With his collaborator, historian Katherine J. Rinehart, the book intertwines artwork with historical photographs and research about the river from the early indigenous settlements up to present times. The authors will discuss how the book came to be and present some of their favorite discoveries during the development of the book. Learn about the history of the river from first settlement to the 20th Century.
Copies will be available for purchase at the event. Sales support two river non-profits: Petaluma River Park and Friends of the Petaluma River.

2024 Candle Light Procession - El Dia De Los Muertos Petaluma
2024-10-26 18:00 - 22:00 | Petaluma Historical Library & Museum, 20 4th St, Petaluma, CA, United States
Saturday, October 26 6PM-10PM
At the Petaluma Historical Library & Museum
20 4th St.
A Fun Family Event!
The Procession starts at St. Vincent’s Church Plaza at 6 PM. We walk toward A St., go through 4th St. parking lot and turn right to end at the Museum.
An evening of food, art, live music by Mateo, Ballet Folkloric Paquiyollotzin and Los Diablos. Make up your face as skeleton, bring a candle and join the Family Fun!
Catrina Contest! The best Catrina wins $200.

What's Your Story, Petaluma? A Community Festival at the Museum
2024-10-20 10:00 - 16:00 | Petaluma Historical Library & Museum, 20 4th St, Petaluma, CA, United States
A day of fun for all ages! Explore Petaluma’s storied past and enjoy entertainment and activities throughout the day.
Sunday, October 20, 2024
10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Petaluma Historical Library & Museum
20 4th Street (Corner of 4th & B Street)
Cost: Free – Please Reserve

Join us for What’s Your Story, Petaluma? A Community Festival, on Sunday, October 20, from 10am-4pm! This free event will feature activities for all ages, including Petaluma trivia, storytelling, food and drink, a family history station, music, crafts, and more. Plus, see our new exhibition, Telling Stories of Mexican California: Real Life & Myth Making, and make a flower for the annual display of altars created by our partners at El Dia De Los Muertos Petaluma. See our schedule of activities below, and check our website as more details are added!
10:00-10:30: bilingual story time for kids
10:30-12:00: walking tour with the Petalumans of Yesteryear
12:30-2:00: musical performance
2:00-3:00: story time for grown ups
3:00-4:00: Petaluma trivia
2:00-4:00: beer/wine garden*
All day: food vendors*, family history station, community partner tables, kids activities
*not included in ticket

Annual Cemetery Walk 2024
2024-10-19 10:30 - 12:30 | Cypress Hill Cemetery, 430 Magnolia Ave, Petaluma, CA, 94952, United States
Ghosts of Petaluma’s Past Come to Life on Our Annual Cemetery Tour!

THE PETALUMANS OF YESTERYEAR
PRESENT THEIR 25th ANNUAL CEMETERY WALK
October 19, 2024 – Starting times: 10:30 a.m. and 11:00 am
$15 Members/Students, $20 General
Cypress Hill Cemetery
430 Magnolia Ave
The Petaluma Historical Library & Museum invites you to join the Petalumans of Yesteryear for a guided graveside tour featuring some of the most notable and interesting residents of early Petaluma.
You’ll hear colorful stories about life (and death) in our town’s early days, directly from our costumed living history docents representing the likes of Lyman Byce, Addie Atwater, Ida Belle McNear, and many others.
The tour begins at the Cypress Hill Memorrial Park office parking lot and concludes inside the Cypress Hill columbarium, which was designed by noted Petaluma architect Brainerd Jones. Wear comfortable shoes. Please note: Do not contact the cemetery regarding this tour. Contact the Petaluma Historical Library & Museum with any questions at 707-778-4398.
Please check-in on arrival – we will have your name on the door list.
Go to EventBrite for Tickets

2024 Poesía del Recuerdo/Poetry of Remembrance Community Reading
2024-10-11 18:00 - 20:30 | Petaluma Historical Library & Museum, 20 4th St, Petaluma, CA, United States
Members of the community are invited to attend the annual Día de los Muertos “Poesía del Recuerdo /Poetry of Remembrance” celebration. Featured speakers include Lalin the Poet (Luis Vasquez), Gina Tello Bugarin, Irma Vega Bijou, Maria Mandolini, and Jabez Churchill. Our host for the evening will be Sonoma County Poet Laureate Dave Seter.
Guests are invited to participate in the celebration by sharing, in Spanish or English or any other language, a brief poem or remembrance of a departed loved one. Those who wish to honor the memory of someone are encouraged to bring something—a photo or an item that reminds them of their loved one—that can be placed on a community altar.
Poetry of Remembrance/Poesía del Recuerdo is part of the month-long Día de los Muertos celebrations held in Petaluma during the months of October and November, featuring community altars, bilingual storytelling, sugar skull workshops, music, dance, and a procession with giant puppets.
Admission is free. For more information about Día de Los Muertos events, check out Facebook at El Día de Los Muertos Petaluma.

Write Long and Beautiful Letters: The Vallejos' Californio Correspondence
2024-10-06 17:00 - 19:00 | Petaluma Historical Library & Museum, 20 4th St, Petaluma, CA, United States
Authors Rose Marie Beebe and Robert Senkewicz illuminate the life of the Vallejo family and the 19th century Californio experience.
Sunday, October 6, 2024
Time: 5:00 – 7:00 pm
Petaluma Historical Library & Museum
20 4th Street (Corner of 4th and B St.)
Cost: $20 – Purchase Tickets Here
The experiences of Mexicans who were living in California when it was annexed by the United States is a crucial element in our state’s past. These Californios, as they called themselves, made California’s identity diverse and multi-cultural from the moment it became part of the United States. The Vallejos were one of the most prominent of these Californio families.
Join Rose Marie Beebe, Professor Emerita of Spanish Literature at Santa Clara University, and Robert M. Senkewicz, Professor Emeritus of History at Santa Clara University, as they discuss the experiences of this family, using more than 180 letters that Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo and Francisca Benicia Carrillo de Vallejo exchanged with each other between 1846 and 1888, and the scores of letters that one or both of them exchanged with their children.
These letters offer an intimate glimpse of the ways in which this family, and many Californio families like them, struggled to adapt to the political, social, and cultural changes that were occurring around them, especially when they found themselves strangers in the land in which they had been born. Individually, and as a couple, Mariano Guadalupe and Francisca Benicia found themselves faced with ever-changing–and at times conflicting–demands on their public and private lives. They struggled to maintain ownership of their property, to raise their children in an environment that they did not entirely understand, and to help each other maintain their dignity and social authority in a world they had not chosen.
The event will begin with a half-hour reception.
Rose Marie and Bob have collaborated on a number of books on the history of Spanish and Mexican California including, The History of Alta California; Lands of Promise and Despair: Chronicles of Early California, 1535–1846; Testimonios: Early California through the Eyes of Women, 1815–1848; Junípero Serra: California, Indians, and the Transformation of a Missionary; a complete translation of Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo’s Recuerdos; and Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo: Life in Spanish, Mexican, and American California.
They have received numerous teaching and scholarship awards at Santa Clara University. In 2015 they were recognized with the University Award for Sustained Excellence in Scholarship. They have also received awards from The Bancroft Library, the Historical Society of Southern California, the California Mission Studies Association, and the California Council for the Promotion of History. Rose Marie received a year-long fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities for the Vallejo project. In 2019 they were awarded the Oscar Lewis Award for Western History by the Book Club of California for their book Junípero Serra: California, Indians, and the Transformation of a Missionary.

