“Mary Ellen Pleasant” with Cris Eli Blak

Playwright Cris Eli Blak discusses with Dr. Patricia Moonsammy his full-length play about the life of Mary Ellen Pleasant, called the Mother of Civil Rights in California. She came to San Francisco in the 19th century and became a millionaire while advocating for legal and social changes in the city. Despite her financial and social successes, as a Black woman she was in her later years the subject of rumors and defamation. She is buried at Tulocay Cemetery in Napa.

Author to Author: Kristen Harnisch and Debra Green

Novelists Kristen Harnisch (The Vintner’s Daughter series) and Debra Green (The Convention of Wives) discuss their newest pieces of historical fiction at Bouchaine Winery’s hospitality room on December 8th.

Annual Meeting 2022: Guest Speaker Bo Barrett and Hugh Davies

The Napa County Historical Society held its 74th Annual Members Meeting on May 14th, 2022 at the Cameo Cinema in St. Helena. Guest speaker Bo Barrett, CEO of Chateau Montelena, and Hugh Davies, President of Schramsberg Vineyards, engaged in conversation about the journeys of their own wineries and the rich history of Napa Valley’s wine industry.

Dr. Paul Gee at Bouchaine Vineyards

Dr. Paul Gee and Mayor Jack Ding of Sonoma met at Bouchaine Winery in March of 2022 to discuss the similarities and differences in their journeys from China to California. Paul Gee, winemaker and owner of Gee Vineyard, was first a radiation physicist before planting his family’s vineyard in 1981.

“History of Missouri Wines and Wineries” with Doug Schneider

The wine industry in Missouri was started by German immigrants who had never made wine before in their lives. Missouri came to the rescue in 1869, when the French wine industry was being devastated by an invasive louse – Missouri knew how to solve the problem and saved the French wine industry. 

Napa Valley Wine Luminaries

Dane Kuta–Napa Valley Wine expert, sommelier, and instructor–presents a lively journey through the history of wine production in the Napa Valley. This presentation highlights only a few of the early Napa winemakers and entrepreneurs who helped to put a tiny wine-growing region on the map.

Repurposing and Reusing California Ships

Sheli O. Smith discusses the history of reusing and recycling ships in early California maritime communities up to the present day. Ships continue to serve the people of California, becoming hotels, restaurants, and even sunken attractions and reefs.

Angwin and Howell Mountain

Katharine Van Arsdale is the Archivist and Special Collections Librarian at Pacific Union College in Angwin, CA. Before coming to Napa County, Katharine worked for several years as a research librarian in Washington, DC. Using her MA in History and MSLS in Library Science from the Catholic University of America, Katharine especially enjoys researching local history and bringing it to life.

Lost Napa Valley

Lauren Coodley is the author of three books of Napa history, a textbook of California history and a biography of Upton Sinclair. Beginning her career at Napa’s junior college in the late ’70s, she created and taught “American Women’s History,” “California History,” and “Napa-Vallejo History.” She received the McPherson Distinguished Teaching Award and was the elected president of the faculty.