Testimonios: Early California through the Eyes of Women, 1815-1848

Award-winning authors Rose Marie Beebe and Robert Senkewicz return with another thrilling talk! Testimonios: Early California through the Eyes of Women, 1815-1848 presents thirteen women’s firsthand accounts from the days when California was part of Spain and Mexico. 

When in the early 1870s historian Hubert Howe Bancroft sent interviewers out to gather oral histories from the pre-statehood gentry of California, he did not count on one thing: the women. When the men were not available, the interviewers collected the stories of the women of the household—sometimes almost as an afterthought. These interviews were eventually archived at the University of California, Berkeley though many were all but forgotten.

The popular picture of California during the Mexican era (1821-1848) often tends to be romanticized. The place is presented as a “lotus land” arena of dancers, rodeos, gallant caballeros, and fetching señoritas. However, California was a rough frontier. Life on the missions and in the ranchos could be harsh and demanding. Having lived through the gold rush and seen their country change so drastically, these thirteen women understood the need to tell the full story of the people and the places that were their California.