The Institute for Historical Study

Mission

The Institute for Historical Study is a community of researchers, writers, and artists. Our common bond is a devotion to history in its many forms. Through wide-ranging programs, we share research, ideas, and practical advice, and provide a public forum for the discussion of history.

Featured Fun

Revealing San Francisco’s Hidden 19th-Century Black History: A Tour of California Historical Society Artifacts presented by The Institute for Historical Study

Co-sponsored by the California Historical Society and the California African American Museum

Join Susan D. Anderson, history curator of the California African American Museum, for a talk and tour of artifacts that reveal the hidden history of San Francisco’s 19th-century African American past. Anderson’s talk begins with the Gold Rush and weaves the state’s raucous beginnings into the national narrative.

Richmond Logan and Lilla Bozier, husband and wife; Red Bluff, California, 1880. (credit: California Historical Society)

The photographs, manuscripts, and publications in this presentation allow viewers to experience the urgency of early campaigns for civil rights and the fervent hopes of the African American community. Learn about the beloved ship’s captain who has a street named for him in West Oakland. Hear a Civil War poem by a distinguished Black poet and friend of John Brown proclaimed in public in 1864 San Francisco. See court documents of the lawsuit brought to challenge discrimination on streetcars 90 years before Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

This presentation proves that California history is more challenging, complicated, and fascinating than we’ve been taught. Hosted and co-sponsored by the Institute for Historical Study, co-sponsored by the California Historical Society and the California African American Museum in Los Angeles.

This free event event was presented as part of San Francisco History Days on Saturday, 26, 2020 at 1:00PM and streamed live to the San Francisco History Days Facebook.