What Was Worn in Mexican California: Myth Versus Reality
2024-09-26 11:00 - 12:30 | Petaluma Historical Library & Museum, 20 4th St, Petaluma, CA, United States
Discover what the people of Mexican California (1822-1846) really wore, and what their clothing reveals about the era.
Thursday, September 26, 2024
11:00 – 12:30 pm
Petaluma Historical Library & Museum
20 4th Street (Corner of 4th & B Street)
Cost: Free – Reservations Required
What did the people of Mexican California (1822-1846) wear, and what does it reveal about the era? Illustrator and author David W. Rickman will share what he’s learned about the fashions of pre-statehood Californios, as well as Franciscans, neophyte Native Californians, soldiers, and others. Learn how their fashions serve as an important visual marker of changing societal and political influences and find out how we can separate the myths and fantasies (think Zorro!) from the realities when it comes to the clothing worn by the Californios.
Join us at the Museum for this free virtual presentation and enjoy coffee and light refreshments. If you can’t join us in-person, a link to participate online will be provided. Donations in support of the Museum are appreciated!
And be sure to catch our latest exhibit, Telling Stories of Mexican California: Real Life & Myth Making, on view September 12-November 3.

Cornerstone Club Salon with Erin Garcia
2024-09-22 | CA
Members at the Cornerstone Club Level are cordially invited to join us for the inaugural Cornerstone Club Salon, a new opportunity for Petaluma Historical Library & Museum donors to connect with like-minded community members and engage in a lively exchange of ideas with history thought leaders.
Hear directly from Erin Garcia, Director of Exhibitions & Engagement at the California Historical Society and curator of Telling Stories of Mexican California: Real Life & Myth Making. She’ll share her insights on creating the exhibition, discuss the enduring legacy of Californio culture, and tell us about the challenges of researching pre-statehood California.
Wine and light refreshments will be provided.
This event is a benefit of membership at the Cornerstone Club level. For information about joining, please email:
satchley@petalumamuseum.org
Stacey Atchley,
Executive Director

The Petaluma Poetry Walk - 5-6 PM Readings At The Museum
2024-09-15 17:00 - 18:00 | Petaluma Historical Library & Museum, 20 4th St, Petaluma, CA, United States
The Petaluma Poetry Walk
11am-8pm, Sunday, September 15, 2024
petalumapoetrywalk.org

The Petaluma Poetry Walk is an annual poetry festival founded in September 1996 by the late poet Geri Digiorno. It features over two dozen poets reading their works at eight venues. The event has grown over the years, attracting notable poets and a diverse audience and includes readings in both English and Spanish. During this day-long “movable feast,” participants walk to different locations to enjoy a variety of poetic performances. It has become a tradition in Petaluma, reflecting the city’s rich cultural and literary heritage. Go to petaumapoetrywalk.org for the full day’s schedule of poets and venues.
Readings At The Petaluma Historical Library & Museum
Sunday, September 15, 2024
5:00 – 6:00 PM
Petaluma Historical Library & Museum
20 4th Street (Corner of 4th and B Street)
Free
Please join Elizabeth Jiménez Montelongo, Georgina Marie Guardado, and Jodi Hottel at this free event from 5pm-6pm, Sunday, September 15, 2024, at The Petaluma Historical Library and Museum. Introducing the poets will be Sonoma County Youth Poet Laureate, Lisa Zheng, and Youth Poet Ambassador, Sabine Wolpert. The poets’ books will be available for purchase after the reading. John Johnson, Presenter.

Elizabeth Jiménez Montelongo earned a BFA in Pictorial Art and a BA in French from SJSU; served as Creative Ambassador of the San José Office of Cultural Affairs; was awarded a Creative Corps Initiative grant from the California Arts Council and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, and is the Founder La Raíz Magazine. Her poetry appears widely in journals and elsewhere, including her micro-chapbook, Últimas Scars. ejmontelongo.com

Georgina Marie Guardado writes from land of the Eastern and Northern Pomo peoples of Lake County, Northern California. She was the Poet Laureate of Lake County 2020-2024, the first Mexican American and youngest to serve in this role. She is also of Mojave descent. Her poetry is very much of the self, of grief, of generational trauma, of longing, and of nature. She aims to bring diversity, inclusivity, and inspiration to her local literary community. georginamariepoet.com

Jodi Hottel’s recent chapbook is Out of the Ashes from Pandemonium Press. Previous chapbooks are Voyeur from WordTech Press (2017) and Heart Mountain, winner of the 2012 Blue Light Press Poetry Prize. Jodi’s been published in Nimrod International, Spillway, Ekphrasis, and anthologies including the University of Iowa Press and the Marin Poetry Center. Her work has been twice nominated for a Pushcart Prize. She lives in Sonoma County. jodihottel.com

Lisa Zheng is a junior at Maria Carrillo High School in Santa Rosa, and is the current Sonoma County Youth Poet Laureate. “My main purpose behind writing these poems, besides personal catharsis, is to give a voice to the psychological turmoils that many teens experience that are often kept in the dark due to shame of admittance, and give them a dose of hope and cause for change.”

