News from Bancroft Library

California History Series Broadcast

The Bancroft Library and KQED Public Radio partnered to broadcast "Live...From The Bancroft Library," in January, 2002, three programs on the history of early California. Three noted scholars and authors discussed important aspects of California history that draw on the extensive historical collections of The Bancroft Library.

Recorded before a live audience in the Heller Reading Room of The Bancroft Library, the one-hour programs were: "The California Mission As Symbol and Myth" by James Rawls; "The Origins and Power of California's Image" by J.S. Holliday; and "Heaven on the Half-Shell: Mark Twain in California" by Robert H. Hirst.

Ms. Jo Anne Wallace, Vice President and General Manager of KQED Public Radio, stated, "We are delighted to be joining with an esteemed institution like The Bancroft Library to demonstrate that history can be exciting. This is the first time KQED Public Radio has aired a California historical series, and we believe our KQED listeners will find these talks both extremely interesting and highly educational."

Dr. Faulhaber added, "We hope the programs will stimulate interest in and support of the Bancroft, which contains indispensable resources for understanding the history of California and western North America. These programs will help us develop the public's understanding of the depth of resources at The Bancroft. We hope this will be the first in a long series of interesting and informative Bancroft programs with KQED Public Radio."

This KQED Public Radio series is an expansion of "The History of Early California" lecture series that The Bancroft conducted in 2000. Sponsored with a grant from The Wells Fargo Foundation, Bancroft produced 15,000 sets of audiotape talks by these lecturers.