Category: 2026

Historian Dr. David-James Gonzales will discuss his book, Breaking Down the Walls of Segregation: Mexican American Grassroots Politics and Civil Rights in Orange County, California, at the next Orange County Historical Society meeting: Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026, 7:30 p.m., at Trinity Episcopal Church, 2400 N. Canal St., in Orange. This event is free to the public.

Gonzales tells the story of how ethnic Mexicans built the unprecedented movement that led to the Mendez, et al. v. Westminster School District, et al.(1946) decision. Beginning in the 1880s, the story details the social and economic history of Orange County, explaining the citrus industry’s unrivaled control over the regional economy and local politics. The industry established walls of segregation to manage ethnic Mexican labor. By the early 1930s, ethnic Mexicans were segregated into over fifty under-served communities, known as colonias and barrios, and fifteen Mexican schools throughout the county. Without help from national civil rights organizations, ethnic Mexicans mobilized against segregation starting in the late 1920s. During the 1930s and 1940s, ethnic Mexican grassroots organizations proliferated throughout the county, intent on engaging in civic affairs and ending segregation. Their efforts led to the Mendez decision, the first school desegregation case won and upheld by the federal courts. This movement, comprising unheralded immigrants, citizens, parents, children, neighbors, laborers, emerging activists, and their non-Mexican allies, continued into the 1950s and 1960s, transforming Southern California.

David-James Gonzales is Associate Professor of History at Brigham Young University. He is a community-engaged public scholar who has worked with the UCI Irvine History Project and the Historic Origins Project investigating Economic Inequality in Orange County (HOPE-OC) sponsored by the Irvine Foundation. He also consults and provides expert testimony for the Orange County Public Defender’s Office on cases pertaining to California’s Racial Justice Act.

Please join us on Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026, 7:30 p.m., at Trinity Episcopal Church, 2400 N. Canal St., in Orange to hear this presentation. This event is free to the public.

Local historian and Orange County Historical Society president Chris Jepsen will discuss “O.C. in the Colonial & Revolutionary War Era,” at the next Orange County Historical Society meeting: Thursday, May 14, 2026, 7:30 p.m., at Trinity Episcopal Church, 2400 N. Canal St., in Orange. Please join us!

As we celebrate our nation’s 250th year, we often use the term “Colonial America” to evoke the 13 colonies on the East Coast. But California was also an American colony (albeit Spanish) at the time, and plenty of history was being made here too. This broad overview will provide perspective on what you may have thought of as two separate chapters of history but which are, in fact, not only concurrent but actually related.

Chris Jepsen is an independent historian, frequent lecturer, life time OC resident, and longtime president of OCHS. He has written for historical journals, his own O.C. History Roundup blog, government publications, and for six years was Orange Coast Magazine’s “O.C. Answer Man.” He is the Assistant Archivist at the Orange County Archives.

We look forward to seeing you on Thursday, May 14, 2026, 7:30 p.m., at Trinity Episcopal Church, 2400 N. Canal St., in Orange to hear from local historian and Orange County Historical Society president Chris Jepsen discussing “O.C. in the Colonial & Revolutionary War Era,” at the next Orange County Historical Society meeting.

Kelley Brugmann of the Irvine Ranch Conservancy (IRC) will discuss “Living Legacy: Irvine Ranch’s Rich History Through Landscape Reflections,” at the next meeting of the Orange County Historical Society: Thursday, April 9, 2026, 7:30 p.m., at Trinity Episcopal Church, 2400 N. Canal St., in Orange. Please join us! The public is welcome!!!!

The historic Irvine Ranch was shaped by more than 150 years of rich culture, enduring heritage, and thriving open space, cared for by generations of dedicated stewards. For more than twenty years, the Irvine Ranch Conservancy has continued that legacy, protecting and restoring this remarkable landscape for the future while inviting the community to experience its beauty. Discover a rare expanse of preserved Orange County open space where monuments, historic sites, and striking geological features reveal the stories of the land.

Kelley Brugmann is a lifelong Orange Countian with over 25 years of experience in environmental education across local cities, the County, and nonprofit organizations. She previously supported public programs at OC Parks’ historic sites and now serves as Program Manager for Community Engagement and Education at Irvine Ranch Conservancy, overseeing a dynamic team who leads stewardship, school programs, and public activities. An award-winning Master Interpreter, she has trained more than 250 park rangers in the art of interpretation.

Please join us to learn more about the rich natural history of the Irvine Ranch Conservancy on April 9, 2026 at 7:30pm at Trinity Episcopal Church, 2400 N. Canal St., in Orange.

Mission San Juan Capistrano
photo courtesy of Eric Plunkett

Historian Eric Plunkett will discuss “The Books that Made Mission San Juan Capistrano,” at the next meeting of the Orange County Historical Society: March 12, 2026, 7:30 p.m., at Trinity Episcopal Church, 2400 N. Canal St., in Orange. Please join us!

Few know that the first library in Orange County – assembled by the padres of Mission San Juan Capistrano themselves – remains among the mission’s collection. Annotations in some of the books tie them to some of the most important missionaries and events in the history of California and tell a fascinating story about how the mission was built, organized, and maintained. These very books were sources used in some of the earliest agricultural, ranching, and architectural developments in the county. Some are directly tied to the most important events in early California. Come hear the story of this library, its books, and how it helped shape our history.

