Guest Speaker Lecture Series
Cultural Heritage Board guest speaker sessions highlight local scholars and voices related to the disciplines of architecture, history, architectural history, planning, archaeology, or other historic preservation-related disciplines, such as urban planning, American studies, American civilization, cultural geography, or cultural anthropology. These sessions are consistent with the Cultural Heritage Program goal of helping to foster an awareness and appreciation of Ventura County’s rich history and variety of cultural resources among both residents and visitors. Meetings are open to the public and create space for questions and dialogue to foster community understanding. To be added to an email notification list regarding future speaker events, please contact Dillan Murray, staff, at dillan.murray@venturacounty.gov.
A Shared History: Diverse Voices Across Ventura County
For the inaugural speaker series titled “A Shared History: Diverse Voices Across Ventura County,” sessions aimed to highlight traditionally underrepresented voices and stories and their contribution to our county’s history. In May 2025, the series was acknowledged with a Planning Award from the American Planning Association’s Central Coast Section. For the series, the Cultural Heritage Board was granted the Advancing Diversity and Social Change in Honor of Paul Davidoff Award, which honors an individual, project, group, or organization that promotes diversity, equity, and inclusion and demonstrates a sustained commitment to advocacy. Series topics included the following:
- Oxnard’s Japanese Cemetery: Legacy & History with Dr. Welty Tamai, August 14, 2023
- Lecture by William Maple on the History of the Timber School, Newbury Park, CA, November 13, 2023
- Rancho Guadalasca: Last Ranch of California’s Central Coast, Dr. Colleen Delaney, December 11, 2023
- History of Asian American and Pacific Islander Communities in Ventura County, Dr. Welty Tamai, May 16, 2024
- History of farmworker labor camps and farmworker movements in Ventura County, Dr. José M. Alamillo, September 23, 2024
- The Life & Legacy of César Chávez: Labor & Civil Rights in Ventura County, Dr. Frank P. Barajas, December 9, 2024
- The History of Agriculture in Ventura County and How it Became the Lima Bean Capital of the World, Mr. Jeffrey Maulhardt, March 24, 2025
- Ventura County’s Indigenous Communities and the Natural World, Ms. Julie Tumamait-Stenslie, May 12, 2025
Ventura County Chronicles: Fire, Freight & Freeways
The Cultural Heritage Board’s next speaker series titled “Ventura County Chronicles: Fire, Freight & Freeways” is intended to bring to life the important events, influential people, and key infrastructure developments that have shaped Ventura County’s history. Presentations will occur quarterly from fall 2025 through summer 2026, and cover the following topics:
- “From Buckets to Bulldozers: Wildfires Then and Now,” comparing the Great Forest Fires of 1917 with the Thomas Fire of 2017, Ms. Betsy J. Green, September 22, 2025
- The next guest lecture will take place on December 8, 2025, at 1:15 pm. Veteran journalist Andy Ludlum, now a Research Library docent at the Museum of Ventura County, will explore the rich history of automobiles in Ventura County and the evolution of the freeway grades that helped shape the region’s transportation network.
Previous Cultural Heritage Board Guest Lectures