Peggy Darling Book Club, fall lectures on tap at Kern County Museum
Aug. 29—Since fall is a busy season for many, the Kern County Museum wants to put a few events on your radar as soon as possible.
In September, the museum will launch the Peggy Darling Book Club and welcome the return of its lecture series for the fall.
Along with embracing her adopted community and supporting community organizations and projects, Darling was an avid reader and host.
"For years, Peggy Darling had a book club in her home in Bakersfield," said Mike McCoy, the museum's executive director. "They would have some wine and some snacks."
When the philanthropist died in 2022, her son, David Cole, brought up the idea of a book club in her honor, which he would support.
The club launches with three sessions this year, with five more scheduled for the spring.
Each facilitator gets to pick their own book as long as it centers on California or Kern County history.
McCoy will kick off the meetings on Sept. 14 with "The Other California" by Gerald Haslam.
In the collection of 19 essays, the Oildale native highlights the state's heartland and economic hub with his own tales of childhood and adolescence as well as those who called the valley home.
Robert Price, a former Bakersfield Californian journalist and Emmy-winning reporter for KGET-TV, will lead the second book club discussion on Oct. 12.
He should have an easy time of it covering his book "The Bakersfield Sound" about the hard-driving country music created by the Dust Bowl immigrants that came to California.
The last meeting of the year on Nov. 9 will be led by Oliver Rosales, a professor of history at Bakersfield College, who chose "Undocumented Lives" by Ana Minian.
The book highlights the journey of Mexican migrant workers who moved between two worlds and were trapped by changing immigration policies.
Other speakers are being lined up for spring and those sessions will be announced next year.
McCoy said he quit reading for awhile and is looking forward to getting into these upcoming books.
"A book club really encourages you to read. And there will be wine and beer and charcuterie and soft drinks and a bunch of like-minded people, so it's going to be a lot of fun."
Fall lecture series
Also on tap this fall is the return of the museum's lecture series.
Robert Peterson, creator and host of the "Notorious Bakersfield" podcast, will start the series on Sept. 13 with the politically powerful couple Wiley and Grace Dorris. His discussion will focus on politics and legal maneuvers in early Bakersfield.
On Oct. 11, Donato Cruz and Chris Livingston, researchers from Cal State Bakersfield, will lay out the case for institutional racism in California real estate with the talk "Redlining Housing Discrimination in Kern County History."
Alex Edillor, a member of the Delano chapter of the Filipino American National Historical Society, will discuss the Manongs of Delano, immigrant Filipinos who started a revolution in Delano while working the fields, on Nov. 8.
The last lecture of the year will be Dec. 11 with writer and historian Bonnie Ketterl Kane discussing the Ridge Route, one of the most traveled roads in the world.
Both the book club and lectures are free and open to the community.
"The Kern County Museum is more than just eye candy," McCoy said. "We have a mission to celebrate the history of Central California. Our lectures and the new book club are great ways to learn more about this wonderful place we call home. And a great way to meet new people with similar interests!"
Stefani Dias can be reached at 661-395-7488. Follow her on Twitter at @realstefanidias.
