Alameda Museum Lectures 2001-2007

Here is an alphabetical listing of the prominent Bay Area authors and historians who have taken part in our lecture series. Many lectures are sponsored by local businesses and professionals. We have standing room only for most lectures; people respond to our excellent publicity and come from other locales, visiting nearby restaurants and shops and thereby bringing commerce to our historic downtown.

- Thursday, April 26, 2001, 7 pm: "1900 Meets 2000," Bruce Bradbury, founder of Bradbury & Bradbury Wallpapers in Benicia and global pundit, will plunder B & B’s exhaustive research and archival collection for slides of turn of the 20th century interiors.

- Thursday, August 28, 2003, 7 pm: "Queen Victoria Down Under" by Bruce Bradbury, founder of Bradbury & Bradbury Art Wallpapers in Benicia, California and a renowned rake and raconteur.

- Thursday, July 31, 2003, 7 pm: "Victorian Classics" by Alex Brammer, who spent ten years feeding his obsession with the fabulous residences of the railroad barons and silver bonanza kings atop San Francisco’s Nob Hill. Underwritten by Edward Jones-Janice Lee.

- Thursday, August 26, 2004, 7 pm: "Bernard Maybeck and the Secrets of the Palace" by Gray Brechin, Ph.D. author of Farewell Promised Land: Waking From the California Dream and Imperial San Francisco: Urban Power, Earthly Ruin, published by the University of California Press.

- Thursday, May 31, 2001, 7 pm: "Imperial San Francisco," Gray Brechin’s slide exposé about the impact of the Hearsts and other powerful Bay Area families on the environment of California.

- Thursday May 31, 2007: Author and historian Gray Brechin, author of New Deal California, U.C Berkeley Press, to discuss WPA buildings in Alameda.

- Thursday, June 30, 2005, 7 pm: "Preservation Power: Tales of the Alameda Architectural Preservation Society and its Bulldog Preservation Action Committee," presented by Christopher Buckley and Company. Underwritten by AAPS, whose members will get in free.

- Thursday, February 27, 2003, 7 pm: "Victorian Polychroming" by expert color consultant Bob Buckter, (aka Dr. Color), whose glorious slides are the result of his two decades of transforming buildings all over California. This lecture is underwritten by Pagano’s.

- Thursday, May 26, 2005, 7 pm: "What of Paris During the Victorian Era?" by art historian and author, the aptly named Colette Collester. And yes, there is an Alameda connection to the other "City of Lights." Underwritten by Pagano’s Hardware.

- May 18, 2006: Colette Collester again takes us to France when she focuses on the artist Claude Monet "The Anxious Observer of the Difference of Minutes." (Colette assures us that Monet would have loved living in Alameda in the 1870s!)

- Thursday September 27: Art historian and enthusiast Colette Collester on the art of Paul Cezanne (1839-1906) "Cezanne and his beloved hometown of Aix-en-Provence." Underwritten by Rosemary McNally, Raltor, Kane & Associates.

- Thursday, June 27, 2002, 7 pm: "Neon: The Living Flame," by Mr. Art Deco himself, Michael Crowe, author of Deco by the Bay: Art Deco Architecture in the San Francisco Bay Area. Michael will be introduced by neon artist Karl Hauser, who will be wearing his neon-animated hat. Underwritten by Larm’s Building Materials, Inc.

- Thursday, June 28, 2001, 7 pm, Paul Duchscherer, author of three recent volumes that glorify the bungalow, returns to his true love with "Victorian Glory," slides from his new volume from Penguin Books.

- Thursday, April 28, 2005, 7 pm: "Nineteenth Century California Interiors" by architect and historian Hank Dunlop, whose slide show on Fernside wowed audiences during our 2003 lecture series. Underwritten by Judith Lynch, member, Alameda Historical Advisory Board.

- Thursday July 26, 2007: Architect and historian Hank Dunlop, "The Restoration of the Leland Stanford Mansion," the centerpiece of a fabled state park in Sacramento. Underwritten by Estelle Knowland, Alameda Museum Board.

- Thursday, May 27, 2004, 7 pm: "Cryptic Crypts" by historian Dennis Evanosky, a docent at Oakland’s renowned Mountain View Cemetery, a time capsule of California history. Underwritten by Janelle Spatz, current president, Alameda Architectural Preservation Society (AAPS).

- Thursday, March 31, 2005, 7 pm: "The East Bay Then and Now" based on a new book of photographs compiled by Dennis Evanosky, whose slide show "Cryptic Crypts" fascinated lecture goers in 2004 and Eric Kos of the Alameda Sun. Underwritten by Janelle Spatz, board member of the Alameda Architectural Preservation Society (AAPS) and Realtor with Bayside Real Estate.

- Thursday June 28, 2007: Dennis Evanosky and Eric Kos will present slides that show Alameda’s "Bay Shore before the coming of South Shore." Underwritten by Ginger Schuler, Harbor Bay Realty.

- Thursday March 29, 2007: Leslie Freudenheim, author of Building with Nature: Inspiration for the Arts & Crafts Home, published by Gibb Smith. Underwritten by Janelle Spatz, board member Alameda Architectural Preservation Society (AAPS) and Realtor Bayside Real Estate.

- April 27, 2006: Melisa Gadreau and Chris Verplanck, architectural historians from Page & Turnbull, will make a PowerPoint presentation about the former Naval Air Station, "Alameda Point: History in Action."

- Thursday, April 25, 2002, 7 pm: "Storybook Houses," presented by architect and author Arrol Gellner, who will discuss the captivating architectural styes of the 1920s, with a digression to Stonehenge and Stoneleigh, "a unique tract of Storybook homes in Alameda," designed by architect Walter W. Dixon for developer Christopher Columbus Howard. Arrol is the nationally-syndicated author of the column "Architext," based with the San Francisco Chronicle.

