These collections include historical films, oral histories, and presentations.
16mm Film
Bernie Bush Collection: Seven reels of 16mm silent film composed by Bernie Bush sr. reveal Southern Humboldt landscapes and communities. The films in this collection are from the 1930s through the 1950s, a period during which the filmmaker was a pharmacist in downtown Garberville.
This collection may be viewed online through archive.org:
Candid Garberville #5: Pepperwood Flood (1937)
Anne Bernie, Cadel Miller, Benbow Golf (1938 - 39)
8mm Film
Ray and Annabell Shull Collection: 20 reels of 8mm silent film capture historic building demolition and other landscape-altering moments from Eureka's past. The films in this collection were composed throughout the 1950s, while the Shull's owned and operated Everybody's Furniture in Old Town Eureka. These films have been digitized and are being progressively uploaded to our Members-Only Digital Archive page. Become a member today to view footage of the Firestone building fire in 1954.
Digital Video
Annual Luncheon Programs: Annual programs hosted by the Humboldt County Historical Society.
- “Falk: Company Lumber Town of the American West,” presented by Julie Clark, February 2019
- “Trees & Grass: Boom, Bust, and the American Dream,” presented by Ray Raphael, February 2018
- “Fall of the House of Gunther,” presented by Jon Humboldt Gates, February 2017
- “A History of Prostitution in Eureka,” presented by retired chief of Eureka Police Department Murl Harpham, February 2014
- "Humboldt Links to the Golden Gate," presented by Ray Hillman, 2011
- "The Social, Cultural, and Ceremonial Renaissance of North Coast Tribes," presented by Christopher Peters, 2010
- "Place Names of Humboldt County," presented by Dennis Turner and Jerry Rohde, 2009
- "The Yurok of Tsurai Village," presented by Axel Lindgren III, 2008
- "Two Peoples, One Place," presented by Ray Raphael, 2007
Library Lecture Series: Monthly programs hosted by the Humboldt County Historical Society and the Eureka Public Library.
- “Sarah Johnson: Humboldt’s First Lighthouse Keeper,” presented by Peggy Wheeler, December 2018
- “Chasing Down the Moon: Chinese Expulsion through Historical Fiction,” presented by Carla Baku, November 2018
- “Sex, Drunks, and Alleged Insanity: Interpreting Historical Criminal Records,” presented by Morgan Harvey, September 2018
- “Lore of the Land: Myths, Folktales, and Legends from the Redwood Coast,” presented by Paul Woodland, June 2018
- “A Photographic History of Arcata’s Creamery District,” presented by Fran Beatty, May 2018
- “The Friendship of Bodega y Quadra & Vancouver,” presented by Pattie Fleschner, March 2018
- “The Cost of Contempt: Loss of the USS Milwaukee,” presented by Savannah Smith, October 2015
Other Research Materials