Richard Hurley

Richard Hurley holds degrees from Harvard and Berkeley and wrote for the Harvard Lampoon. He worked for the Oakland Museum, designing exhibits for the History Division and supervising artifact restoration. Richard recently guest-curated an exhibit on “California and the Civil War” for the Folsom History Museum.

Richard’s book, California and the Civil War (The History Press, 2016),  traces the political and military history of the Golden State, revealing how bitterly divided the sate was in 1861. Featured are stories of men of honor like General Albert Sidney Johnston – a Southern sympathizer whose refusal to betray his officer’s oath spared California from partisan war – and San Francisco’s gifted orator, the Reverend Thomas Starr King, whom Abraham Lincoln dubbed “the man who saved California for the Union.” The show also depicts the exploits of daring Rebel partisans, determined to act for the Confederacy in California, and the California Volunteers, who held them in check.

He is also author of Queen of the Northern Mines – a Novel of the Civil War in California. The tale is set in California’s Gold Country and was a finalist for the IBPA Ben Franklin Award for Historical Fiction.