Join us for a series of evening lectures by prominent speakers from the world of art, horticulture and history.
Member Appreciation: Evening Lecture – William E. Smythe and the Little Landers Movement
February 11, 2025 | 7 PM
Speaker Bill MacGowan grew up in Newport Beach, but lives in Boulder, Colorado and is retired after a 40+ year career in corporate human resources with companies such as Sun Microsystems, Northrop Grumman, Allergan, and Newmont. As a direct descendant of William E. Smythe, he has spent many years studying the fascinating life of Smythe.
William E. Smythe (1866-1922) was a journalist, author, politician, and utopian colonist who is considered to be a leader in our country’s back-to-the-land and national reclamation movements. He wrote four books, including the classic Conquest of Arid America (1900) and The History of San Diego (1907), which was included in the Dawson 80 list of distinguished Southern California books. He led a fascinating life with important associations that included: Charles Lummis, William “Buffalo Bill” Cody, Bernard Maybeck, John Wesley Powell, and Louis Brandeis. As a utopian colonist he also founded the Little Lander towns of Tujunga, San Ysidro, and Standish (California) and New Plymouth (Idaho).
As part of Member Appreciation Week, this lecture is being offered to our members free of charge. Non-Members: $20
Evening Lecture: Sue Hodson – I Promise You I’ll be Home: Korean Letters of a U.S. Marine
February 18, 2025 | 7 PM
Before becoming a professional journalist and columnist for the Los Angeles Times, Al Martinez (1929-2015) served in the Korean War at the age of 21 with the U.S. Marines. From 1951 to 1952, he served first on the battlefront and then as a war correspondent. He dispatched letters almost daily to his young bride Joanne. Recently, McFarland and Co. has published a volume of Martinez’ war letters, sharing the unique perspective of an obviously gifted writer at the beginning of his career. His letters home captured his experiences eloquently and with depth of understanding as they express the dangers, hardships, fear, friendships, and even humor of life at the front.
Sara S. “Sue” Hodson is the retired curator of literary collections for The Huntington Library, where she oversaw all British and American literary manuscripts. Her honors include the Society of California Archivist’s Lifetime Achievement Award, Jack London Foundation’s 2012 Woman of the Year and the 2017 Avery Clayton Spirit Award. Her writing has appeared inThe American Archivist, California History, the Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science, and numerous other publications.
Members: $20 | Non-Members: $20