The Pasadena Museum of History offers a variety of educational, entertaining, and stimulating programs and events that further enhance our knowledge and enjoyment of the west San Gabriel Valley's rich heritage.
For event information and reservations, please call 626.577.1660, ext. 10.
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This icon indicates events commemorating the Centennial anniversary of the Fenyes Mansion |
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19th Annual MOTA (Museums of the Arroyo) Day
Sunday, May 18, 11:00 am to 5:00 pm |
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 Experience art, architecture, family fun, music, entertainment and historical discoveries at the six museums of the Arroyo Seco.
Visitors to Pasadena Museum of History will enjoy special entertainment, and family activities, self-guided tours of the Fenyes Mansion, as well as our two extraordinary new exhibitions, Curators' Choice and Mount Lowe: Souvenirs from the Incline Railway.
The Museums of the Arroyo are:
- The Gamble House (4 Westmoreland Place, Pasadena)
- Heritage Square Museum (3800 Homer Street, Los Angeles)
- The Los Angeles Police Historical Museum (6045 York Blvd., Los Angeles)
- The Lummis Home and Garden (200 East Avenue 43, Los Angeles)
- Pasadena Museum of History (470 W. Walnut Street, Pasadena)
- Southwest Museum (234 Museum Drive, Los Angeles)
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| Tickets: Free admission and complimentary shuttle bus service between venues. For additional information please visit www.museumsofthearroyo.com. |
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Curators' Choice Spotlight Tours
Thursdays, May 22, June 19 and July 24 , 11:30 am |
 Enjoy a special docent guided tour of the exhibition, Curators' Choice. You will visit both the Fenyes Mansion and the History Center Gallery in this new tour that looks at collection items chosen by staff and guest curators/volunteers. Items spotlighted run from Chinese robes, antique pencil sharpeners, and William Merritt Chase paintings in the Mansion to maps, toys, lace, journals, photographs, and more in the History Gallery. Tour involves walking up a gentle incline to the Mansion and up one flight of stairs in the Mansion. Photo at left is close-up detail of a watercolor by Eva Scott Fenyes from her scrapbooks, a number of which are currently on display in the exhibition. |
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| Tickets: Members: $4; Non-Members: $8; Reservations required, 626.577.1660, ext. 10. Walk-ins accommodated if space is available. |
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California Fairy Garden Stories
Thursday, May 22, 6:00 to 8:00 pm |
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A magical Midsummer evening event for children 4 to 8 years old and  accompanying adults, our Fourth Annual Fairy Party offers everyone an opportunity to enter a storybook world of fantasy.
Children are welcome to wear fairy costumes or comfy pajamas as they join us for an enchanting evening of fanciful tales from the 1920s and current authors, nature-inspired crafts, old-time games, and souvenir photos in the spectacular gardens of the Fenyes Estate.
Child-friendly tours of the Mount Lowe and Curators' Choice exhibitions and a refreshing visit to the "Fairy Cafe" for Flower Fairy Punch and Elf Cookies complete the festivities.
Click on image for more information and photos of previous Fairy Parties.
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| Tickets: $10 Members; $12 Non-Members (per child with accompanying adult). Reservations required. Please call 626.577.1660, ext. 10. |
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A Tourist's View of the Mount Lowe Railway
Tuesday, May 27, 7:30 pm |
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Michael Patris, curator of the exhibition Mount Lowe: Souvenirs from the  Incline Railway and founder of the Mount Lowe Preservation Society, Inc., presents an illustrated lecture on "Earth's Grandest Mountain Ride."
Doors open at 6:30 pm for exhibition viewing; reception included.
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| Tickets: $15 Members; $20 Non-Members. Reservations recommended. Please call 626.577.1660, ext. 10. |
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Music in the Mansion: Singer's Choice
Tuesday, June 3, 7:30 pm |
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Enjoy an evening of the Repertory Opera Company’s favorite arias and scenes.  See what really excites these artists, as they select a program from the operatic masterpieces. This company has performed in Los Angeles for more than three seasons to great critical acclaim: “a cast of astonishingly talented local singers, most of whom also carry international credits, and guided by virtuoso musical director Brian Farrell…” Entertainment Today
Experience an evening of song in the tradition of the salons Eva Scott Fenyes presented over a century ago. Plus -- enjoy a champagne and chocolates reception at intermission. Chocolates compliments Leonidas Chocolate Cafe, 49 W. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, http://www.myleonidas.com/leonidas_stores.html
View posts about the inaugural concert in this series (postings for April 8 and 9) at http://pasadenadailyphoto.blogspot.com/2008/04/okay-right-off-no-ghosts.html
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| Tickets: $40 Members; $50 Non-Members. Limited seating. Reservations and advanced purchase required; please call 626.577.1660, ext. 10 |
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Fenyes Mansion Art Tour
Sunday, June 8, 12:15 to 1:45 pm |
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Docent-guided tour features more than 100 paintings by some of the early masters of California plein air painting, including Carl Oscar Borg, Benjamin Brown, William Keith, Richard Miller, Granville Redmond and Elmer Wachtel, among others. The collection of arts patroness Eva and Dr. Adalbert Fenyes has remained intact through the years. Many works are in the original frames. They are hung on silk damask walls and surrounded by art objects and antique furnishings gathered by the
Fenyes' from their travels around the world.
