History

Items that are historically significant in some way. They may be recent history or ancient history, pertinent to local history or something on a grander scale…

Eric DuVall: The Story of ‘The Beach News’- Pt. Loma Assembly Tuesday, May 23

May 19, 2023 by Source

Please join La Playa Trail Association for a presentation by Eric DuVall on the “Story of The Beach News” at the Point Loma Assembly, Tuesday, May 23 at 5:30 pm.

Point Loma Assembly is located at 3035 Talbot Street. DuVall is the president of the OB Historical Society – and one of the best writers on the Peninsula.

The Beach News was an early community newspaper for Ocean Beach and eventually morphed into The Peninsula News in the 1950s. Eric will present some of the great features, funny old ads and shameless boosterism that characterized the early The Beach News.

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A Return to the Cradle of Bitchin – OB Historical Society Thursday, May 18

May 15, 2023 by Source

Please join Ocean Beach Historical Society and Point Loma High Alumni Association, Thursday evening, May 18, at 7:00 pm, at Water’s Edge Faith Community, 1984 Sunset Cliffs Blvd., as we return to the Cradle of Bitchin with author A. Lee Brown and sculptor Richard Arnold.

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Demolition Threatens Mission Hills’ Red Bungalow

May 10, 2023 by Source

By Barry Hager – Mission Hills Heritage/ SOHO May-June 2023

For the last 110 years, the Craftsman bungalow now affectionately known as the “Red Bungalow” or the “Red House,” has graced the northeast corner of Fort Stockton Drive and Goldfinch Street near the eastern entrance to the Mission Hills neighborhood.

The bungalow at 850 Fort Stockton Drive was built in 1912 for Perry and Olive Griswold, whose family lived there for more than 20 years. The Red Bungalow is unusual in that it was originally built as a duplex with two full-size porches, one facing Fort Stockton and the other facing Goldfinch.

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It’s Been 53 Years Since the Kent State Massacre

May 4, 2023 by Frank Gormlie

By Frank Gormlie

For at least an entire generation of Americans, the day May 4, 1970, will always be associated with the shootings of unarmed students by National Guardsmen on the campus of Kent State University in Ohio. Four students were killed – two had nothing to do with the protests, one was an ROTC cadet – and nine others were wounded, including one permanently paralyzed. The shootings will be eternally remembered as a grim stain upon US history.

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After 50 Years of Murals at Chicano Park, New Generation Takes Up the Fight and the Paint Brush

May 4, 2023 by Source

By Katie Hyson / KPBS / April 25, 2023

Nearly everyone passing through Chicano Park calls out to the park’s cofounder Josephine Talamantez, who squeezes them tight and asks after their families. Highway pillars surround them, covered in colorful murals. From the time of Spanish conquistadors to the present, they depict a single message of Chicano resilience and self-determination: “Aquí estamos y no nos vamos.” “We’re here, and we’re not leaving.”

The space was born from this refusal.

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Former Rohr Home in Point Loma Designated as Historic

May 3, 2023 by Source

At the March 2023 meeting of the City of San Diego Historical Resources Board, it designated three houses as historical resources, including one in Point Loma that was once lived in by Fred Rohr, founder of the Rohr Aircraft Company — a major San Diego employer during World War II.

Here is Save Our Heritage Organization‘s description of the site from its May/June newsletter:

555 San Fernando Street in the Peninsula Community is the Fred Rohr/Ralph L. Frank House, a two-story home with a basement built in 1940 in the Colonial Revival style.

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How Reagan’s Decision to Close Mental Institutions Led to the Homelessness Crisis

April 25, 2023 by Source

By Divya Kakaiya, Ph.D., M.S./ San Diego Union-Tribune Op-Ed / April 24, 2023

As a psychologist who began practicing nearly 40 years ago, I’ve seen a significant shift in the care of the mentally ill since the mid-1980s — and it hasn’t been for the better.

After the deinstitutionalization movement began in California in the 1960s, many state mental health hospitals closed, forcing many folks who needed a lot of care onto the streets.

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Remembering the Vietnamese Wars — USD Thursday, April 27

April 25, 2023 by Source

Remembering the Vietnamese Wars

The San Diego Hugh Thompson Chapter of Veterans for Peace will be participating in a wonderful program on “Remembering the Vietnamese Wars.”

It will be held at the University of San Diego’s Copley Library on Thursday, April 27, 2023 from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., with doors opening at 6:30 p.m.

It is sponsored by the Department of History and Copley Library of the University of San Diego.

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‘Through the Lens’ – A Photographic Family Legacy with Randy Dible – OB Historical Society — Thursday, April 20

April 19, 2023 by Source

Through the Lens, A photographic Family Legacy

Thursday, April 20, 2023, The Ocean Beach Historical Society presents: Through the Lens, A photographic Family Legacy, featuring Ocean Beach Photographer Randy Dible, at Water’s Edge Faith Community, 1984 Sunset Cliffs Blvd. at 7:00 pm.

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Martin Luther King’s Assassination Changed San Diego’s Media Forever

April 5, 2023 by Frank Gormlie

On April 4th, 1968, Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. Thousands of miles away, his death changed San Diego media forever.

