"Alta California", Author Nick Neely Presentation
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About this event
In 1769, a Spanish exploring party led by Gaspar de Portolá walked from what is now San Diego to San Francisco. In 2016, Nick Neely followed in their footsteps to research Alta California, A Journey on Foot to Rediscover the Golden State. In this FREE virtual author talk, Nick will talk about his 650-mile trek and what he discovered about the Spanish explorers, the Native Americans who met them, and what has happened in the intervening two and a half centuries.
"Constantly vibrating at the background of Neely’s journey is his single–minded focus on the original trek . . . That ghostly 650 miles of the original trek, known as the El Camino Real, is a great way to talk about how much has changed, but it’s also an artful way for Neely to think critically about some of our founding mythologies . . . Neely also is an excellent field guide . . . He is, moreover, a thoughtful observer of people in public, the way we live and the way we work, and the decisions we’ve made about how to manage our land, the so–called 'built California' he’s spending months traversing . . . Immensely rewarding." —Nathan Deuel, Los Angeles Times
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Organizer San Leandro Historical Society
Organizer of "Alta California", Author Nick Neely Presentation
Cattle round-ups, squatters, Cherry festivals, Holy Ghost festivals, oyster pirates, Best tractors, Portuguese -- the many threads of San Leandro's past have woven a rich historical tapestry underlying the modern city of San Leandro. These 15 square miles between San Francisco Bay and the East Bay hills have been an Ohlone village, a Spanish rancho, a small farm town, the Portuguese capital of the West, an industrial center, and a major metropolitan suburb as a succession of new people has transformed the area. The volunteers of the San Leandro Historical Society are committed to preserving and celebrating the stories and structures of our diverse community.
The Little Brown Church, built as the First Presbyterian Church in 1867, is the home of the San Leandro Historical Society. The sanctuary of the church was dismantled in the 1930s, but the Sunday school addition (added to the church around 1890) remained on Clarke Street. In the 1970s, the Historical Society acquired the old building that had once been the Sunday school and moved it down the street to save it from being razed for development. Now behind the Casa Peralta, it adds a third piece to the downtown history complex formed by the city-owned Casa Peralta and San Leandro History Museum, and the Historical Society-owned Little Brown Church.