California Missions and Presidios Conference
43rd Annual California Missions and Presidios Conference
Presented by California Missions Foundation
Mission San Francisco de Asís / Mission Dolores
April 17-19, 2026
250th Anniversary of San Francisco: Ohlone Indians, Franciscans, Soldiers and Sailors
SAVE THE DATE
Every year since 1984, the California Missions Foundation (CMF) Missions and Presidios Conference has provided a wonderful opportunity to network, socialize, and learn while exploring the rich history of California’s mission and presidio heritage.
The upcoming 2026 edition, set for April 17–19 in San Francisco, will feature outstanding scholarly presentations, two informative tours, and a special concluding treat. At the close of the conference, attendees will gather for a social hour featuring Ohlone tea and acorn brownies, courtesy of Vincent Medina, Louis Treviño, and the talented culinary team at UC Berkeley.
This promises to be one of the most memorable CMF conferences yet—a gathering not to miss as Mission San Francisco de Asís, the Presidio of San Francisco, and our nation commemorate their 250th anniversaries.
We hope to see you in San Francisco!
Conference Host Hotel
The Handlery Union Square Hotel has been selected as the official conference hotel for the 43rd Annual California Missions and Presidios Conference.
Located on Geary Street just half a block from Union Square, the hotel offers an ideal location in the heart of San Francisco. It is also only two blocks from Market Street, where a wide variety of public transportation options—including historic streetcars, buses, and the metro—are easily accessible.
Public transportation provides a convenient way to travel from the hotel area to Mission San Francisco de Asís (Mission Dolores), where conference sessions and activities will take place.
Please click the link below if you would like to reserve a room within the California Missions Foundation conference room block at the Handlery Union Square Hotel. The discounted room rate is $129/night.
Please use this booking link:
Handlery Hotel Information
Friday San Francisco Presidio Tour
The conference begins on Friday, April 17 at 1:00 p.m. with an optional guided tour of the Presidio of San Francisco, originally established by Spain as the Presidio Real de San Francisco.
This year marks a remarkable milestone: the 250th anniversary of the Presidio’s founding in 1776. Like Mission San Francisco de Asísand the United States, the Presidio traces its origins to that pivotal year. Founded as a Spanish military garrison overlooking the entrance to San Francisco Bay, the Presidio served for more than two centuries under Spain, Mexico, and the United States, making it one of the longest continuously used military posts in North America.
Today the Presidio stands as one of the most important historic landscapes in the nation and remains a powerful reminder of San Francisco’s origins and the layered history of California.
The tour will be led by Kari Jones of the Presidio Trust. The tour will begin at the Presidio Officers Club.
Presidio Officers’ Club
50 Moraga Ave
San Francisco CA 94129
Sunday Tour at San Pedro y San Pablo
We’ve added a pair of back-to-back Sunday late morning tours at the former rancho site of San Pedro y San Pablo, and the adjacent, still standing Sanchez Adobe. The location is in Pacifica, 15 miles south of Mission Dolores. The tour is free. It will be led by docent Sandra Hirzel at both 10 am and 11 am for the convenience of conference attendees.
Friday Evening Presentation
Mission Dolores Reredos
Following the awards presentation on Friday evening, attendees will enjoy a special lecture by David Wessel, Principal at Architectural Resources Group (ARG), the firm that has been instrumental in numerous preservation and zoning projects throughout California.
David will speak about the remarkable Indian mural located behind the historic reredos at Mission San Francisco de Asís (Mission Dolores). The mission’s current church, constructed beginning in 1791, contains one of the most important surviving examples of early California mission artwork.
The elaborate wooden reredos (altar screen) was commissioned for the church and completed by the renowned Mexican master carpenter José María Uriarte, and arrived at Mission Dolores in 1797. Uriarte designed and built the reredos, which was installed several years after the church itself had been constructed in 1797. Mission Dolores was founded in 1776, along with San Francisco Presidio and our Nation. Uriarte build ten Reredos for California Missions, only three survive today and Mission Dolores is the oldest.
Behind this magnificent Mission Dolores altar structure lies the original painted wall mural, created by Native artists of the mission community. This mural—covering the fourth wall of the sanctuary—is one of the most extraordinary surviving examples of Indigenous artistic expression within the California mission system. For decades it has been the subject of significant scholarly interest and conservation discussions, particularly regarding the best methods for preserving this fragile and irreplaceable work.
David Wessel will discuss the mural’s history, its artistic and cultural significance, and the ongoing efforts to ensure its long-term preservation including a recent CMF $500,000 grant request from the National Fund for Sacred Places.
Docent Gathering
A few years ago, when the California Missions Foundation launched a docent gathering at its annual conference, it quickly became a success. Docents from throughout the state, representing a variety of historic sites, come together to learn, network, and strategize.
CMF is pleased to be able to offer the 2026 edition of its docent gathering during the upcoming conference at Mission Dolores. The Foundation would like to thank the San Luis Obispo docents for their leadership role in helping to organize what is expected to be another successful event on Friday, April 17 at 3 p.m.
Please click here to hear more about what is planned for this year's CMF docent gathering.
