Chautauqua: An educational meeting providing public lectures, concerts and dramatic performances that was popularized in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

This speaker series will occur throughout 2008 in various libraries around Monterey and San Benito Counties. We will be adding lectures throughout the year; please check back often.

"The Early History of Pinnacles National Monument"
Join NPS Landscape Historian, Timothy Babalis, as he highlights the people and agencies responsible for the early caretaking of Pinnacles from 1906 to the 1930's. 

Monday, March 31, 2008
San Benito County Free Library
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
470 5th Street, Hollister, CA

Past Chautauqua Talks

History and Archaeology of Mission San Antonio
Thursday, January 3rd, 2008, 7:00 pm
King City Library

Mission San Antonio de Padua, located in southern Monterey County, was one of the earlier missions of California---the third in a chain of twenty-one. It was the first mission to enroll over 1,000 native neophyte converts, the first mission to utilize tile roofs, and had the most elaborate and best preserved water system of any of the missions. Its history under some remarkable padres was virtually free of problems, unlike many of the other missions. For the past 30 years, it has been the ideal place for the intensive study of mission archaeology. Dr. Hoover will outline this history, describe the major activities of the archaeology program that he has directed, and discuss potential opportunities for the future.

Robert L. Hoover Biography