The Society, in a successful collaboration with the Benicia Public Library, hosted a captivating presentation on Sunday, April 19th that brought the history of California’s founding families to life. The event saw an impressive turnout of over 80 attendees, with a diverse audience spanning all age ranges—from local students to long-time residents—underscoring the community's deep interest in Benicia’s namesake.

The featured speakers, Professors Emeriti Rose Marie Beebe and Robert M. Senkewicz, shared poignant excerpts from their research into more than 180 personal letters exchanged by the Vallejo family. These primary sources offered attendees a rare, intimate window into the daily lives, personal feelings, and private struggles of General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo and Francisca Benicia Carrillo de Vallejo as they navigated the transition of California into the United States.

The atmosphere in the Doña Benicia Room was one of deep engagement; following the presentation, many guests remained to ask detailed questions about the General and Doña Benicia. By the afternoon's end, those in attendance left with a much more profound understanding of the woman for whom our city is named—her resilience, her role in her family, and the complex times in which she lived.

The legacy of Doña Benicia remains highly visible in our downtown through public art, such as the Mantilla sculpture at First and B Streets and the historic tiles along First Street, but this event provided the human story behind those monuments.