Sabine Wolpert is a high school senior and Sonoma County Youth Poet Ambassador 2024-25. A motivated student and social justice advocate, she serves as a representative on her school board’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee, and leads eco and activism clubs. She has always had a strong passion for poetry and other forms of artistic expression, and is excited to engage the wider community in the creation and appreciation of these things.

Current Exhibit - Telling Stories of Mexican California - September 12
2024-09-12 17:00 - 2024-11-03 19:00 | Petaluma Historical Library & Museum, 20 4th St, Petaluma, CA, United States
Our Current Exhibit: Telling Stories of Mexican California: Real Life & Myth Making.

September 12 – November 3 2024
Petaluma Historical Library & Museum
20 4th Street (Corner of 4th & B Street)
Exhibit Hours: Thursday – Sunday 10 am – 4 pm
Cost: Free, Donations Appreciated
Telling Stories of Mexican California: Real Life &Myth Making is a revealing new exhibition that highlights the true stories of California’s Mexican period, which lasted from 1822-1846. The exhibit holds these facts up alongside the fantasy depictions used by early stakeholders, who viewed California’s history through the lenses of their own experiences and chose to present narratives that suited their purposes. One of the most pervasive narratives was a picture of an idyllic bygone era of ranchos where dons and doñas enjoyed lives of abundance. These romanticized memories fail to include Native peoples, Franciscan friars, and the hard scrabble facts of early settlements.
Through powerful photographs, stories, and artifacts, Telling Stories of Mexican California: Real Life & Myth Making broadly outlines California’s history leading up to statehood as a backdrop to the factual and fictional stories that emerged after the US takeover. It considers nineteenth-century Mexican American individuals and families who told their stories and looks at some of the early narratives that helped create an enduring California mythos, as well as the stories that were ignored in favor of this new, often exaggerated or fictionalized lore. When California became a state, these tales were used by boosters to draw new visitors and settlers, successfully reconfiguring a fearful foreignness into a charming regional identity, one that persists even today.
Though it lasted less than three decades, California’s Mexican period helped shape the distribution of land, wealth, and power after California officially entered the union in 1850. Telling Stories of Mexican California reflects on this past, and how romanticized retellings made lasting impacts on the state’s culture and popular understandings of its history.

The exhibition is developed by the California Historical Society, drawing extensively from the their collections and consisting of 10 to 11 free-standing pop-up banners. The Petaluma Historical Library & Museum was one of three institutions selected through a competitive process as a sponsored host, generously funded by the Henry Mayo Newhall Foundation. The Museum will concurrently display artifacts from our own collection related to early Mexican-American history in our region.
Telling Stories of Mexican California: Real Life & Myth Making was developed and organized by the California Historical Society and tours through Exhibit Envoy. Institutional support provided by San Francisco Grants for the Arts and Yerba Buena Community Benefit District. The Henry Mayo Newhall Foundation supported the first 3 bookings of this exhibition.

"Telling Stories of Mexican California" Opening Reception
2024-09-12 17:00 - 19:00 | Petaluma Historical Library & Museum, 20 4th St, Petaluma, CA, United States
Join us as we celebrate the opening of our new exhibition, “Telling Stories of Mexican California: Real Life & Myth Making.”

Thursday, September 12, 2024
5:00 – 7:00 PM
Petaluma Historical Library & Museum
20 4th Street (Corner of 4th & B Street)
Cost: Free – Please Reserve Space Here
Join us for the opening of Telling Stories of Mexican California: Real Life &Myth Making, a revealing new exhibition that highlights the true stories of California’s Mexican period, which lasted from 1822-1846. The exhibit holds these facts up alongside the fantasy depictions used by early stakeholders, who viewed California’s history through the lenses of their own experiences and chose to present narratives that suited their purposes. One of the most pervasive narratives was a picture of an idyllic bygone era of ranchos where dons and doñas enjoyed lives of abundance. These romanticized memories fail to include Native peoples, Franciscan friars, and the hard scrabble facts of early settlements.
Through powerful photographs, stories, and artifacts, Telling Stories of Mexican California: Real Life & Myth Making broadly outlines California’s history leading up to statehood as a backdrop to the factual and fictional stories that emerged after the US takeover. It considers nineteenth-century Mexican American individuals and families who told their stories and looks at some of the early narratives that helped create an enduring California mythos, as well as the stories that were ignored in favor of this new, often exaggerated or fictionalized lore. When California became a state, these tales were used by boosters to draw new visitors and settlers, successfully reconfiguring a fearful foreignness into a charming regional identity, one that persists even today.
Though it lasted less than three decades, California’s Mexican period helped shape the distribution of land, wealth, and power after California officially entered the union in 1850. Telling Stories of Mexican California reflects on this past, and how romanticized retellings made lasting impacts on the state’s culture and popular understandings of its history.

Through Tamsen's Eyes: The Story of the Donner Party
2024-08-11 16:00 - 2024-08-18 18:00 | Petaluma Historical Library & Museum, 20 4th St, Petaluma, CA, United States
Gain a different perspective on the Donner Party’s story through this one-woman show starring Leslie Scatchard as Tamsen Donner.
Two Show Dates
NEW SHOW DATE ADDED!
Sunday, August 11, 4:00-6:00 p.m.
Cost – $20
Purchase Tickets Here
____________________

Sold Out!
Sunday, August 18, 4:00-6:00 pm –
Petaluma Historical Library & Museum
20 Fourth Street (Corner of 4th & B Street)
Petaluma, CA
Cost – $20
Sold Out
Most of us know only one gruesome part of the Donner Party tragedy, but that is by no means the entire story. Through extensive research, Leslie Scatchard has created a solo show that gives a larger perspective of the Donner Party through the eyes of Tamsen Donner, the wife of George Donner. Tamsen’s actual diaries have never been recovered, but Leslie recreates her story from information that others in the party left behind. Come learn about this bright and extraordinary woman, and get an expanded perspective on these infamous early pioneers.

