Healdsburg residents are proud of their history, and the presence in town of the stately Healdsburg Museum building—itself a piece of history, formerly a Carnegie Library—does much to make the past come alive through its exhibits, resources and, for the past three years, its History Talks.
These informal summer lectures and tours originate in the Plaza’s Gazebo, and crested with last year’s program that saw over 100 people attend some of the Saturday programs, which started at 10am. Most programs consist of an hour or so of lecture and discussion, which sometimes transitions to a walking tour of nearby sights.
Starting next Tuesday, a new iteration of the museum’s History Talks—a winter season series to be held at the Healdsburg Library—begins. The first Talk will be Tuesday at 6pm, with two of the museum’s active docents, Nita Miller and Joanne Taeuffer, each presenting their own subject.
“This is a chance to get an overview of the town’s history,” said Taeuffer, the chair of the Museum Docents History Talks program. “If you don’t know who put the ‘Heald’ in Healdsburg, if you’ve never seen the town’s first grand city hall building and if you wonder who owned all the great old houses back in the day … this talk’s for you.”
The hour-long programs generally take place on the first Tuesday of each month. Upcoming topics include “Coming to Healdsburg, Italian Style” (Feb. 3) with Don Anderson, Julie Seghesio Neumiller and Joe Pelanconi.
That will be followed on March 3 by “Healdsburg in WWII, the 1950s to 1960s,” from Jerry Haag, Patrick Mukaida and Jim Dreiseback. The fourth topic in the series is “Shopping in Old-Time Healdsburg” (April 7), with Lillie Deas and Meredith Dreisback.
“The Talks are presented by a group of almost 20 museum volunteer docents, who organize, plan and implement the events,” Taeuffer said. “Within the History Talks group, we have individual chair-people for some tasks like logistics, hospitality (snacks!) and A/V technology.”
With such a large group of people taking an active role in sharing Healdsburg’s history, one might ask, “Why?” Taeuffer said that a few years back a consultant held listening sessions with the community, asking what they would like to see the museum do.
“One idea was that we should be bringing history out into the community to get it to more people. The History Talks is a part of that effort,” she said. Specific reasons include ensuring that Healdsburg “retains the stamp of its long and varied traditions,” holding onto the culture of living here.
And, said Tauffer, the study of local history helps unite those who have lived here for generations and those who just moved to new homes in locations like Enso Village.
“I think their interest in the town’s history is an expression of their desire to maintain or promote a sense of community, making Healdsburg the kind of place they want to live in,” she added.
Another new development is a dedicated YouTube channel, where History Talks videos are published “for those who are too busy to come to the events or who have moved away but never quite given up their connection with the town,” Taeuffer said.
Still in its infancy, the YouTube channel at youtube.com/@HealdsburgHistoryTalks includes video introductions from a number of the docents, as well as recreations of short films on local architecture, historic festivals and restaurants that were once well-known and now gone. Other videos are in development.
A good place to start might be Taeuffer’s own The Healdsburg Story in 10 Minutes, which she described accurately as a “whirlwind tour” of the town’s first 200 years. Actually, a good place to start might be next Tuesday, in the Healdsburg Library Community Room, at 6pm, for the year’s first free History Talk.