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| Tickets: Members $4; Non-Members $8. Reservations requested, 626.577.1660, ext. 10 |
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The Forgotten History of Early Los Angeles -- Lecture and Book Signing
Thursday, June 19, 7:30 pm |
In Don Benito Wilson: Mountain Man to Mayor, author Nat Read tells the story
 of the West and Los Angeles through a single notable figure, Don Benito Wilson, who was born during the lifetimes of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson and who died in a Los Angeles that present-day citizens would begin to recognize. Wilson lived to see an urban core of telegraph lines, street lamps, brick buildings and street car rails in the street. Through this remarkable life we see the existence of fur trappers and Indians in the vast, vaguely-mapped West and we learn of life in the tiny, dusty Mexican pueblo called Los Angeles, with its roving packs of dogs and its bull and bear fights. We see a post-Gold Rush American village that was the wildest of wild West towns, the most dangerous city in U.S. history, a town whose murders among its few thousand souls were roughly the same number as for today’s Los Angeles County of ten million people. Books will be available for purchase and signing. |
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| Tickets: Members: $10; Non-Members $15; Reservations suggested, 626.577.1660, ext. 10 |
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Mount Lowe Excursion - History Hike
Saturday, June 21, 8:30 am |
 Join Museum staff, along with curator and historian Michael Patris, for a special morning hike to view parts of the historic Mount Lowe Railway route. Pack a picnic lunch, put on your hiking garb, and get ready to experience some of the wonders that attracted visitors to our local mountains over one hundred years ago. The hike will be approximately three miles long on moderate terrain. We will meet at the Pasadena Museum of History parking lot at 8:30 am sharp, and then we will caravan to our destination. Car-pooling is encouraged. The Museum will provide beverages. Hats and sunscreen are recommended. For extra fun bring along a portable musical instrument and help us celebrate Make Music Pasadena. |
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| Tickets: $12 Members; $15 Non-Members. Reservations recommended. Please call 626.577.1660, ext. 10. |
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A Child's Life
Fridays, June 27 and July 25, 10:00 am |
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A Child’s Life is a special program designed by PMH to help elementary school
 aged children explore what it was like growing up in Pasadena in the late 1800s. Participants will receive the award winning book The Way Pasadena Was by Kathleen Thorne-Thomsen, view historic images, play old time games, and dress up in period clothing.
Please click on image for additional information.
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| Tickets: Members $12 for child & parent together; Non-Members $15; ages 8 to 12, limit 15 children with one accompanying adult per session. Reservations required; please call 626.577.1660, ext. 16. |
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A Peek at the Past
Wednesdays, July 2, 9, 16, 23 & 30, 9:00 to 11:30 am |
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Five weeks of free summer history fun for children 4-8 years old and an
accompanying adult. Each session includes stories, crafts, activities, and a peek into a very special part of the Fenyes Mansion Estate.
July 2 - An Old-Fashioned Fourth of July
July 9 - Old-Time Bicycles
July 16 - Inventions
July 23 - Architecture
July 30 - Gardens and Bugs
Please click on picture for additional information
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| Tickets:
Admission is free; however reservations are required and space is limited. Members-Only priority reservations available now through May 15; Non-Members reservations accepted after May 15. Please call 626.577.1660, ext. 10.
For Membership information, call 626.577.1660, ext. 11 or email membership@pasadenahistory.org.
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The Secret Life of Lace: Illustrated Lecture
Sunday, July 13, 2:00 pm |
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 Lace maker, designer, and teacher Maria Provencher will give an overview of the history of both handmade and machine made lace. With the use of both slides and actual pieces, she will examine bobbin lace, needle lace, and tatting as well as Carrickmacross, Tenerife and other lesser known types of lace. Participants will also gain a sense of the intriguing role that lace played in women's history.