About Leslie Scatchard…
Leslie Scatchard has been performing most of her life, from plays, musicals, and solo shows to readers theater and storytelling. She ran two children’s theater programs, one in the Sierra Foothills and one in Petaluma, and is now working on pet projects as they fit into her retirement life. Leslie is also a member of the Museum’s living history docents, the Petalumans of Yesteryear.

Coffee and Conversation: The Lewis Family Letters
2024-07-30 10:30 - 11:30 | Petaluma Historical Library & Museum, 20 4th St, Petaluma, CA, United States
Featuring letters from California pioneers Elizabeth and John Lewis, read and discussed by Collections Manager Solange Russek and the Petalumans Of Yesteryear.
Tuesday, July 30 10:30 – 11:30
Petaluma Historical Library & Museum
20 Fourth Street (Corner of 4th & B Street)
Petaluma, CA
$10 General, $5 Members
Purchase Tickets Here
Share the hopes, dreams, joys, and heartaches of one California pioneer family as Collections Manager Solange Russek and members of the Petalumans of Yesteryear read and discuss excerpts from the Lewis family letters. Coffee and light refreshments will be served.

Cancelled - Testimonios: Early California through the Eyes of Women, 1815-1848
2024-07-21 16:30 - 18:00 | Petaluma Historical Library & Museum, 20 4th St, Petaluma, CA, United States
Sorry, This Event Has Been Cancelled
We will reschedule this presentation in the future but at this time we have no fixed date to share with you. Please keep checking back with us, as we will repost. Refunds have been given to all current ticket holders.
Hear women’s firsthand accounts from the days when California was part of Spain and Mexico.
Sunday, July 21 4:30 – 6:00
Petaluma Historical Library & Museum
20 Fourth Street (Corner of 4th & B Street)
Petaluma, CA
Cost – $20

Testimonios: Early California through the Eyes of Women, 1815-1848
With Rose Marie Beebe and Robert M. Senkewicz
Join Rose Marie Beebe, Professor Emerita of Spanish Literature at Santa Clara University, and Robert M. Senkewicz, Professor Emeritus of History at Santa Clara University, as they share the fascinating stories of the women of pre-statehood California. When in the early 1870s historian Hubert Howe Bancroft sent interviewers out to gather oral histories from the pre-statehood gentry of California, he did not count on one thing: the women. When the men were not available, the interviewers collected the stories of the women of the household—sometimes almost as an afterthought. These interviews were eventually archived at the University of California, Berkeley, though many were all but forgotten. Having lived through the gold rush and seen their country change so drastically, these women understood the need to tell the full story of the people and the places that were their California. The event will begin with a half-hour reception.
Rose Marie and Bob have collaborated on a number of books on the history of Spanish and Mexican California including, The History of Alta California; Lands of Promise and Despair: Chronicles of Early California, 1535–1846; Testimonios: Early California through the Eyes of Women, 1815–1848; Junípero Serra: California, Indians, and the Transformation of a Missionary; a complete translation of Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo’s Recuerdos; and Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo: Life in Spanish, Mexican, and American California.
Rose Marie and Bob have received numerous teaching and scholarship awards at Santa Clara University. In 2015 they were recognized with the University Award for Sustained Excellence in Scholarship. They have also received awards from The Bancroft Library, the Historical Society of Southern California, the California Mission Studies Association, and the California Council for the Promotion of History. Rose Marie received a year-long fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities for the Vallejo project. In 2019 they were awarded the Oscar Lewis Award for Western History by the Book Club of California for their book Junípero Serra: California, Indians, and the Transformation of a Missionary.

Historic Textiles Tour
2024-07-21 02:00 - 2024-08-11 16:00 | Petaluma Historical Library & Museum, 20 4th St, Petaluma, CA, United States
See dresses, hats, quilts, and more from the Petaluma Historical Library & Museum’s own collection of historic textiles!

Sunday, July 14, 2:00 pm
Sunday, July 21, 2:00 pm
Sunday, August 4, 2:00 pm
Sunday, August 11, 2:00 pm
Petaluma Historical Library & Museum
20 Fourth Street (Corner of 4th & B Street)
Petaluma, CA
Cost – Free
Reserve A Spot
Berthas, bustles, bonnets, and… mutton legs?? Join fashion history enthusiast Amelie Meieran for a free tour and learn about these and other elements of 19th century fashion! You’ll see some stunning examples from the Petaluma Historical Library & Museum’s own collection of historic textiles, including an elegant 1860s evening gown, a hoop skirt and cage, an exquisite 1874 graduation ensemble, and much more! Plus, see our pioneer-era quilts, which were essential items for women making the journey to California. And be sure to catch the rest of our new exhibit, Her Side of the Story: Tales of California Pioneer Women. Tours are free! 2:00-2:30pm Sundays July 14 & 21 and August 4 & 11.

Exhibit Opening: Her Side Of The Story
2024-07-14 17:00 - 19:00 | Petaluma Historical Library & Museum, 20 4th St, Petaluma, CA, United States
Discover the stories of California’s often-overlooked pioneer women who blazed trails and left an enduring legacy for generations to come.
Sunday, July 14 5:00 – 7:00
Petaluma Historical Library & Museum
20 Fourth Street (Corner of 4th & B Street)
Petaluma, CA
Free, Reservations Requested
Reservations Requested
Exhibit Opening: Her Side of the Story: Tales of California Pioneer Women
Join us to celebrate the opening of Museum’s latest special exhibition, Her Side of the Story: Tales of California Pioneer Women, featuring 30 first-person accounts collected from women who traveled by land or sea to settle throughout California prior to January 1, 1854. Personal artifacts from local Petaluma pioneer women will be on display, including journals, bonnets and dresses, a hoop skirt form, a blanket chest, and more. Additionally, the exhibition includes forty diverse portraits of unidentified women, representing the thousands of pioneers whose stories were never recorded and are lost to time.

