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Historical Research Center | CSU Bakersfield

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Historical Research Center
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Documenting the History of CSU, Bakersfield
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Kern County Court Records

Architect's sketch of the Oliver Peak Residence

Architectural Collections

Featuring the work of Clarence Cullimore and John Pedersen
Image of Mr. Colbert

Celebrating Black Heritage:

This on-going project seeks to document the history of the African-American community in Kern County through oral history, digital history, and an archival artifact collection program. Information collected ...

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Housing Cottonwood

America’s Newest Cities: Redlining and Housing Discrimination in Kern County

Between 1938 to 1950 there were an estimated 171 housing tracts that had notarized racially restrictive covenants written in Bakersfield. This page provides a glimpse to the housing inequalities in Bakersfield. ...

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Humanities beyond bars

Humanities Beyond Bars

The United States of America has one of the largest incarcerated populations in the world. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, “an estimated 6,613,500 persons were under the supervision of U.S. ...

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Redlining in Bakersfield logo

About     Exhibits     Meet the Team     Events     Race Restrictions in Housing America’s Newest Cities includes public events to increase public understanding of “redlining practices” and housing discrimination in California’s Central Valley. These events include public lectures, exhibits, and student outreach. Collectively, these events promote collaboration and knowledge-sharing between community members and […]

Red Lining and Housing Discrimination in Kern County

America’s Newest Cities: Housing and “Red Lining” in California’s Central Valley * CSU Bakersfield Auxiliary for Sponsored Programs Administration, Bakersfield Project Director: Chris Livingston September 26, 2023 – The story of Housing in California’s Central Valley has been one of exclusion, isolation, and destruction. America’s Newest Cities is a public humanities project […]

News

About           Exhibit           Meet the Team        Events         Tuesday, October 22, 2024 5:30-7:00 pm Dezember Reading Room Walter W. Stiern Library The Lonesome Trail Arborglyphs and Basque Sheepherders in the Far West Join us for a fascinating educational […]

Events

Murder at Long Tom The last edition of Tales from the Vault noted that the Yellow Aster Mining Company was founded with a gold discovery east of Red Rock Canyon in 1895. This was not the first time gold was discovered in this area. Prospectors had been rushing to Kern […]

Tales from the Vault #12

The Yellow Aster Mining Company Tucked away in the vault are two cancelled checks, one dated 1905 and the other 1910. The amounts of $70.45 and $36.25 were drawn on an account owned by the Yellow Aster Mining and Milling Company. Both checks are signed by John Singleton and R.S. […]

Tales from the Vault #11

Historic Decatur House

Marie Beale & Decatur House This edition of Tales brings us to one of the most interesting of Kern County’s pioneer families. We have all heard of the remarkable stories about General Edward Fitzgerald Beale, Mexican/American War Hero, and friend of Kit Carson, gold smuggler, Indian Agent, and land holder. […]

Tales from the Vault #10

Tomas Castro

In a previous edition of Tales, I described the U.S. Naturalization record of Peter Gardett. The HRC holds U.S. Naturalization records for Kern County that span from 1866 to 1982. These records document the rich diversity of our county. People immigrated from countries such as Austria, Canada, Chile, China, England, […]

Tales from the Vault #9

Peter Gardette Naturalizaton Record

In the last edition of Tales we left off with the question of who was the first person to legally naturalize to Kern County. A check of the U.S. Naturalization records located in the Historical Research Center Archives shows that it was Michael Sandrigan who naturalized on July 28, 1866. He […]

Tales from the Vault #8

Edna Williams

Of Heart and Mind What does the movie The China Syndrome have in common with CSUB? The movie, starring Jane Fonda and released in 1979, was about an accident at a nuclear power plant that was investigated by a reporter. On May 22 of the same year Jane Fonda spoke at […]

Tales from the Vault #6

Peter Gardette Naturalizaton Record

2016 marked the sesquicentennial of the establishment of Kern County. To commemorate this, the HRC was busy researching photographs that document the history of the county for the exhibit 150: The History of Kern County Through Photographs. While researching this exhibit, I happened upon a timeline of the development of […]

Tales from the Vault #7

Earl Warren

Tales from the Vault #5 “Earl Warren and California State College, Bakersfield” This edition of Tales takes us to the Earl Warren Collection housed in the Historical Research Center’s Special Collections and Rare Book Room. Many of you perhaps know Earl Warren as the Supreme Court Justice who presided over […]

Tales from the Vault #5

Tribute Poster

Tales from the Vault #4 “The Long Hard Road of a Country Musician” This edition of Tales from the Vault takes us to the Bakersfield Sound. The Historical Research Center at the Walter W. Stiern Library contains a number of interviews with Bakersfield musical legends such as Oscar Whittington, “Tumbleweed” […]

Tales from the Vault #4

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