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| Tickets: Textile Arts Council and Museum Members $15, Non-Members $20; Reservations suggested; call 626.577-1660, ext. 10. |
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Thrills and Chills of Summer - Family Free Day
Thursday, July 17, 4:00 to 7:00 pm |
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The whole family can have fun at this late afternoon program which includes  old time music, games and a special craft workshop to make Pasadena souvenirs.
Bring a blanket and a picnic and enjoy the sunset in the beautiful Mansion gardens.
Special activities celebrating the history of the Mt. Lowe Railway include a photo opportunity in the Incline Excursion Car and a visit to the Alpine Tavern for a free ice cream desert.
View the current exhibitions MountLowe: Souvenirs from the Incline Railway and Curators' Choice: Objects Selected from the Museum's Collections .
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| Tickets: Free; reservations recommended. Please call 626.577.1660, ext. 10 |
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Colorful Stories of the Arroyo Seco and Beyond - Illustrated Lecture and Book Signing
Thursday, July 24, 7:30 pm |
 Local historian and former Vice-Chair of Education for the South Pasadena Preservation Foundation (SPPF) Rick Thomas will present slides showing our local history from a unique perspective, including rare historical images and stories of the Arroyo Seco and surrounding communities. Thomas is known for his fascinating history presentations where he blends little known historical facts with rare and sometimes controversial images. Rick Thomas has authored three books in the Images of America series: South Pasadena, South Pasadena's Ostrich Farm, and The Arroyo Seco. Books will be available for purchase and signing. |
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| Tickets: Members: $10; Non-Members $15; Reservations suggested, 626.577.1660, ext. 10 |
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Summer Speakers Bureau Presentations
August 1 - August 15, 12:00 to 1:00 pm in the Archive |
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This summer, Pasadena Museum of History spotlights its Speakers Bureau in a series of 11 free noontime presentations in the Archive in the Museum's History Center. Each hour-long lecture features projected images of historic photos from the Museum's collection of over one million photographs that illustrate the history of Pasadena and the San Gabriel Valley.
Friday, August 1 – Early Pasadena History
Saturday, August 2 - Grand Hotels of Pasadena
Sunday, August 3 - Early Pasadena History
Wednesday, August 6 - Leisure Activities and Sports
Thursday, August 7 - Pasadena Then and Now
Friday, August 8 - Science and Technology
Saturday, August 9 - Mt. Lowe Railroad
Sunday, August 10 - The Fenyes/Paloheimo Family of Pasadena and the World
Wednesday, August 13 - Mt. Lowe Railroad
Thursday, August 14 - Raymond Hotel
Friday, August 15 - Leisure Activities and Sports
The Speakers Bureau is comprised of trained volunteers and Museum staff who present little known facts and intriguing narratives to accompany historic images of the region. As part of its community outreach, Pasadena Museum of History provides speakers to clubs and other organizations in the San Gabriel Valley. Speakers Bureau volunteers will go to a group's meeting location or provide programs for private group luncheons and events at the Museum. Planners for groups that provide programs for their organizations are especially invited to preview these presentations and book one or more for their group for the upcoming year. Information on bookings will be available at each presentation and is also available by calling 626.577.1660, ext. 20. |
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Free; presentations not suitable for small children, no food or beverages allowed in the Archive. Reservations required; please call 626.577.1660, ext. 10
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Early Pasadena - Illustrated Lecture and Book Signing
Wednesday, August 27, 7:30 pm |
 Local historian and PMH staff member Cedar Phillips will share a selection of her favorite stories from Pasadena’s early years. Phillips’ newly-published book, Early Pasadena (Arcadia: 2008), draws upon the PMH Archives to tell the colorful origins of a city that remains to this day both a popular tourist destination and a beloved home to thousands. Books will be available for purchase and signing. |
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| Tickets: Members: $10; Non-Members $15; Reservations suggested, 626.577.1660, ext. 10 |
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Support the Museum through Vroman's "Gives Back" Program!
 If you shop at Vroman's bookstore, please sign up for their "Gives Back" program. The program is very simple. You choose a charitable organization within the community to receive a 1% rebate on every purchase you make. The Pasadena Museum of History is one of a number of worthy organizations that benefit from Vroman's generosity. Register online at www.vromansbookstore.com, or in person when you check out at either of Vroman's Pasadena locations. |
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