Current Exhibit: Her Side Of The Story
2024-07-05 00:30 - 2024-08-26 23:30 | Petaluma Historical Library & Museum, 20 4th St, Petaluma, CA, United States
Discover the stories of California’s often-overlooked pioneer women who blazed trails and left an enduring legacy for generations to come.
July 5-August 25
Illuminating the hardships, joys, and lives of female pioneers, Her Side of the Story: Tales of California Pioneer Women highlights first-person stories from the women who traveled by land or sea to settle in California prior to statehood. In 1900, The Association of Pioneer Women of California formed and collected the reminiscences of women who arrived in California before 1854 in a single ledger. This incredible document, filled with over 800 handwritten stories of California pioneer women, is the basis for this exhibition. Organized by The Society of California Pioneers, the exhibition will feature first-person quote panels, maps, photographs, and other materials. The Museum will concurrently display artifacts from Petaluma’s early women residents, including journals and other personal objects.
Her Side of the Story: Tales of California Pioneer Women was developed by The Society of California Pioneers and travels through Exhibit Envoy.

4th of July Choral Concert and Bell Ringing
2024-07-04 10:00 - 11:15 | Petaluma Historical Library & Museum, 20 4th St, Petaluma, CA, United States
Join us for a Petaluma July 4th tradition! Enjoy music, history, refreshments, and community, plus the ringing of the historic Korbel Bell.
Thursday July 4, 2024
10:00 – 11:15 A.M.
On the steps of the Museum – and afterwards in the museum’s courtyard
Free, Please Register

Each year since 1962, communities across the country gather on July 4th and simultaneously ring bells 13 times to remind us of the original colonies and founding of our country. The Petaluma Museum commemorates this annual tradition with music, history, and the ringing of the historic Korbel Bell. Following the ceremony, enjoy refreshments and community under the beautiful oak tree in the museum’s courtyard.

Place Making: Preservation & Tourism
2024-05-15 18:30 - 20:00 | Hampton Inn Petaluma, 450 Jefferson St., PETALUMA, CA, 949525233, United States
Join for a panel discussion about tourism’s role in place-keeping and place-making at the state and local levels.
Organized by Sonoma County Tourism
Wednesday, May 15 6:30 – 8:00
Hampton Inn Petaluma
450 Jefferson Street Petaluma, CA 94952
Cost $5
Purchase Tickets
Place Making: Preservation & Tourism
Join us at the rehabilitated Carlson-Currier Silk Mill, now operating as Petaluma’s newest “old” hotel, the Hampton Inn, for a lively panel discussion about tourism’s role in place-keeping and place-making at the state and local levels.
Refreshments, tours and a brief historical presentation by Petalumans of Yesteryear included
For full information about our moderator and panelists, please visit: https://www.sonomacounty.com/partners/place-making-preservation-tourism-event/
(*please note $5.00 ticket fee will be donated directly back to the Petaluma Historical Library & Museum)
Moderated By: Katherine J. Rinehart
Katherine is the author of Petaluma: A History in Architecture and a consulting historian who holds an MA in History from Sonoma State University. She was the former Sonoma County History & Genealogy Library manager and is currently co-chair of the Advocates for the Sonoma County Archives.

About Our Panelists:
Amanda Elliott

Senior Program Officer and Director of California, Main Street America
Amanda is a Senior Program Office and Director of California Programs at the National Main Street Center (NMSC). She is responsible for delivering comprehensive commercial district revitalization technical services to partner communities and coordinating programs across the country and acting as Director of the California Main Street program administered by the NMSC.
Amanda Elliott is a graduate of St. Mary’s College with a master’s degree in organizational leadership. She also holds a BA in Liberal Arts and Interdisciplinary studies from San Francisco State University.
She is the former Executive Director of the Richmond Main Street, Initiative in Richmond, California where she was responsible for managing and supervising the activities, operations and services of the organization; developing strategies for enhancing the downtown economy; establishing working relationships with the community, city and county government; and maintaining ongoing collaborative relationships with community agencies.
In 2012, she worked with key stakeholders to develop an outreach strategy to implement the first and only Property Business Improvement District in the City of Richmond and West Contra Costa County which was renewed in 2017 and has leveraged over $200 million dollars in public and private investments that provided sustained funding for the organization through 2022. Amanda is most proud of her collaborative work with partners to fill a long-standing vacancy at the Richmond BART garage on Macdonald Avenue with a new co-working business incubator, coffee shop, and restaurant.

Marie McCusker, Executive Director, Petaluma Downtown Association and Visitors Program
Claudia Vecchio, President and CEO, Sonoma County Tourism

Purchase Tickets
Event Sponsors:
Hampton Inn Petaluma
Hen House Brewing Company
Petaluma Downtown Association & Visitors Program
Petaluma Museum Association
Sonoma County Tourism

The Secret Life of Victorian Homes..
2024-05-04 16:00 - 2024-05-12 17:30 | Petaluma Historical Library & Museum, 20 4th St, Petaluma, CA, United States
This Series of Events has been cancelled/postponed until a later date this year, as yet unknown.
If you purchased tickets, thank you for your support! Refunds are on their way.
Please contact lcohee@petalumamuseum.org if you have any questions.
The Secret Life of Victorian Homes… As Told By Their Interiors!
Join us for one, two, or all three intriguing evening programs, each exploring a different aspect of Victorian living.
Episode 1 – Saturday, May 4th – 4-5:15 pm
Episode 2 – Saturday, May 11th – 4-5:15 pm
Episode 3 – Sunday, May 12th – 4-5:15 pm
At the Petaluma Historical Library and Museum
Each Episode: $20.00
Purchase Tickets Here
Modern life began quite suddenly in the Victorian Period. Out of wrenching change, a new class of society was born, and is still with us today.
Join us for three intriguing evening programs (single tickets available or buy all three), including light beverages, and enjoy the stories of how it all came about.
Tickets make a great Mother’s Day gift!
During the Victorian era, the rate of change was fast and furious – social order and values changed, and became our way of living, affecting us to this day!
Back by popular demand! A three evening event series, presented by the Petalumans of Yesteryear explores how everyday life so dramatically changed in this era; when our city was born and prospered. And, how homes adapted too the new life style …you will be surprised!
NOTE! Each unique episode explores different aspects of the fascinating story of Victorian living. Tickets are sold separately, or, for the ultimate experience, purchase all three!
Episode 1 – Saturday, May 4th:
Discover how the Victorians got to California, what the dining room reveals about the revolution that took place in society as middle class entered the new era of self-control, and who was responsible for a whole new system of food choices that affect all of us to this day.
Episode 2 – Saturday, May 11th
The Parlor was central in Victorian life and death. Learn about how the Parlor reflected the changing roles of women in the family and how it was used for funerals, including exploration of standard funeral practices of the era and post mortem photography. Plus, a 19th century design craze! During the Victorian era, life began and ended in the bedroom. Come and find out what went on in between.
Episode 3 – Sunday, May 12th
Explore the fascinating world of the after-life, helping Victorians navigate life’s most difficult and often, heartbreaking challenges. Discover how the modern idea of self-image developed, and what the Victorians did about it, and find out why their homes always looked so cluttered!
Members! Save with promo code SLMEMBER
Purchase Tickets Here