Many San Diegans don’t know the connections between citizen journalism in San Diego and King’s death. But they exist – ….

Five days after King’s death hundreds of students and some faculty at UC San Diego met in a protest meeting decided to form various committees or collectives and one group of students and grad students wanted to move off campus and publish a newspaper.

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César E. Chávez (1927-1993)

March 31, 2023 by Source

Originally posted March 31, 2009

César Chávez is one of the greatest labor leaders and human rights activists in the United States history and the world. He fought for a better life for migrant farm workers, and founded the first successful farm workers’ union. César was the president of the United Farm Workers, AFL-CIO.

César Estrada Chávez was able to accomplish his goals through the philosophy of non-violence that he inherited and followed from leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King.

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‘Viva Lorena!’

March 31, 2023 by Source

By Frances O’Neill Zimmerman / March 30, 2023

A lot of Democrats have drowned in water under the bridge since Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher wrote this hopeful piece ten or so years ago. But Lorena is still standing and I personally hope she will reassess her situation and our need and carry on.

Included in the flotsam and jetsam are failed political careers of Democrats that Lorena’s essay mentions as up-and-comers

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‘Activism in OB in the 70s and 80s’ – A Video With Kathy Blavatt

March 30, 2023 by Source

See this short video by Charles Landon about “Activism in the 70s and 80s” with Kathy Blavatt talking about her book, San Diego’s Sunset Cliffs Park.

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Myths About Historic Preservation of Houses

March 29, 2023 by Source

Ch-Ch-Changes… Evaluating Historic Places

By Bruce Coons / SOHO / March-April 2023

One of the great misunderstandings or myths about the historic preservation of a house or building is that it must be “frozen in time” to qualify for historic designation.

But this is not the case. The National Register of Historic Places guidelines clearly state:

“Additions and changes to a historic building over time need to be evaluated for their own potential significance, and the historical and architectural importance of the building as a whole should be considered.”

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Kensington’s Historic Over-110 Year Old Trees Have Been Under Threat From the City

March 28, 2023 by Source

By Maggie McCann / SOHO / March-April 2023 Newsletter

After ill-conceived actions by the City of San Diego, Kensington’s parkways still retain 30 of the original California pepper trees planted when the subdivision was mapped in 1910.

When neighbors first proposed that the City designate the trees under Council Policy 900-19’s Conserve-a-Tree program as heritage trees, 37 trees were alive and doing fine. The City has since suspended the program, claiming that having trees designated as historic would cause them California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) problems. As if that’s a bad thing.

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The End of San Diego’s Community Planning Boards: How We Got Here

March 24, 2023 by Frank Gormlie

By Frank Gormlie

After decades of existance, the community planning boards of San Diego were delivered a devastating shock last September 13, 2022, when the City Council passed a breath-taking tsunami of so-called “reforms” that laid out a blueprint for the demolition of the city’s current 42 citizen volunteer planning panels.

In my post from yesterday, I outlined the 3 main methods the city will use to dismantle San Diego’s community planning boards.
None of this is hyperbole. Here is the language at the city’s Planning Department website page under “Community Planning Group Reform“:

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San Diego’s Trees are Going…Going…

March 15, 2023 by Source

By Anne S. Fege / SOHO Newsletter March – April 2023

Considering the history of shade and ornamental trees in San Diego neighborhoods, it’s clear the numbers are going down—just as we need thousands more in every part of the city.

In older “privileged” neighborhoods (Kensington, Pacific Beach, and La Jolla, for example) that were developed in the 1920s and 1930s, there were large lots for trees. Some developers planted street trees, which were likely watered by tree roots reaching soil water in irrigated front lawns.

In older “redlined” and lower-income neighborhoods (south of the 94 freeway, now the Promise Zone) that were developed in those same decades, the lots were small, the streets were unpaved, and there were no sidewalks or street trees. Today, there are few places to plant trees, as paved parking areas cover many front yards and business districts.

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Point Loma House Newly Designated as ‘Historic’

March 15, 2023 by Source

At its January 2023 meeting, the City of San Diego Historical Resources Board designated six historic buildings — five houses and one commercial building — including one two-story house in Point Loma.

This was highlighted in the March/ April newsletter of Save Our Heritage Organization and here is what they reported about the Point Loma house:

3425 Xenophon Street in the Peninsula Community is a two-story home built in 1937 in the Spanish Colonial Revival style with a Monterey style cantilevered second-floor balcony covered by the primary roof.

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Wisteria Garden Party Hosted by OB Historical Society — Sunday, March 19

March 14, 2023 by Source

Come inside for details

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San Diego’s Celebrations of Flowers

March 2, 2023 by Source

By Kathy Blavatt

What do the cultural celebrations of A Festa do Espirito Sano and Dia de los Muertos have in common that symbolize their ceremonies and come from nature? The answer for these events, and many other cultural ceremonies, are flowers.

Historically, these colorful live symbolic decorations from nature play essential roles in ceremonies that go back generations.

The recent annual Congress of History of San Diego and Imperial County (COH) conference highlighted the importance of community events that bind us together, which makes up the wonderful fabric of San Diego’s communities and landscapes.

