Photo courtesy of Patrisia Prestinary
Archivist Patrisia Prestinary will present a special look at “Highlights from Cal State Fullerton’s Local History Collections” at the May 9, 2024 meeting of the Orange County Historical Society, 7:30 pm, at Trinity Episcopal Church, 2400 N. Canal St., Orange.
Cal State Fullerton (CSUF) boasts expansive archives and special collections that enable researchers, students, and the community to uncover forgotten stories and study the forces that shaped our region over time. Attendees will learn about the breadth of the university’s unique local history holdings.
CSUF’s collections document Orange County’s evolution from agricultural powerhouse to suburban sprawl, including trade journals, packing house records, and ephemera. Researchers can also explore the experiences of marginalized groups, including Japanese American WWII internment through oral histories and camp artifacts, as well as Vietnamese refugee resettlement preserved in photographs, newspapers, and manuscripts. Additional collection highlights include the records of the Orange County Press Club, materials from the United Daughters of the Confederacy’s Orange County chapter, subject files covering major industries like water, energy, and aerospace, decades of regional periodicals and ephemera, and the Smart Studio collection containing thousands of photographic negatives chronicling everyday life.
As the Archivist at CSUF’s Pollak Library, Patrisia enables the use of special collections through primary source instruction, research consultations, processing acquisitions, and student supervision. She served on the OCHS Board and as Editor of the County Courier from 2014 to 2016. Driven by a passion for connecting scholars to historical materials, Patrisia co-founded the Orange County Archives Bazaar, bringing heritage institutions together to engage the public.
Please join us on May 9, 2024 at the meeting of the Orange County Historical Society, 7:30 pm, at Trinity Episcopal Church, 2400 N. Canal St., Orange. The public is welcomed!