What place is significant to your community’s history?
How do you define community, history, and significance?
Sometimes, collective historical memory in Orange County tends to focus on the same faces and places: white, wealthy, and mostly male. This session explores other ways of thinking about Orange County’s history and significant spaces, beyond the well-known landmarks. The virtual event will include presentations from Preserve Orange County, a county-wide preservation advocacy group, and the co-authors of A People’s Guide to Orange County, an alternative history and tour guide of Orange County that documents sites of oppression, resistance, and transformation, followed by a facilitated discussion with audience members. The session will culminate in an interactive “mapping” of stories from the audience onto a Jamboard that features ideas for new historical landmarks.
This event is part of the annual Orange County Archives Bazaar, a public event that brings together libraries, special collections, museums and other cultural heritage institutions to highlight the known and unknown stories of Orange County. This year’s events will be online.
In preparation for the event, think about a place significant to your own community’s history in Orange County. You may want to think about how you yourself define community, history, and significance.
Speakers
Krista Nicholds (she/her/hers), Preserve Orange County — Krista is a founding board member of Preserve Orange County and in 2021 became the organization's Executive Director. Krista has graduate degrees in political science and heritage conservation. In addition to preservation advocacy, she works as an architectural historian in private practice.
Elaine Lewinnek (she/her/hers), A People’s Guide to OC — Elaine Lewinnek is professor of American Studies and chair of the Environmental Studies program at California State University, Fullerton. She is the author of The Working Man’s Reward: Chicago’s Early Suburbs and the Roots of American Sprawl.
Gustavo Arellano, A People’s Guide to OC — Gustavo is a columnist for the Los Angeles Times, former editor of OC Weekly, and author of the books Orange County: A Personal History, Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America, and ¡Ask A Mexican!
Thuy Vo Dang (she/her/hers), A People’s Guide to OC — Thuy Vo Dang is Curator for the University of California, Irvine Libraries Southeast Asian Archive and research librarian for Asian American Studies. She has a Ph.D. in ethnic studies from UC San Diego and is co-author of the book, Vietnamese in Orange County (2015). Thuy serves on the board of directors for Arts OC and the Vietnamese American Arts & Letters Association.
