San Francisco Museum and Historical Society

Monthly Programs

Monthly programs are generally held on the second Tuesday evening of each month except for August and December. Programs are free to SFMHS members. Admission for non-members is $10 per person ($5 for seniors, students, K-12 teachers, and persons with disabilities), which may be applied to membership dues within 30 days.

Unless otherwise noted, it is not necessary to RSVP for a monthly program.

Most programs take place at the Old Mint, located at 88 Fifth Street at Mission. The Old Mint is close to Powell MUNI/BART, and is served my numerous bus lines. Parking is available in the Fifth and Mission/Yerba Buena Center Garage.

Please join us at 7 PM for a reception before each program.

May 2013 Program - CHANGE OF DATE

If The Walls Could Speak: Mysteries of the Mint

Tuesday, May 7 - 7:30 PM Note Change of Date!

The Old Mint
88 Fifth Street at Mission

It is appropriate that authors and Mint historians Nancy Oliver and Richard Kelly present this program in the building they have researched for years.

Their interest in the Mint began with a field trip when their sons were in elementary school in the ‘80s and was reignited in 1998 when they began a search for the Mint’s cornerstone. That has led to four books on the Mint, including The Men Who Managed the Mint, The Mint’s Integrity, The Mint Under Siege and A Mighty Fortress, The Stories Behind the Second United States Mint.

They also penned the book, Gold In His Veins, the story of John Daggett, superintendent of the first and second San Francisco Mints plus many biographical sketches.

The program will cover recently discovered accounts of the men who managed the Mint, secrets of the vaults and details of the Mint under siege during the 1906 earthquake and fire. Their presentation will be accompanied by photo and illustrations.

June 2013 Program

Howl! The Wild Birth of San Francisco Values

Tuesday, June 11 - 7:30 PM

The Old Mint
88 Fifth Street at Mission

Author of the new bestselling history of San Francisco, Season of the Witch: Enchantment, Terror and Deliverance in the City of Love, David Talbot will present an illustrated lecture on the tumultuous period between the 1967 “Summer of Love” and the San Francisco 49ers’ first Super Bowl victory in 1982.

No other city endured so many calamities in such a short time span. It was an unprecedented era of assassinations, riots, urban terrorism and a mysterious epidemic—as well as creative and social flowering—when the city met incredible challenges to revolutionize itself and leave a lasting legacy that changed the world. This book exemplifies the way that San Francisco now inspires us toward a live-and-let-live tolerance, a shared sense of humanity and an openness to change.

Talbot is described as a progressive journalist, who founded the first web magazine, salon.com, but more recently has established a reputation as a revisionist historian with his controversial work on the Kennedy assassination and other areas of “hidden history.” Talbot lives in San Francisco with his wife and family.