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Councilmember Gloria to the Rescue – The Sins of San Diego Mayors – Part 2

February 22, 2023 by Source

By Norma Damashek / NumbersRunner / Feb. 22, 2023

Councilmember Gloria Bounds to the Rescue (2013–2014)

According to the City Charter, the presiding officer of the city council has limited authority to act as mayor in the event of an unplanned vacancy in the mayor’s seat. With a wink and a nod from City Attorney Jan Goldsmith, Councilmember Todd Gloria put his feet up on the mayor’s desk and immediately got to work reorganizing city government in his own image.

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‘Come One, Come All’ to Congress of History Conference in Point Loma – Feb. 24 & 25

February 21, 2023 by Source

Congress of History San Diego & Imperial Counties invite you to the Come One, Come All! Community Events that bind us together, Conference 2023 on :

Friday February 24, at 9 am to 4 pm & Saturday February 25, 9 am to 4 pm At S.E.S. Portuguese Hall 2818 Avenida de Portugal 92106

All who paid in 2020 for the canceled conference are invited back at no additional cost, and new guests are welcome to experience a day and a half of dynamic speakers on interesting topics.

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The Sins of San Diego’s Mayors On Parade – Part 1

February 20, 2023 by Source

By Norma Damashek / NumbersRunner / Feb. 19, 2023

One thing’s for sure–San Diegans are under a gag order when it comes to naming names and identifying the corrupt, self-serving, and unethical maneuvers of many of our city’s influential players–elected and unelected–who steer the San Diego ship.

Isn’t it time to put our mayors on parade and figure out if there’s still time to change direction?

1) The Parade Starts with Mayor Susan Golding (1992-2000)

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Black History Month Has Come a Long Way

February 13, 2023 by Ernie McCray

by Ernie McCray

Black History Month
has come a long way
since a beginning
that was filled with
controversy over celebrating
it in the month that has the fewest days
when Black History, so much of it
American History,
could be integrated in historical studies
throughout a school year
and there have been those

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New Discoveries Made During Restoration Work at Cholula Pyramid in Mexico

February 10, 2023 by Source

Mexico News Daily Staff / February 8, 2023

At the site of the world’s largest pyramid (by volume), the Great Pyramid of Cholula, Puebla, the remains of pre-Hispanic braziers and a sculpture of the god Tlaloc were discovered during restoration work, the according to a press bulletin from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH).

The findings were made while working on the pyramid’s stairway, “Escalinata del Pocito”, which started in December under the supervision of the Ministry of Culture through INAH. The first discovery was an adobe core that would correspond to the filling of the fifth stage of the pyramid base, dated towards the end of the Classic period (100-600 AD).

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OB Historical Society Presents: Balboa Park Historian on ‘Coastal Scrub to Garden Fair’ – Thurs., Feb.16

February 10, 2023 by Source

Ocean Beach Historical Society Presents: Coastal Scrub to Garden Fair, by Nancy Carol Carter, Thursday February 16 at 7:00 pm at Water’s Edge Faith Community – 1984 Sunset Cliffs Blvd.

After many years of debate and controversy, a formal plan for the landscaping and planting of San Diego’s City Park was adopted in 1902. Much of the original plan was shelved when preparations for the 1915 Panama-California Exposition began in earnest.

When the Olmstead Brothers Landscape firm bowed out of the Exposition team, opportunity fell to two “accidental landscapers.” Balboa Park historian Nancy Carol Carter will describe how this precarious predicament resulted in the richly planted and beautifully maintained grounds

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Lecture: ‘The Craftsman Bungalow – Simple Life to High Style’ — Thursday, Feb.9

February 8, 2023 by Source

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My Wild Prediction: The ‘Arc of History’ Will Decide Senator Feinstein’s Successor

February 6, 2023 by Source

By Colleen O’Connor

First, that history.

“In a letter dated March 31, 1776, Abigail Adams writes to her husband, John Adams, urging him and the other members of the Continental Congress not to forget about the nation’s women when fighting for America’s independence from Great Britain.

‘I desire you would remember the ladies and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors.

‘Remember, all men would be tyrants if they could.”

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11 Years Ago Today, San Onofre Nearly Became the Next Fukushima

January 31, 2023 by Source

From San Clemente Green

Eleven years ago today — Jan. 31, 2013, we almost nuked Southern California. We owe a debt of gratitude to the nuclear operators that managed a swift and flawless emergency shutdown.

A Thank You Note to Edison Employees and a reminder to all. It is important to remember that they prevented a major disaster eleven years ago.

Your quick actions when radioactive steam began escaping into the environment, prevented a chain reaction from occurring in one of the newly replaced steam generators. It turns out that whistleblowers, afraid of known retaliation from management for such things, had rightfully warned us of this possibility two years prior.

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OB Historical Society Presents: Mystery at the Blue Sea Cottage — Thursday, Jan. 19

January 17, 2023 by Source

The Ocean Beach Historical Society presents: Thursday, January 19, 2023, Mystery At The Blue Sea Cottage, at Water’s Edge Faith Community, 1984 Sunset Cliffs Blvd, at 7:00 pm.