Weekly Downtown Petaluma Historical Walking Tours 2024
2024-05-04 10:30 - 2024-11-10 12:00 | Petaluma Historical Library & Museum, 20 4th St, Petaluma, CA, United States
Come tour historic downtown Petaluma, guided by a docent in period attire!
Saturdays through August
And Beginning in September: Saturdays AND Sundays until November 10
10:30 am to 12:00 pm
Please meet on the steps of the Petaluma Historical Library and Museum
NOTE – There will NOT be a tour on Saturday, October 19
Free, Donations of $10 Appreciated. (Please register for ticket)
Register for Tickets Here by Date
The Petaluma Historical Library & Museum invites you to join our living history docents–the “Petalumans of Yesteryear”–dressed in period attire for a guided tour of our historic downtown. Petaluma has a unique and fascinating history as a bustling river town during and after the Gold Rush, then as the “Chicken and Egg Capital of the World,” and now as a town that loves its history. Learn about Petaluma’s incredible architecture (including 8 sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places) and other important and interesting facets of our town’s history. You’ll be informed by your docent’s historical knowledge and entertained by their characters’ stories.
Participant(s) with special needs can contact the Museum several days before the walk they have signed up to take, and they will be able to participate fully in the tour.
Free, suggested donation of $10 appreciated. Meet on the steps of the Museum at 4th and B Street at 10:30am to embark on your trip back through time.
Register for Tickets Here by Date

Untapped Potential: Strategies for Preservation, Revitalization and Reuse
2024-05-01 18:30 - 20:00 | Petaluma Historical Library & Museum, 20 4th St, Petaluma, CA, United States
Dan Zack of Zack Urban Solutions will discuss how historic preservation and adaptive reuse can contribute to a vital downtown.
Wednesday, May 1 6:30 – 8:00 PM
Petaluma Historical Library & Museum
20 4th Street, Petaluma (Corner of 4th and B St.)
Cost $0
Please Reserve Your Seat
Untapped Potential: Strategies for Preservation, Revitalization and Reuse of Historic Properties, A Presentation by Dan Zack
Come join us at the Petaluma Historical Library & Museum as we kick off National Historic Preservation Month with an inspirational evening with urban planner Dan Zack, founder of Zack Urban Solutions. Dan will discuss how Fresno, Redwood City, and other communities have incorporated the adaptive reuse of historic buildings into their downtown revitalization efforts and how those efforts might inform efforts underway in the City of Petaluma.
Presented by the Petaluma Historical Library & Museum in partnership with the City of Petaluma and Petaluma Urban Chat.
Tickets are free, but reservations are requested.
Please Reserve Your Seat

History Trails Walking Tour
2024-04-13 13:00 - 14:30 | Petaluma Historical Library & Museum, 20 4th St, Petaluma, CA, United States
The Museum invites you to learn about Petaluma’s colorful past on a living history walking tour led by the Petalumans of Yesteryear.
Petaluma Historical Library & Museum
20 4th Street (Corner of 4th & B Sreets)
Saturday, April 13, 1:00-2:30 pm
Cost: $20
Purchase Tickets Here
Hear fascinating stories, see historic sites, learn about Petaluma’s architectural treasures, and more on a walking tour of historic downtown led by the Petalumans of Yesteryear–the Petaluma Historical Library & Museum’s living history performers, who will be dressed in period costume as notable residents of the past. The tour leaves from the Museum immediately following the Good Egg ceremony, the kick-off to the 2024 Butter & Eggs Day celebrations. Wear comfortable shoes and bring a water bottle!
Tickets are $20. Become a member and save with promo code HTMEMBER.
Purchase Tickets Here

PMA Board Call for Candidates 2024
2024-03-19 00:00 - 2024-04-17 23:59 | CA
Petaluma Museum Association Seeks Candidates for Board of Directors
PMA Issues a Call for Candidates [for outside release]
The Historical Heart of Petaluma, the Petaluma Museum Association, a dynamic group dedicated to preserving and celebrating Petaluma’s history, seeks qualified candidates for its board of directors for two-year terms. Directors are expected to advance the financial stability, organizational strength, and cultural relevance of the PMA through active attendance at board and committee meetings and through acting as PMA representatives in their other community activities.
The PMA is looking for potential board members with experience in:
• accounting expertise
• grant writing
• legal expertise
• marketing / merchandising
• event and exhibit planning
• community-wide education
• architectural history
• a passion for Petaluma history
Deadline for applicants is April 10, 2024. Apply at the PMA website: www.petalumamuseum.com.
Please read the Board of Directors Agreement Here before filling out our online application – Online Application Here

Exhibit Opening – African Americans and the Arts
2024-02-09 18:30 - 20:30 | Petaluma Historical Library & Museum, 20 4th St, Petaluma, CA, United States
Exhibit Opening!
You’re Invited!
Black History Month – African Americans and the Arts

Makeda Kumasi
February 9, 2024 – Exhibit Open House – Doors open at 6:30 pm
Featuring Special Guest Makeda Kumasi. Makeda is a performer, dancer, storyteller, noted speaker and lecturer, teacher and much more.
Cost – $10, but no one will be turned away
Museum Exhibit Hours: Thursdays Thru Sundays 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
Free and Open to the Public
Thru March 31, 2024
Makeda is from San Bernardino and is a dancer, storyteller and much more. She will mystify us with one of her original stories. Makeda has previously released a CD, “A Spoken Word Experience.” Along with her spoken word stories, Makeda will also be playing an African instrument at our opening.

