MHS – What’s New Update for December 2024
MHS President’s Message for December 2024
What’s New is the first of what will be monthly updates posted online during months when we do not publish our quarterly newsletter. Its goal is to update members about new material on our web site and remind them of upcoming events. (pdf version)
2024 has been a tremendous year for the Moraga Historical Society as we celebrated the 50th anniversary of the incorporation of the Town of Moraga. Our four quarterly newsletters covered the road to incorporation. If you missed any of them or wish to reread one of them visit our Newsletter section.
We created a 50th Anniversary web page that features newspaper clippings from 1974 along with links to the 10th and 25th anniversary videos and the time capsule ceremony video.
MHS board member Vera Kochan organized collection of the Time Capsule contributions and the ceremony which took place on November 12, 2024. We have posted a video which features all the contributions and the ceremony in a special Time Capsule web page. We think the contributions really capture the ethos of Moraga!
We held two sold out Speaker Events in the Casita Room at the Hacienda, Moraga’s Train History by Sam Sperry on March 3, and Mark Harrigan’s Lamorinda Nostalgia Trip on August 11.
Our booth at the Moraga July 4th and Pear Festival events drew big crowds and we boosted our membership 50% to 145 members, a record for the past decade, and a trend we want to keep going (please share this update with your friends!). A big draw was our large scale aerial map of what Moraga looked like in 1960.
Our digitization project became reality this year. We have begun scanning and posting on our web site high resolution images on a fair use basis from our photo, slide, document and map collections. We are just beginng and some of our aerial photos are already available. Check out our Time Period Index to access catalogs of what we have so far scanned and posted.
This year we expanded our Voices of the Past program which involves making our audio and video archives available on YouTube. We have posted the 1989 Fire Department History talk by former fire chief Ed Lucas to YouTube and provided a transcript with chapters and selected photos from our archives.
As we finish the year I would like to remind everybody that December is a good time to Renew your Membership for 2025 or make a Donation via PayPal, both of which will be deductible for the 2024 tax year if done before the end of the year. This is also a great time to Buy a Throw or Book through our Store as a holiday gift. Your support is greatly appreciated!
Susan Sperry, MHS President
Donation via PayPal
Annual Individual Membership $20.00
Annual Household Membership: $30.00
New Online Material Links
Explore our scanned archives organized by Time Periods
Voices of the Past: Fire Department History 1989 Talk by former fire chief Ed Lucas
Moraga Historical Society
Web Site: www.MoragaHistory.org
Email: info@MoragaHistory.org
Phone: (925) 377-8734
YouTube: @MoragaHistoricalSociety
Mail: PO Box 103, Moraga, CA, 94556
History Center: 1500 St. Mary’s Rd., Moraga, CA 94556-2099 (Open Thursdays 1-3 pm)
