For many years the California Society has published booklets on a variety of historical subjects.
In 1941, A Colonial Herb Garden in California, by Helen Lyman, was published and sold by the California Society for the benefit of British War Relief. In addition to herb lore and advice on raising herbs, it has many recipes. This book is available at UC Berkeley, California State Library and Huntington Library, search: www.worldcat.org.
In the 1930s and 1940s, about a dozen scholarly papers written by members were published in individual booklets. These include: The Russians in California, California’s Old Burying Grounds, Early California Navigators and Their Maps, The Farallon Islands, Notes on California Indian Shellmounds, The Golden Gate and its Old Fort, The Islands of San Francisco Bay, Early Roads and Trails in California, Books and Libraries in Colonial America, Rivers of California, Early Mexicans, and The Hills of San Francisco. These papers may be found at several libraries, search www.worldcat.org.
In 1964 the California Society published Counties and Courthouses of California, a survey by the Historical Activities Committee, Mrs. Frederick M. Fisk, Chairman. Along with detailed descriptions of the courthouses in California’s 58 counties, brief histories of many of the counties themselves are given. This book is available at the San Francisco Public Library, California Historical Society, Stanford University, UC Berkeley, California State Library for more information, search: www.worldcat.org.
In 1968, the committee published Some of the Early Churches of California – A Survey. This book is available at the California Historical Society, Stanford University, UC Berkeley, California State Library and several other libraries, search: www.worldcat.org.
In 1971 Florence Slocum Wilson of Pasadena wrote Windows on Early California, which was published by the California Society. The book provides glimpses of early adobe homes and the families who lived in them. This book is available at the California Historical Society, UC Berkeley, San Jose State University and several other libraries, search: www.worldcat.org.
In 1979, Mrs. Elizabeth Wellborn Schieffelin, a Los Angeles-Pasadena Dame, wrote The Leading Lady of Mount Pleasant, which the Society published. It is the story of Mamie Perry, daughter of the man who built the house about 1878. This book is available at UC Berkeley and University of Southern California. For more information, search: www.worldcat.org.
Mrs. Lynn Morley Bell, Historical Activities Chairman, in 1987 edited and published Eyewitness to Disaster in which five women, each in her own words, told their stories of the 1906 Earthquake and Fire in San Francisco. This book is available at San Francisco Public Library, UC Berkeley and several other libraries, search: www.worldcat.org.