Sponsors of “The Urban Djali Tour”
Biography
Makeda Kumasi is the founder of WE 3 PRODUCTIONS, as well as the co-founder and artistic director of The Umoja Ensemble of the Inland Empire. She attended CalArts before receiving her B.A. in Communications from Cal State, Fullerton, and her M.F.A in Theater from the University of Southern California. She also possesses an MA in Elementary Education, and is a wife, mother of three children, and a caregiver for her mother.
Along with being a featured performer on stage and T.V., Kumasi has danced for two prominent Southern California based African dance ensembles, Abalaye African Dancers; an Orange County Arts Group, and Niancho Eniyaley African Performers. Kumasi has been featured on MTV’s Starting Over, BET’s Fly Poet, and the first season of So You Think You Can Dance?, as well as several independent films and theater projects.
Kumasi is a University of California, Riverside Continuing Lecturer in the Department of Dance, as well as a Visiting Lecturer in the Department of Theater, Film and Digital Production, where she directed and choreographed productions of Marisol by José Rivera and Little Shop of Horrors by Howard Ashman. Kumasi is also an adjunct professor in the Performing Arts Department at Long Beach City College (LBCC).
Recently, Kumasi received the 2023 Living Cultures Grant from the Alliance for California Traditional Arts as a Culture Bearer, as well as being one of 26 individual artists to receive a California Arts Council grant through Creative Corps Inland Empire to be the lead artists in the production of a yearlong performing arts project titled “Dancing with the Leaders of the Inland Empire”.

In Summer of 2021 she released her first wide release album, A Spoken Word Experience including music videos for the tracks Maat and Electricity which can be found on most major digital music platforms and YouTube. Kumasi is expanding the tour of her multimedia show, Urban Djali Tour which is based on the album. The Urban Djali Tour show features various dance genres, original video, photography, and paintings, as well as music from West African instruments that Kumasi plays, including a 21 string Malian instrument called the kora.
http://makedakumasi.net
NOW AVAILABLE ON AMAZON by Makeda Kumasi:
12 Days in Senegal… A short travel memoir for the avid reader. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=12+Days+in+Senegal&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3A12+Days+in+Senegal
I See Hip Hop Afrika… A poetry picture book the entire family can enjoy. http://www.amazon.com/I-See-Hip-Hop-Afrika/dp/1514413922/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1454530277&sr=8-1&keywords=I+See+Hip+Hop+Afrika

Black History Month Exhibit – African Americans and the Arts
2024-02-09 00:00 - 2024-03-30 00:00 | Petaluma Historical Library & Museum, 20 4th St, Petaluma, CA, United States
Our Current Exhibit:
Black History Month – African Americans and the Arts
February 9, 2024 – March 30, 2024
Cost – Free, Donations Appreciated
Museum Hours: Thursdays Thru Sundays 10:00 am – 4:00 pm

African Americans and the Arts
In alignment with the Association for the Study of African American Life and History’s 2024 Black History Month festival theme, Petaluma Blacks for Community Development presents African Americans and the Arts, an exhibition at the Petaluma Historical Library & Museum, February 9-March 30. The exhibition will celebrate African American expression across several genres, including music, dance, literature, film, architecture, and the visual arts. Works from artistic and cultural movements such as the New Negro movement, Black Renaissance, hip-hop, and Afrofuturism will be featured.
African Americans and the Arts will showcase local contemporary artists Denise Ward and Orin Carpenter, and will also highlight the artistic achievements of acclaimed African American painters across the decades, including Joshua Johnson, Alma Thomas, and Faith Ringgold. The exhibition will also highlight the accomplishments of award-winning science fiction writer Octavia Butler, groundbreaking dancer Misty Copeland, pioneering architect Norma Merrick Sklarek, and lauded filmmaker Spike Lee. Additionally, the exhibition will recognize the 50th anniversary of hip-hop and honor the contributions of numerous Black American musicians.
An opening reception for the exhibition will take place at the Museum on February 9 at 6:30pm. The event will include a performance by special guest Makeda Kumasi, a multi-talented dancer, storyteller, teacher, and much more. Kumasi will dance and play African drums. Admission to the opening reception is $10, but no one will be turned away.
Petaluma Blacks for Community Development will kick off Black History Month at the Petaluma Historical Library & Museum with a sold-out annual jazz concert featuring Dorian Mode on February 2 at 7:00pm.
Other Black History Month events organized by Petaluma Blacks for Community Development and partners include the following:

Feb 4: Art in Conversation with Denise Ward and Orin Carpenter at the Petaluma Arts Center
Feb 15: Tina Rogers will perform two 30 minute hip-hop sessions at the Polly Klaas Center
Feb 17: Keenan Webster will share music of the banjo related instruments at the Petaluma Library
Feb 18: Art in Conversation with Denise and Rose Hill at the Santa Rosa Museum
Feb 24: Annual Black History Program at the New Life Christian Church

Please see petalumamuseum.com for exhibition information and visit pbcd4us.com for additional information and programming details.

2024 Annual Jazz Concert Celebrating Black History Month - The doRiaN Mode
2024-02-02 19:00 - 21:00 | Petaluma Historical Library & Museum, 20 4th St, Petaluma, CA, United States
Sold Out!
Friday, February 2, 2024
7:00-9:00 PM
$35 Downstairs Seating, $40 Limited Balcony Seating
Last year’s concert sold-out, so reserve early!
Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Concert starts at 7:00 p.m.
Sold Out!
Purchase Tickets
The concert features local vintage jazz & blues group, The doRiaN Mode, with Bob Johns on piano/trumpet, David Scott on sax/flute, Tony Blake on drums and Dorian Bartley on bass/vocals. This event is part of our Black History Month activities.

