Geddes Harper addressing HCHS Staff and Board of Directors, 1959. Howard Melendy.
The Humboldt County Historical Society is supported by a Board of Directors, which meets once a month to plan events, orchestrate fundraising efforts, and oversee other organizational operations. These board meetings are open to members. Any interested community member may apply to volunteer as a member of our board. Elections are held on the first Saturday in November prior to the First Saturday Lecture.
Humboldt County Historical Society President, James Garrison, and Secretary, Lara Garrison. Jim was formerly our archivist, then began his career as a teacher in Redway. He is the author of the Arcadia book, Scotia & Rio Dell. Lara is also a teacher at Redway and has been a long-time volunteer at HCHS. They are a talented and effective team!
OFFICERS for the 2023 - 2024 TErm
President: James Garrison
Vice President: Mark Castro
Past President: Dr. Alexandra Service
Secretary: Lara Garrison
Treasurer: Jack Irvine
Directors
Catherine Alexander, Nick Angeloff, Sile Bauriedel, Susan Doniger, Susan Maschmeier and Royal McCarthy
Living Past Presidents
Arlene Hartin, Catherine Mace, Tom Mays, Leonard McLaughlin, Robert Palmrose, Jack Nash, Armeda Reitzel, Bill Rich, Jerry Rohde, James Roscoe, Renee Ross, Merry Schellinger Phillips, Steve Lazar, Alexandra Service, Joe Walund, Catherine Mace
HCHS Past Presidents Page
A page to honor our past presidents who have served over the last 75+ years.
President’s Place for winter 2024
Past, Present, and Future
By Jim Garrison, President
Greetings and happy holidays to all who are reading this brief preface! I hope you are well and that this winter season brings with it the very best for a bright new year. The past year was a good one, I think, for the Society, and I hope this is true for our members as well.
The Society board and volunteers made some terrific events happen this year. We had a public newspaper give-away at the Timber Heritage Association’s facility in Samoa. This event, which showcased a very well curated display of some stand-out Times-Standard headlines from over the years, was the result of a lot of hard work by volunteers, and the generosity of the THA. Thank you to Sean Mitchell and everyone at the THA, Mark Castro, HCHS board vice-president, and Steve Lazar, former HCHS board president, as well as all those others who gave their time and hard work to this effort.
We also had a great time at our First Annual Humboldt County Historical Society Beer-Fest at the Blue Ox. And we teamed up with the Fortuna Depot Museum to make an amazing display in the Fairgrounds Museum during the Humboldt County Fair in Ferndale. I’d like to thank HCHS Archivist Pam Service and Fortuna Depot Museum Curator and HCHS past-president Dr. Alexandra Service for making the display and doing all the work to make it happen again this year. These events were not only fun but a great chance for us to interact with the public, visit with old friends, and let everyone know that we’re here!
Our first event each year is traditionally the Historical Society’s Annual Luncheon. 2024’s luncheon was held at the historic Scotia Lodge (formally the Scotia Inn), so in keeping with a historic-building theme, 2025’s luncheon will be at the recently refurbished Eureka Veteran’s Hall in February. This will be a luncheon you will not want to miss! If you have not seen the Veteran’s Hall lately, here is a great chance to check out this part of Eureka’s past and to get in on a great presentation. Our very own past-president of the HCHS and local historian extraordinaire,
Dr. Alexandra Service, has graciously agreed to be our presenter for the event. Dr. Service, who has authored many books on Humboldt County’s history, will be sharing her research into the experiences of Chinese Eurekans in the 19th century. Dr. Service will be joined by leaders of the Eureka Chinatown Project to present updates on the ECP’s ongoing efforts and the work-in-progress Eureka Chinatown Monument.
I am also excited about our ongoing membership drive! The thermometer banner is still up on the outside of the Gross-Wells-Barnum House and the numbers continue to rise, but we still need your help to get the word out. Our Society is unique, and it is a resource that is too important to lose. For almost eighty years, we members of this organization have dedicated ourselves to making sure our past is not forgotten, and we have shared this honor with generations of Humboldt families. This is what our membership drive is all about. Our organization is funded by our membership. The fact is that, when our membership declines, it becomes more difficult for us to meet the demands of maintaining a collection like ours. If each member recruited even one new member during our membership drive, our goal would be met.
We have taken on a great honor, to preserve the legacy of our past for the future, but we have also taken on the responsibility to keep the ball rolling. I am grateful to each member of this Society, past and present, for all we have accomplished together. Thank you, sincerely, for your continued support! I would also like to ask each member, if they are able, to give one more push, to tell one more friend or relative, and help us meet our membership goals.
Thank you!
Watch for more information about Annual Luncheon and learn how you can attend this and other Humboldt County Historical Society events by visiting our headquarters at 703 Eighth Street in Eureka, giving us a call at (707) 445-4342, or checking out our website: humboldthistory.org.