2021 California Mission and Presidios Conference Recap
FIRST EVER VIRTUAL CALIFORNIA MISSIONS CONFERENCE AT MISSION SAN GABRIEL
The 38th Annual California Missions and Presidios Conference: Mission San Gabriel 250 Years was presented virtually February 12-13, 2021 with a day of pre-conference events. The conference was a great success and included: CMF Welcome and Annual Meeting, A Virtual Tour of Mission San Gabriel, Historic Mole Culinary Course with optional Gift Basket, Native Discussion, Mission Restoration Panel, Welcome at Mission San Gabriel with Keynote Address: Fire, Disease and Protest: Forces that Shaped the California Missions Across the Centuries by Dr. Steven W. Hackel, Ph.D., Award Presentation, a recorded Concert from Mission San Luis Obispo, and 15 Papers presented under the theme: Destruction and Renewal: The Resilience of the California Missions.
The Pre-Conference events consisted of three presentations. The first was the “All-Aboard-the-Bus” Virtual Student Field Trip which was made available to all fourth-grade students throughout the state and included participation by more than 450 classrooms. The second was an informative discussion by Missions and Presidios Directors, Curators and Staff. The third was a Mission Docent Round Table where creative educational ideas, best practices and procedures were shared.
Awards were presented on Friday and the 2021 recipients included:
Dr. Steven Hackel - Norman Neuerburg Award
Andrew Galvan - Edna Kimbro Award
Julia Bogany - CMF Chairman's Award
Father John Molyneux - CMF Chairman's Award
Terri Huerta - CMF Chairman's Award
Hernán Ibañez - Lifetime Achievement Award
Zella Ibañez - Lifetime Achievement Award
Annual California Missions Conferences
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
2021 Virtual Conference - Saturday Papers
Presented by California Missions Foundation
Saturday, February 13, 2021
"Destruction and Renewal: the Resilience of the California Missions"
Moderators
Michael H. Imwalle, Board Chairman, California Missions Foundation
Damian Bacich, Professor of Colonial Latin American Literature at San Jose State University and CMF Board Member
"Native Peoples and Crime and Punishment at the Presidio de San Diego"
Richard Carrico, Department of American Indian Studies, San Diego State University
“Tracing California Indians beyond the Mission Period: A Northern Chumash Example Using San Luis Obispo Mission Records”
John R. Johnson, Ph.D., Santa Barbara History Museum
“While God with One Hand Punishes and Afflicts, With the Other He Protects and Favors:
An Overview of Disasters and Resilience Experienced by the California Missions”
Glenn J. Farris, Research Associate, Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History
“Assistance to Resistance: Recent Archaeological Insights into the Resilience of the Barbareno Chumash at the Santa Barbara Presidio”
Michael H. Imwalle, Board Chairman, California Missions Foundation
"Murder at Los Meganos: Land, Labor and Violence in Rancho-era California"
Damian Bacich, Professor of Colonial Latin American Literature at San Jose State University and CMF Board Member
“José Eusebio Boronda: The Changing Face of an Early Californio Adobe at Rancho Rinconada del Sanjon, 1840-1974”
Rubén G. Mendoza, Professor and Chair of the School of Social, Behavioral & Global Studies at California State University, Monterey Bay
Jennifer A. Lucido, Adjunct Faculty member in Social & Behavioral Sciences at California State University, Monterey Bay
“Earthquake”
Robert Jackson, Ph.D.