- Thursday, April 24, 2003, 7 pm: "Red Tile Style" by architect Arrol Gellner, who will present juicy slides taken by photographer Douglas Keister, who illustrated this new book from Viking. This lecture is underwritten by Alameda Power & Telecom.

- March 30, 2006: Curator George Gunn will trot out cobwebbed images that have never seen the light of day as he presents "The Museum Archives Revealed."

- Thursday, June 26, 2003, 7 pm: "Percy & Hamilton: Color, Texture, and Form" by architectural historian Bill Kostura. In Alameda, their plans won the competition for City Hall. The Sharon Playhouse in Golden Gate Park, the Bourne Wine Cellar in St. Helena, early office skyscrapers, and imposing mausoleums are among their other works that will be discussed. Copies of Bill’s book, Russian Hill: The Summit, 1853-1906, will be available. This lecture is underwritten by Centennial Real Estate.

- Thursday, March 27, 2003, 7 pm: "A. W. Smith: Architect" by Betty Marvin, an Oakland Heritage Alliance member who has made an intense study of Smith and his work. This lecture is underwritten by the Bank of Alameda.

- Thursday, June 24, 2004, 7 pm: "Julia Morgan: California’s First Female Architect," by architectural historian Betty Marvin, who will assume the dress and persona of Morgan during her lecture, which will feature her dozen or so structures in Alameda. Underwritten by Dahlin Group Architecture and Planning.

- Thursday, March 25, 2004, 7 pm: "Glass Act" by Alameda glassmaster Ken Matthias, who continues his house-by-house survey of all the decorative glass on the Island. Come and be stunned! Underwritten by Ginger Schuler of Harbor Bay Realty.

- Thursday, May 30, 2002, 7 pm: "Radiant Panes: Alameda Windows from the Victoria Era to the Time of Arts & Crafts," Alameda glass artist Ken Matthias’ glorious slides are a result of his ongoing meticulous survey of decorative glass on the island. Ken will be introduced by a holographic image of glassmaster Louis Comfort Tiffany. Underwritten by Pagano’s.

- June 29, 2006: Glassmaster Ken Matthias presents new images of historical glass on the Island, "Glass Act Redux."

- Thursday, April 29, 2004, 7 pm: "Emergence of the Modern in Alameda Architecture: From the Bungalow to the Rancher" by Woody Minor. Underwritten by the law offices of Gina Mariani.

- Thursday, March 29, 2001 7 pm, "Mortar Madness," a revelation of the masonry heritage of the island of Alameda, presented by Woody Minor, author of Pacific Gateway, On The Bay and many more.

- Thursday, February 28, 2002, 7 pm: "Our Houses: Residential Architecture in Alameda," by Woody Minor. Our local hero will use two projectors to take you on a breathtaking cavalcade of Alameda history and houses.

- Thursday, July 28, 2005, 7 pm: "History and Commerce on the Island," by raconteur, author, and local historian Woody Minor. This slide show will include book signing of the new edition of Woody’s book "Taking Care of Business." Underwritten by Ginger Schuler of Harbor Bay Realty.

- July 27, 2006: Local author and historian Woody Minor presents "Joseph Leonard: Architect," a slide clebration of the reprint of Minor’s book Leonardville Heritage Area.

- Thursday February 22, 2007: Alameda author and historian Woody Minor on "The Architecture of Ratcliff," his new book about a century of East Bay building. Underwritten by the law offices of Gina Mariani.

- Thursday, July 29, 2004, 7 pm: "The Pardee Legacy" by David Nicolai, curator of the Pardee Home in Oakland. David will dress in character and present George Cooper Pardee’s "first person" account of his regime as University of California drum major, Oakland Mayor (1893-95), and California Governor (1903-07) Underwritten by Pagano’s Hardware.

- Thursday, March 28, 2002, 7 pm: "A Passion for Pattiani," an exploration of the work of renowned Alameda builder Alfred Washington Pattiani, presented by Paul Roberts, former Alameda Victorian Preservation Society (now AAPS) President. He will be introduced by Alameda writer and historian Woody Minor.

- Thursday, August 25, 2005, 7 pm: "Pattiani Powerpoint" by Paul Roberts, who will show an expanded version of his "Passion for Pattiani" presentation in conjunction with his new book about that prolific Alameda architect. Underwritten by Nancy Anderson AIA of Dahlin Group Architecture and Planning.

- August 31, 2006: "Any Style You Want," Paul Roberts returns with an investigation into the work of the Newsom Brothers, prominent Bay Area architects who designed the magnificent Carson Mansion in Eureka.

- September 28, 2006: Architect Richard Rutter presents "Steamboating on San Francisco Bay and the Sacramento Delta from 1850 through 1950."

- Thursday, May 29, 2003, 7 pm: "Early Berkeley," by Richard Schwartz, author of Berkeley 1900, "the first book to approach a true history of day-to-day life at the turn of the century," according to Stephanie Manning of the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association. This lecture is underwritten by the law office of Gina M. Mariani.

- Thursday April 26, 2007: Author and historian Richard Schwartz, author, Earthquake Exodus 1906, published by RSB Books. Underwritten by Judith Lynch, member, Historical Advisory Board.

- Thursday, September 29, 2005, 7 pm: "Trains, Ferries, and Trolleys: How Transportation Shaped Alameda" by Western Railroad Museum trolley operator Bruce Singer, with the assistance of Alameda ferry buff and photo archivist Grant Ute. Underwritten by the law offices of Gina Mariani.

- February 23, 2006: Bruce Singer and Grant Ute ride the rails for part two of their transportation extravaganza: "Ride the Red Cars" tour of the Encinal and Lincoln lines of the Southern Pacific’s Alameda Electric Service.