Speakers and Events

Testimonios: Early California through the Eyes of Women, 1815-1848

"Write Long and Beautiful Letters": The Vallejos' Californio Correspondence, 1846-1888

Rose Marie Beebe is Professor Emerita of Spanish literature and Robert M. Senkewicz is Professor Emeritus of History, both at Santa Clara University. 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. additionally they have 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.

The Valley That Was

Steve Longstreth is a documentary filmmaker. After obtaining his BA in Mathematics from Antioch College and his MA in Communications and Film from Stanford University, he formed a film production company in Palo Alto.

For almost four decades, working with his two partners, he produced, directed, wrote, and edited a wide variety of documentary, educational and informational films.

The Valley That Was is a co-production between his company, Veriation Films, and KTEH, the PBS affiliate in San Jose at the time. This documentary was made in 1977, and presents a 30-minute history of agriculture in Santa Clara Valley through the recollections of people who worked in orchards, canneries, and wineries in the early part of the 20th century.

Combating the Sixth Mass Extinction - Making It Personal

From 1993 to 2014, Rod Diridon, Sr., was executive director of the Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI), a transportation policy research center created in 1991 by Congress. He is known as the father of modern transit service in Silicon Valley and has chaired more than 100 international, national, state, and local programs, most related to transit and the environment. He frequently provides legislative testimony on sustainability.

Mr. Diridon was appointed in 2001 and 2005 by Governors Davis and Schwarzenegger, respectively, to the California High Speed Rail Authority Board of which he is chair emeritus. He’s past chair of the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) and a founder of the APTA High Speed Intercity Rail Committee and National High Speed Rail Corridors´ Coalition. He served as president of the national Council of University Transportation Centers (CUTC) and was elected chair of the US High Speed Rail Association’s (US HSRA) Board. He served for six years as North American vice chair of the International Transit Association (UITP) in Brussels.

Rod served in elected office for a number of years beginning in 1971 as a Saratoga City Council. He retired in 1995 after completing five terms as a Santa Clara County Supervisor. He’s the only person to chair the San Francisco Bay Area´s (109 cities, 27 transit agencies, and 9 counties) three regional governments: The Metropolitan Transportation Commission, the Air Quality Management District, and the Association of Bay Area Governments. Upon his retirement, the region’s main train station was renamed “San Jose Diridon Station. Rod is now focused on combating climate change by convening the Rotary’s Climate Action Councils.

Education in the Valley - Schools and Colleges: Becoming Silicon Valley

April Halberstadt will discuss the development of education in the Santa Clara Valley and has previously lectured on the early history of San Jose and the Valley.

There is no other region west of the Mississippi River that has the educational assets that Santa Clara Valley enjoys. One of the secrets to the overwhelming success of the area is the early interest in education of all sorts. While it is true that we had some early advantages, Horace Mann's school teacher niece was our first local teacher, the residents of Santa Clara Valley continue to explore and innovate in pedagogy. It is useful to look at what has worked, and why.

April has an MA in American History from San Jose State with a regional specialty in California, especially Santa Clara Valley. She is the former chairman of the Santa Clara County Historical Heritage Commission and has held Board positions with the Pioneers of Santa Clara County and the Santa Clara County Historical & Genealogical Society. April is the author of 14 books.

Native Land and Labor: Appropriation and Resistance during the Mexican and Early American Era

The Road to Tribal Sovereignty: United States Policy, 1934 to Present, and the Native Cultural Resurgence Movement in California

Dr. Fowler will be presenting two lectures examining the lives of the local Native Americans and the effects colonization by Mexico and subsequently United States policy affected their lives and heritage. The first Native Land and Labor: Appropriation and Resistance during the Mexican and Early American Era of California will focus on the living conditions and treatment of several of the Native American tribes in the Greater Bay Area. The second The Road to Tribal Sovereignty: United States Policy, 1934 to Present, and the Native Cultural Resurgence Movement in California will discuss governmental acts, economic development, education, and cultural revival of these Native Americans.

Loretta earned her Ph.D. in sociocultural anthropology for the University of Illinois and taught at City College of New York, Indiana University, and the University of Oklahoma where she is Professor Emerita. She did historical and ethnographic research on Northern Arapaho, Atsina, Assiniboine, Cheyenne, and Southern Arapaho tribes and published seven books. Dr Fowler has taught in the OSHER program at Santa Clara University.

The World Wide Web Comes to America Via Silicon Valley

Dr. White will draw on his experience at SLAC, which was the first website in the U.S. and fifth in the world.

Bebo White is retired from the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, the U.S. National Laboratory for high energy physics and basic energy science at Stanford University where he worked as a computational physicist.

He also holds faculty appointments at multiple academic institutions, is involved with a number of major conference series, and is a frequent conference and seminar speaker. He is the author (or co-author) of nine books and over 100 paper and journal articles.

Historical Musical Institutions in Silicon Valley

Americana: The Evolution of Music in America

https://www.deborahrosengaus.com

Deborah Martínez Rosengaus, is a versatile Mezzo Soprano having studied Opera, Theater, Music and Dance, she is known for her exciting, high energy performances and for creating memorable and endearing characters. She has toured internationally, with a variety of musical ensembles in concert halls such as: Santori Hall in Tokyo, The Center for Performing Arts in Beijing with the Peoples Liberation Army Orchestra, Disney Hall with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, The Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. She has given recitals in Mexico and across the United States

Ms. Rosengaus is the recipient of several awards including the Schoenfeld Award from the Holt Memorial Scholarship Competition and 1st place in the Pacific Musical Society Competition made famous by its first winner, violinist Yehudi Menuhin. 

Deborah holds a Master of Music Degree from the Manhattan School of Music, where she studied with international opera diva Mignon Dunn, and a Bachelors from the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music..

Exploring the Universe: From Mars to the Stars

https://www.fraknoi.com

Happiness and the Meaning of Life

https://www.scu.edu/cas/philosophy/faculty-and-staff/michael-meyer/

The Long Road to Suffrage and Equality

From Margins to Mainstream: California in the 20th and 21st Centuries

Russian History:

From St. Vladimir to Vladimir Putin

The Global Economy

September 20 Introduction

October 4 Santa Clara Valley: Sun, Soil, Wind & Water

October 18 Native Americans:We Walk Among You

November 1 Local Ranchos Build International Trade

November 15 Early California through the Eyes of Women, 1815-1848 part one

December 6 Early California through the Eyes of Women, 1815-1848 part two

December 13 Holiday Party

January 17 The Valley that Was

February 7 "Write Long and Beautiful Letters": The Vallejos' Californio Correspondence, 1846-1888

February 21 Combating the Sixth Mass Extinction - Making it Personal

March 7 Education in the Valley

March 21 Spring Luncheon

April 4 Native Land and Labor: Appropriation and Resistance during the Mexican and Early American Era

April 18 The Road to Tribal Sovereignty: United States Policy, 1934 to the Present, and the Native Cultural Resurgence Movement in California

May 2 The World Wide Web Comes to America Via Silicon Valley

May 16 Historical Musical Institutions in Silicon Valley

May 30 End of Year Party