“So your building is melting? The conservation and treatment of Earthen Architecture”
Ione R. Stiegler, FAIA, NCARB, Principal Conservation Architect, IS Architecture in San Diego
“1834 Inventory at Mission Solano”
Peter G. Meyerhof, Ph.D., DDS
"De la Guerra, Carrillo, Arguello and Martinez: Hispanic Actors Who Unleashed Market Forces in California 1801-1821"
Marie Duggan, Professor of Economics, Keene State College in New Hampshire
“SILENCE: The Sovereign Kumeyaay Grand Language Conspiracy”
Paul G. Chace, Presidio Heritage Trust of San Diego
“Betrayal”
Dr. Alijandra Mogilner
"For Whom the Bell Tolls: The Mission Bell as a Symbol through the Ages"
Dr. Martin Rizzo, CA State Park Historian for the Santa Cruz District
Julie Sidel, CA State Park Interpreter, Mission Santa Cruz State Historic Park
"Gothic: Towering Over California Missions Architecture"
James M. Thunder, Attorney and Author
“Music Renews”
Dr. Harmony Murphy
CMF expanded offerings for its recent 38th Annual Conference
The unique opportunities that virtual conferences provide allowed CMF to expand the offerings for its recent 38th Annual California Missions and Presidios Conference, held virtually February 11-13, 2021.
Many events were held and attendees enjoyed a virtual tour of Mission San Gabriel on Presidents Weekend. The CMF board, staff and many of our colleagues helped put together an exciting conference that included all of the annual staples, plus some additional events made possible by the virtual nature of the event.
Thursday, February 11, the Conference kicked off with a trio of pre-Conference events including a Virtual Field Trip for 4th Graders statewide, a CMF virtual "All-Aboard-the-Bus", followed by roundtable discussions for Missions and Presidios directors, pastors and key personnel, as well as a Docents roundtable.
Friday activities centered on Mission San Gabriel, including the CMF Annual Membership Meeting, a cooking demonstration featuring Mole and a virtual tour of Mission San Gabriel with history provided by Robert Jackson. A pair of afternoon panels were hosted by CMF and focused on a “Native Discussion: The Statues of Junípero Serra” and “Preservation and Value of the California Missions”. The conference then shifted to its official welcome and keynote both presented virtually from inside the Mission San Gabriel church.
A special entertainment treat was added to the Conference lineup, as CMF proudly re-transmitted the memorable 2004 Missions Conference concert at Mission San Luis Obispo by the New World Baroque Orchestra under the direction of John Warren. It was truly memorable!
On Saturday the day was dedicated to Papers and Research. The CMF Board Organizing Committee chose the theme for this year's Papers: "Destruction and Renewal: the Resilience of the California Missions."
Conference Keynote
Distinguished author and historian Dr. Steven W. Hackel provided the 2021 Keynote Address virtually from inside the church at Mission San Gabriel. Dr. Hackel chose the title, "Fire, Disease and Protest: Forces that Shaped the California Missions across the Centuries".
A highly-sought-after speaker, Dr. Hackel's research has focused on the Spanish borderlands and the California Missions. He is especially interested in Native responses to colonialism, the effects of disease on colonial encounters, and new ways of visualizing these processes through digital history. His publications include a biography on Frat Junípero Serra, a monograph on the California missions, numerous essays, a textbook, and two edited volumes. He is the general editor of the Early California Population Project and the Project Director for the Early California Cultural Atlas. In 2013, he received great praise for his efforts at co-curating the Huntington Library's international exhibition "Junípero Serra and the Legacy of the California Missions.”
Special CMF 2021 Conference Entertainment:
John Warren 2004 Concert from Mission San Luis Obispo
On many occasions, the New World Baroque Orchestra, under the direction of John Warren, has filled our Conference mission church locations with remarkable sound and history. All of the concerts have been memorable, and have become Friday evening highlights from many previous California Missions and Presidios Conferences.
Recently, a look through video archives uncovered a once-thought-lost treasured recording of their unforgettable 2004 performance at the CMSA Conference at Mission San Luis Obispo. It was truly an amazing evening.
The acclaimed conductor John Warren, a recipient of the prestigious CMF Norman Neuerburg award, directed his New World Baroque Orchestra that evening through a series of historic pieces that took the audience back in time while filling the mission church with a magical experience.
In order to continue CMF's tradition of providing historic entertainment at each of our conferences, and with the 2022 conference slated to be held at Mission San Luis Obispo, CMF thought that re-presenting this concert virtually would be an outstanding way to close out the opening night of the Conference, and to also preview the 2022 Conference. It was magical!
Bravo!