Sonoma County Heritage Network
Report of April 13, 2002, meeting at Sonoma State University Art Gallery, Rohnert Park
Member Reports:
Tomales History Center. The center has received a large collection of newspaper articles (about Bodega, P.G. & E., Rose Gaffney, etc.) to the Center. The Center is open from 1 to 4, Friday through Sunday.

Northwest Pacific Railroad Historical Society is still restoring the caboose.

Western Sonoma County Historical Society will sponsor a History Day on May 5 when they'll invite the public to share historical photos and stories and identify past business locations. The current West County Museum exhibit celebrates Sebastopol's centennial year.

Sonoma Co. Chapter of California Land Surveyors is still working on the Bowers map. They need storage for historical maps and records.

Sonoma Co. Genealogical Society continues to abstract and publish vital data found in old newspapers. Their next publication will be a cumulative index to the Society's journal, Sonoma Searcher.

Friends of Kagoshima Association has an exhibit at Paradise Ridge Winery. They will sponsor their 16th student exchange program this year.

Rancho Bodega Historical Society, Inc. has received permission to move a temporary building or trailer to the Shoreline School grounds, where they will eventually establish their museum in the old school building. They need to find a temporary building for use now.

Healdsburg Museum has a new permanent exhibit of Healdsburg history now open with professional graphics. The project to scan the photo collection is progressing, as is construction of a web site. Historic Healdsburg walking tours will be conducted for the California Preservation Conference in May. A book of chosen historical articles from the Russian River Recorder will be published soon.

Sonoma County Museum is presently interviewing architects for their planned expansion. They will have 12,000 square feet of gallery space.

The Depot Park Museum reported that visitors are coming back; and business conferences, which dropped off after 9/11, are picking up. They have received a collection of historic photos.

California Cultural Studies at SSU reported the second annual Jack London Lecture Series is being planned. In September there will be an exchange program with Germany.

Rohnert Park Historical Society is identifying photos and working on the history of Wilfred School. Next newsletter will feature art groups in Rohnert Park.

Sonoma County Cemeteries. Jeremy Nichols' book will contain information on 100 cemeteries. The Sonoma County Library Annex now has the Thomas O. Larkin papers. Jeremy reported that the old coroners' records (original log books and microfilms) are stored at the coroner's facility on Chanate Road, SR, and should be moved to a safer storage space. The Historical Records Commission will discuss this.

Sonoma County Library Annex now has a second computer thanks to the Sonoma County Co Genealogical Society. The Annex now has 250 CDs.
SCLA wants to extend the variety and scope of the archive holdings and plans to subscribe to the U.S. census images online.

The Sharpsteen Museum presently has an exhibit on the Old West featuring cowboy memorabilia and barbed wire. Next exhibit (May 13) will be about Alfred Tubbs and display a collection of furniture from the Tubbs mansion and memorabilia from Chateau Montelena Winery.

There was further discussion about forming a partnership between SSU and the Heritage Network in order to facilitate a region-wide resource survey, workshops, grants, etc. All agreed there was a need for collaboration.