A Fabulous Forties Christmas Celebration

Sunday, December 9, 2018 from  1 pm - 4 pm  at Kearney Mansion Museum

It's December 1945 and the war is over. The boys & girls have come home and it's time to have a little Christmas fun! Turn back the clock for an afternoon of dancing with Fresno Swing Dance. They will be accompanied by live music from The Junior Mints, a quartet from the popular swing band the After Dinner Mints. Enjoy swingin' hits and holiday favorites while sipping hot Kearney Punch or champagne with appetizers at the beautifully decorated Kearney Mansion. Bid on our silent auction of holiday desserts. Take a treat home or give as a gift. Fabulous Forties attire encouraged, but not required.   

$20 adults/$25 day of event

$16 seniors/students/$20 day of event

$10 children/$12 day of event

Members: Free

Note: $5 per car entrance fee to Kearney Park waived for reception.

Click HERE to purchase tickets or call  (559) 441-0862.

All proceeds benefit Kearney Mansion Museum and help underwrite the programs of the  Fresno Historical Society.

Show off your baking skills and support the Fresno Historical Society at the same time!

Sign up to donate a dessert to our Holiday Dessert Silent Auction to be held at our Fabulous Forties Christmas Reception.  The reception will be held on Sunday, December 9, 2018 from 1 pm to 4 pm at Kearney Mansion. We have spots for cakes, pies, specialty desserts, cookie platters, and candy plates. 

Donate a beautifully decorated homemade dessert on a decorative plate or platter, covered in cellophane or a dome, and festooned with ribbons and bows.  All donors will be contacted via email with further instructions.   Click HERE to sign up to donate!

Donations must be delivered to Kearney Mansion  (7160 W. Kearney Blvd. Fresno, CA 93706) on Sunday, December 9 between 10 am and 12 pm. Plates will not be returned.

Celebrate Christmas at Kearney Mansion Museum!

Enjoy Kearney Mansion decorated for the holidays. Shop for gifts reminiscent of Christmas past in the Kearney Mansion Museum Store.  Christmas at Kearney public tours are offered December 1, 2, 8, 15, 16, 22, 23, 29 & 30, 2018.  Tours begin at 1 pm, 2 pm and 3 pm.

$10 adults
$8 seniors/students
$6 children, Members free
Note: $5 per car entrance fee to Kearney Park

Click here for more information.

*Subject to tour guide availability; please call (559) 441-0862 or check our website to verify hours.

Gather your office or organization to share in this cherished seasonal event. Admission prices are $10 per adult, $8 per senior (62 and up) or student (ages 13-17), and $6 for children (12 and under). A minimum of ten guests is required to reserve a tour date, and an advance deposit is required at least two weeks before the scheduled tour. Remaining dates are as follows:

Friday, December 7
Wednesday, December 12
Friday, December 14
Tuesday, December 18
Friday, December 21

Spaces are filling up quickly, and available dates are subject to change.

Please contact Group Tour Coordinator Brittany Marquez at [email protected], or call the Society at (559) 441-0862 on Thursdays to schedule a tour.

Guests enjoyed our annual living history event with beautifully warm weather. Nearly 4,000 San Joaquin Valley school children learned about life in the 1860s from historical figures during our Time Travelers Education Days, October 18 & 19. During the weekend event, the public was able to visit with  artisans and reenactors, experience stirring battle reenactments, and on Saturday evening, enjoy our tasty Camp Night Soldiers' Dinner.

Many thanks to the Historical Society staff and the dedicated volunteers, period artisans and historical reenactors for making this event a success. Our long hours and many months of planning showed in our authentic presentation. We look forward to celebrating the 30th annual Civil War Revisited next year!

We could not do this event without the support of our invaluable sponsors. Please visit our Civil War Revisited sponsor page to see our loyal sponsors who help bring this event to Fresno year after year. Direct links to sponsor websites are featured, and we appreciate your patronage of these local businesses who are dedicated to our community and our Valley schools.

Attend our upcoming events! Watch Facebook , Instagram, and Twitter, or www.valleyhistory.org  for more information. Members are also notified by mail and email of upcoming events. 

Reimagine Educating: American Civics and History Academies for Better Learning and Engagement (REACHABLE) trains 50 teachers and 100 high school students from the Fresno area each year.  Partnering with  Fresno State  on REACHABLE are   UC Davis'  California History-Social Science Project  and  the Fresno Historical Society.

Archivist Katy Hogue will demonstrate the use of the Society's archival collections as primary sources in classroom curriculum through several half-day seminars each June. In this way, she will connect local students and teachers to historical sources from the San Joaquin Valley, illustrating the value of regional history archives. 

In preparation for the second year of this partnership in the five-year grant , Ms. Hogue and a team of volunteers are gathering primary materials relating to this year's topic; World War II and twentieth-century immigration. Home front activities will be illustrated with records of the the Central California War Industries and the civilian Aircraft Warning Service. Family collections like that of  Richard James Poulsen, shown here,  will help students to understand the human cost of war. Our 1978 Ethnic Oral History Collection will help to narrate the lives of mid-twentieth-century immigrants as they moved into California and the San Joaquin Valley. 

The Society extends a warm invitation to our friends and neighbors, scholars and history buffs to join our growing membership dedicated to the history of California's Fresno County and its place in the Central Valley. 

Benefits include: 

• Annual admission to Kearney Mansion Museum, including a special invitation to our members' reception
• Subscriptions to the Fresno Past & Present journal and online newsletter, The Grapevine 
• Discounted admission to most Society events
• Time Travelers reciprocal benefits at nearly 300 historical museums nationwide
• 20 percent discount on all purchases in the Kearney Ranch Museum Store 

Click HERE for more information on our great membership packages.