Conference Schedule
FRIDAY, APRIL 17, 2026
1:00 pm Tour of San Francisco Presidio
Meet at Presidio Officers’ Club
50 Moraga Ave, San Francisco CA 94129
3:00 pm CMF Annual Docents Gathering – Mission Dolores Parish Hall
4:30 pm Conference Registration and Hosted Social – Parish Hall
6:00 pm Welcome and Annual CMF Membership Meeting
6:15 pm CMF Annual Awards
- Knox Mellon Lifetime Achievement Award Julia Costello & Andrew Galvan
- Norman Neuerburg Award David Rickman
- Edna Kimbro Award Eric Blind
- Chairman’s Awards SLO Docents
6:45 pm David Wessel - Mission Dolores famed Indian Mural and Reredos
7:00 pm Keynote – Mission Church – Vincent Medina
roote mak-ruwwa makkin honneene * In Our Home We Remain
The East Bay Ohlone people have never left their home because of the tenacity and determination of their forebears, who are the heroes of their contemporary community. The Ohlone Indian Tribe, established in 1971 by elders from the Verona Band of Alameda County, has consistently shown resilience and steadfastness in maintaining their Indian identity. Vincent Medina, President of the Ohlone Indian Tribe, will tell narrative of the unbreakable continuity of his people, and discuss successful, ongoing efforts to strengthen their traditional culture into the present day.
About the Presenter: Vincent Medina is President of the Ohlone Indian Tribe, is an East Bay Ohlone man born and raised within his ancestral homeland, halkin (hall-keen), which encompasses the heart of the East Bay. Founder of the cultural institution mak-'amham and the internationally acclaimed Cafe Ohlone, and leader of the unprecedented 'ottoy (oh-toy) Initiative at the University of California, Berkeley, Vincent has consistently dedicated his life to the continuity of his beautiful and enduring East Bay Ohlone culture. Vincent is a speaker and the teacher of Chochenyo, the Indigenous language of the East Bay.
7:30 pm End of Day One
SATURDAY, APRIL 18 2026
Morning Session – Mission Parish Hall
8:30-8:50 am Damian Bacich
The Pacheco Family: From Sonora to the San Francisco Bay
8:50-9:10 am Lee Panich
Ohlone Life at the Asistencia de San Pedro y San Pablo, an Early Outpost of Mission San Francisco
Contributors: Jelmer Eerkens, Christopher Canzonieri, Christopher Zimmer
9:10-9:25 am Sandra Hirzel
Visiting Site of San Pedro y San Pablo and the Sanchez Adobe
9:25-9:45 am Madeleine Wester
Under the Crown: Imperial Authority and Indigenous Agency at Mission San Francisco, 1776
9:45-10:05 am David Rickman
Pictures at an Expedition: Reconstructing the Dress and Equipment of the Anza Party 1775 - 1776
10:05-10:20 BREAK
10:20-10:40 am Peter Meyerhof
Mapping the Northern End of the Camino Real
10:40-11:00 am Marie Duggan
New Spain's Sympathy for New England, 1779-1783
11:00 am-12:00 pm ANZA250 – A Special Presentation
11:00 -11:20 am Eric Plunkett
The Anza-Rivera Relationship Reexamined
11:20 am-12:00 pm Wayne Donaldson, Gilbert Correa, and David Bolton
The Juan Bautista De Anza Trail and El Camino de California
12:00-1:00 LUNCH – No Host
Afternoon Session – Mission Parish Hall
1:00-2:00 pm Special Presentation: Jeremy Beer
Francisco Garcés, the Missionary-Explorer
2:00-2:20 pm Lauren Baines and Ciara Ennis
Exhibition Strategies for Rethinking Colonial Histories
2:20-2:40 BREAK
2:40-3:00 pm Helena Hazelton
Understanding the Art of the California Missions through Conservation and Collaboration
3:00-3:20 pm Richard Carrico
El Presidio de San Diego; Excavating Southern California’s Lost City
3:20-3:40 pm William Whobrey
The Convento Library at Mission San Carlos Borromeo
3:40-4:00 pm
4:00-5:30 pm Social and Networking
SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 2026
10:00 am Tour of the historic site of the Mission Dolores Outpost or Racho of San Pedro y San Pablo, and the Sanchéz Adobe in Pacifica.
11:00 am Tour of the historic site of the Mission Dolores Outpost or Racho of San Pedro y San Pablo, and the Sanchéz Adobe in Pacifica.
Two identical tours will be offered by Sandra Hirzel of the original site of San Pedro y San Pablo which was a rancho or outpost of Mission Dolores, providing many products for the mission. Later the site became home to the Sanchez Adobe during the post-mission Rancho Period.
Annual California Missions Conferences
2026 San Francisco de Asís
2025 San José
2024 La Purísima and Santa Inés
2023 San Francisco Solano
2022 San Luis Obispo
2021 San Gabriel
2020 Monterey and Carmel
2019 San Diego de Alcalá
2018 Santa Clara
2017 Santa Inés
2016 San Juan Bautista
2015 San Buenaventura
2014 San Antonio de Padua
2013 Santa Bárbara
2012 San Rafael Arcángel
2011 San Miguel Arcángel
2010 San Luis Rey de Francia
2009 San Carlos Borromeo de Carmel
2008 Tucson, Arizona
2007 San Francisco de Asís
2006 San Diego de Alcalá
2005 San Fernando Rey de España
2004 San Luis Obispo de Tolosa
2003 Santa Cruz
2002 La Paz, Baja California Sur
2001 Royal Presidio Chapel, Monterey
2000 San Gabriel Arcángel
1999 Santa Inés Virgen y Mártir
1998 San Juan Capistrano
1997 Nuestra Señora de Loreto Conchó
(Baja California Sur)
1996 San Francisco de Asís
1995 San Francisco Solano
1994 San Diego de Alcalá
1993 San Antonio de Padua and San Miguel Arcángel
1992 San Luis Rey de Francia
1991 La Purísima Concepción
1990 Santa Bárbara
1989 San Juan Bautista
1988 San Fernando Rey de España
1987 Santa Clara de Asís
1986 San Buenaventura
1985 San José
1984 San Juan Capistrano