Image courtesy of Mark Adams Photography
If you would like to keep in touch with The doRiaN Mode band and hear about their public shows visit their sign-up page:
And follow them on Instagram: @thedorianmodecombo
DORIAN BARTLEY (bass/vocals) formed The doRiaN Mode in 2013 to explore the roots of jazz. Born in Detroit to an African American father and white mother, Dorian grew up in a family that valued music as an expression of art, identity and politics. She loves jazz and its balance between creative freedom and structure, the fun of swing and phrasing. She also works in other musical styles: country-roots with Foxes in the Henhouse, classical with Gravenstein Mandolin Ensemble and eclectic freelance groups around the Bay Area. Dorian studied at the University of Michigan and UC Berkeley and taught music in Petaluma’s public schools.
BOB JOHNS (piano/trumpet) Bob’s early piano lessons grew into a desire to improvise like his father who played jazz trumpet in big bands and small groups. When he arrived in San Francisco after serving in the Navy, Bob found like-minded players who formed the fusion group Nexus, playing in San Francisco and the East Bay through the 80s. He played keyboard and trombone for a time in the African group, Hedzoleh Soundz. Bob plays each Tuesday night with his jazz buddies at the Comstock Saloon in San Francisco’s North Beach. He hosts an Open Mic once a month in Petaluma at the United Methodist Church.
DAVID SCOTT (sax/flute/vocals) left his hit rock & roll band in Australia and boarded a ship at age 18 to head for New Caledonia as a jazz musician. He settled for 10 years in Tahiti, playing jazz, rock and island music as well as learning French. David came to Sonoma County in 1989 and joined Gator Beat (now known as Gator Nation) playing Cajun & Zydeco music. He developed a unique style of interwoven horn and accordion and has mastered the technique of circular breathing (continuous tone without interruption) on his saxophone. David is a founder of Collaboration Jazz Band which performs locally.
TONY BLAKE (drums) was born and raised in San Francisco. Eclectic in his percussive expression, Tony is comfortable in symphony orchestras, small jazz ensembles, folk, rock or world music groups. He has developed a playing style that draws on many traditions. Finding the common pulse to support the music inspires him, no matter what the setting. Tony lives in Petaluma and works as an Environmental Scientist. He spends much of his free time traveling the San Francisco Bay Area making music.

Image courtesy of Mark Adams Photography
Sponsored by Petaluma Museum Association – 20 4th Street, Petaluma CA 94952 and
Petaluma Blacks for Community Development – PO Box 2045, Petaluma CA 94953-2045

2024 Exhibition-Schedule
2024-01-01 00:00 - 2025-01-01 00:00 | Petaluma Historical Library & Museum, 20 4th St, Petaluma, CA, United States
AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE ARTS
February 9 -March 31
Presented in partnership with Petaluma Blacks for Community Development, the exhibition will celebrate Black History Month through the lens of African Americans in the arts.
CORNERSTONE: BUILDING COMMUNITY IN PETALUMA
April 25-June 16
In commemoration of the 120th anniversary of the setting of the building’s cornerstone, this exhibition will include photographs, documents, and ephemera related to the founding and construction of Petaluma’s Carnegie Library. The exhibit will emphasize how community enthusiasm and support was instrumental in bringing the library to Petaluma in 1904, and later was key to the building’s evolution into the Petaluma Historical Library & Museum.
HER SIDE OF THE STORY: TALES OF CALIFORNIA PIONEER WOMEN

July 5-August 25
Illuminating the hardships, joys, and lives of female pioneers, Her Side of the Story: Tales of California Pioneer Women highlights first-person stories from the women who traveled by land or sea to settle in California prior to statehood. In 1900, The Association of Pioneer Women of California formed and collected the reminiscences of women who arrived in California before 1854 in a single ledger. This incredible document, filled with over 800 handwritten stories of California pioneer women, is the basis for this exhibition. Organized by The Society of California Pioneers, the exhibition will feature first-person quote panels, maps, photographs, and other materials. The Museum will concurrently display artifacts from Petaluma’s early women residents, including journals and other personal objects.
Her Side of the Story: Tales of California Pioneer Women was developed by The Society of California Pioneers and travels through Exhibit Envoy.
TELLING STORIES OF MEXICAN CALIFORNIA: REAL LIFE & MYTH MAKING

September 12-November 3
Telling Stories of Mexican California: Real Life & Myth Making broadly outlines California’s history leading up to statehood as a backdrop to the factual and fictional stories that emerged after the US takeover. It considers nineteenth-century Mexican American individuals and families who told their stories and looks at some of the early narratives that helped create an enduring California mythos, as well as the stories that were ignored in favor of this new, often exaggerated or fictionalized lore. The exhibition is developed by the California Historical Society, drawing extensively from the their collections and consisting of 10 to 11 free-standing pop-up banners. The Petaluma Historical Library & Museum was one of three institutions selected through a competitive process as a sponsored host, generously funded by the Henry Mayo Newhall Foundation. The Museum will concurrently display artifacts from our own collection related to early Mexican-American history in our region.
Telling Stories of Mexican California: Real Life & Myth Making was developed and organized by the California Historical Society and tours through Exhibit Envoy. Institutional support provided by San Francisco Grants for the Arts and Yerba Buena Community Benefit District. The Henry Mayo Newhall Foundation supported the first 3 bookings of this exhibition.
DIA DE LOS MUERTOS
October 3-November 3
The Museum will once again partner with El Dia De Los Muertos Petaluma to host an exhibition of ofrendas and artworks in celebration of Dia de Los Muertos, the annual holiday in honor of the deceased that is traditionally observed in parts of Mexico and in other Latin America communities.
VINTAGE TOYS
November 14-January 5
To celebrate the holiday season, the Museum will display a selection of vintage and antique toys from our collections.

Women Veterans Panel Discussion
2023-12-10 15:00 - 17:00 | Petaluma Historical Library & Museum, 20 4th St, Petaluma, CA, United States
Women In The Military
Women Veterans Panel Discussion
Sunday, December 10, 2023
15:00-17:00 – (3-5 pm)
Petaluma Historical Library & Museum
20 4th Street, Petaluma

The Petaluma Historical Library & Museum proudly presents a panel discussion with six incredible Women Veterans. Hear them share stories about their 70 years of service from 1953 through 2023. Panelists include:
• Emily Wingo Sousa, US Navy 1953-1954 Korea
• Rose Kostiuk Nowak, USAF 1959-1962 Cold War
• Kate O’Hare Palmer, US Army 1967-1969 Active Duty Vietnam 1969-1971 Reserve
• Maura Mooney US Navy, Retired 1981-2001 Desert Shield/Desert Storm
• Lisa Lim, US Army 2010-2013 Afghanistan
• Bethany LaRosa USCG Active Duty 2007-Present
Download and Share the Flier Here