Eric Plunkett is the author of St. Junípero Serra and the Founders of Mission San Juan Capistrano and Orange County and many scholarly articles and is co-author, with Phil Brigandi, of the OCHS publication, The Portola Expedition in Orange County. Plunkett teaches in the Placentia Yorba-Linda Unified School District. A native of Placentia, he graduated with a degree in history from CSU Fullerton. He has led numerous OCHS tours and History Hikes and has addressed OCHS on many occasions. He blogs about the early history of Orange County at www.visionsofcalifornia.blogspot.com.

We look forward to seeing you on Thursday, March 12, 2026 at 7:30pm for this informative presentation! The public is welcome!!!!

The history of Orange County’s Korean-American community will be the subject of guest speaker Ellen Ahn of the Korean American Center and Korean Community Services at the next meeting of the Orange County Historical Society on, February 12, 2026, 7:30 p.m., at Trinity Episcopal Church, 2400 N. Canal St., in Orange. The public is welcome!!

Ahn will trace the Korean-American community from the early 20th-century labor migration to Hawai‘i, through the transformative impact of the 1965 Immigration Act, and into the establishment of Southern California as a primary gateway for Korean immigrants, with O.C. becoming a destination. She’ll tell how the 1992 L.A. riots accelerated suburban migration and reshaped Orange County into a center of Korean-American life with strong institutions, businesses, and more. In the following decades, O.C. developed into a mature, multi generational Korean-American hub characterized by professional leadership, political engagement, and ties to South Korea. Today, O.C. is one of the largest Korean-American population centers in the U.S., marked by high education, strong entrepreneurship, significant Limited English Proficiency needs among seniors, and growing second- and third-generation communities.

A Fullerton resident for over 20 years, Ellen Ahn is the longtime Executive Director of Korean Community Services (KCS), which provides free health, educational, immigration, legal and social service programs to some 10,000 low-income people in Orange County annually.

Ahn grew up in Echo Park’s Koreatown, the child of immigrants. Her father, an Episcopal priest, led a small Korean congregation which started KCS in 1977. Ahn attended both Yale and Georgetown University law school, and later joined the board of KCS. She went back for a master’s in social work from USC to better guide the Buena Park-based nonprofit.

The Korean American Center was founded in 2015 in Irvine, to reclaim what was lost to assimilation: Korean language, culture, and history. In 2018, the Center merged with KCS and was designated a King Sejong Institute – a global network supported by South Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to promote Korean language and culture worldwide.

We look forward to learning about the history of Orange County’s Korean-American community from Ellen Ahn of the Korean American Center and Korean Community Services at the next meeting of the Orange County Historical Society on, February 12, 2026, 7:30 p.m., at Trinity Episcopal Church, 2400 N. Canal St., in Orange. The public is welcome!!

Moulton Family Foundation president Jared Mathis and Moulton Museum Executive Director Dr. Elisabeth Lange will discuss the history of the historic Moulton Ranch at the next meeting of the Orange County Historical Society, on Thursday, January 8, 2026, 7:30 p.m., at Trinity Episcopal Church, 2400 N. Canal St., in Orange. The public is welcome!

In this illustrated lecture, the origins, growth, and eventual breakup of the Moulton Ranch operations will be brought to life, from the sheep herding beginnings to the cattle-raising end. Along the way, you’ll gain insights into the personality and character of Lewis Moulton and Nellie Gail Moulton, two pioneers of Orange County history, and their interactions with historical figures like James Irvine, Judge Richard Egan, and artist Edgar Payne. Come hear how the story of the Moulton Ranch influenced the development of Laguna Niguel, Laguna Hills, Aliso Viejo, Laguna Beach, Dana Point, and Mission Viejo.

Jared Mathis is the President of the Moulton Family Foundation, and a leader in the cultural and education ecosystem of South Orange County. He was recently awarded the Madame Modjeska Visionary Leadership award from ArtsOC for his many philanthropic endeavors. His efforts uphold the family legacy of Lewis and Nellie Gail Moulton; he is one of their great-grandchildren and along with the rest of his family, actively supports the preservation of history and art in South Orange County, including the ranching heritage. He grew up on a ranch outside of Sacramento and has been in the commercial real estate field for most of his professional life.

A graduate of Mission Viejo High School, Dr. Elisabeth Lange went on to earn a PhD in Scandinavian Languages and Literature from U.C. Berkeley. She has been working in the museum field for over 30 years, first as a curator of an exhibition about the Vikings, then at a Scandinavian heritage museum in the Pacific Northwest, before focusing on local history museums. She became the Executive Director of the Moulton Museum in May of 2024, and is excited to be contributing to her hometown area historical awareness and preservation efforts.

Please join the Society and welcome Moulton Family Foundation president Jared Mathis and Moulton Museum Executive Director Dr. Elisabeth Lange as they bring the rich story of the historic Moulton Ranch to life at the next meeting of the Orange County Historical Society, on Thursday, January 8, 2026, 7:30 p.m., at Trinity Episcopal Church, 2400 N. Canal St., in Orange. The public is welcome!