The Orange County Historical Society was founded on June 26. 1919. The directors of the new Society were prominent leaders in the young county: Samuel Armor, author and educator; H. Clay Kellogg, engineer; Nellie P. Tedford, farm wife and town leader; Charles C. Chapman. educator, businessman, orchardist; Samuel M. Davis, civil servant; John L. Dryer and Charles D. Ball, physician, taking the place of George W. Moore. At this first meeting, Dr. Charles Ball was elected President, a position he was to hold unopposed until he stepped down fifteen years later in 1934. William McPherson and Terry E. Stephenson, Santa Ana postmaster, traded the presidency until 1946. Samuel M. Davis was elected Secretary/Treasurer at that 1919 meeting, and served in that position as Secretary until 1943 and Treasurer until 1946. Without question, he holds the record as the longest serving OCHS officer. The early years of the Society were captured in his minutes log, which included information on the happenings and the titles of papers read to the Society.
The first official meeting was held almost a year after incorporation on May 24, 1920 at the Carnegie Public Library (now the Santa Ana Public Library). The Society met irregularly ninety-seven times before becoming dormant in 1946 after World War II when priorities changed.
The Society published several valuable volumes in the early years. The Orange County Historical Series contained some of the best papers presented to the Society in its decade. The 1931 and 1932 editions were printed by the new famous Fine Arts Press. This press out of the Santa Ana High School and Junior College Print Shop, and directed by Thomas E. Williams, produced the earliest substantial fine printing in Orange County. In 1939, a third volume in this series (but smaller in size) was issued with more fine research papers read at society meetings.
The Society was reestablished in 1961 with the Bowers Museum as its new home. The faces were new but the objectives had not changed: fostering and generating public interest in the history of California in general and Orange County in particular and to collect and preserve historical material for the benefit of its members and the general public.
In this second period of the Orange County Historical Society, many former members, now joined by a group of history sensitive people new-but-loyal-to-the-county, continued to explore and document the development of Orange County. As our land area has been peopled for tens of thousands of years, and developed through prehistory, Indians. Spanish, Mexican, statehood, and countyhood periods, much has been lost to us and should be researched and documented. Historical interest is a must to illuminate the facts, which should not be forgotten, and the stories, which enrich our understanding of the past.
In the last twenty-eight years, the Orange County Historical Society has published many works The Newsletter which became the County Courier, is perhaps the most interesting. Many fine volunteers have given hours of their time to produce this central publication. It has remained the single best tool for documenting the Society's history and its place in the county. The list of editors includes many who have also given us other local history writings and separate publications.
Publishing was continued by the Society, and from 1963 to 1967 four Pamphlets were issued, three of which were labeled as part of the original Orange County History Series begun in 1931. It became a necessity, however, to publish separate works based on more detailed research. History had become a general interest of the public, not just to an historical society. Lee Friis authored a history of the Bowers museum (1967); Ethel Jacobson issued several poems (1964 and 1969); Wayne Gibson profiled the Olive mill (1975); and Virginia Carpenter researched the Cañada de is Brea (1978). A new series, based on writings by Society members and not on oral presentations was inaugurated. and we now have five volumes of Orange Countiana - (1973, 1980, 1982, 1988, 1992). The county's centennial witnessed the publication of a series of postcards on transportation (1986), architecture (1987). and events (1988). In honor of the centennial, the Orange County Historical Society has also made important contributions with the publication of Virginia Carpenter and Jane Mueller's index to the WPA Project #3105 (1988). a vitally useful reference tool to a basic history source, and the award wining monumental bibliography of Orange County by Roger Berry, University of California, Irvine's Special Collections Librarian, Sylvester Klinicke and a team of Orange County librarians and Society members ( 1989).
During the, last twenty-eight years, there has been much community involvement in the Society under numerous dedicated presidents. Members have represented the Society at festivals, Orange County Fairs. and numerous patriotic and social events, such as Memorial Day services. A variety of tours have been taken to notable Southern California historical sites. Banquets have been given in honor of farmers, trades, and notable Orange
County families. Numerous, special shows and workshops were sponsored on historic topics. Since 1961, the Society has met at least ten times a year to offer programs of interest and value. All of these have involved members in the enrichment of the community and the furtherance of the history of our county and its people. This extensive community involvement was recognized by Awards from the Walt Disney Company in 1989 and 1990, and, maybe more importantly, by the greater number of history-aware and informed residents of Orange County touched by the Society.
There are more publications in the Society's future, as well as more programs, tours and time to enlarge our local history holdings, photo archives and library. All will continue to be planned with the county and its increasingly multicultural people as the subject and producers of history.