Programs & Events
We host a diversity of programmatic opportunities, open to the entire community.
Events:
Speaker Series | Special Events | Virtual Talks
What’s coming next
Basket Weaving Workshop
October 17 (1pm-3pm) – Carolyne Edwards of the Quinn Research Center leads a basket-making activity and explains the historic traditions behind the craft.
Past Special Events
Breaking Bread: Stories of Food and Family
Chefs, educators, and community voices explore how breads across cultures carry stories of ancestry, memory, hospitality, resilience, and belonging, from cornbread to croissants and baguettes; Mexican breads to flatbreads.
Dia de los Muertos 2025
The Santa Monica History Museum hosts students from local high schools as we honor Dia de los Muertos. Students share altars honoring family and friends. The rich tradition of Dia de los Muertos is a rare opportunity to spend time with loved ones who have passed away as well as being a time to process their loss and remember. Dia de los Muertos is not a mournful commemoration but a joyous, colorful celebration of life and memory.
Past Speaker Series
Nina Fresco – First Around the World
Historian Nina Fresco, draws on more than a decade of research into Santa Monica’s past and explores the airport’s remarkable history and its lasting influence on the city.
August 15, 2026 2pm-3:30pm
Herstory Talks
Nina Fresco presents highlights from her extensive research into the complex life of Arcadia Bandini Stearns de Baker—an often-overlooked figure in Santa Monica’s founding story.
Patrick Moser – Surf & Rescue
Thursday August 4th – 5:30pm to 7pm
Author Patrick Moser discusses his new book “Surf & Rescue: George Freeth and the Birth of California Beach Culture,” which tells the story of mixed-race Hawaiian athlete George Freeth who brought surfing to Venice, California, in 1907.
A Conversation & Book Signing
The authors of the book discuss how they transformed Charles Looff’s original photographs, plans, and drawings into a visual exploration of the Santa Monica Pier as it appeared in 1917 and today. Book signing following the discussion.
Virtual Talks
Throwback Thursday
California’s Role in Women’s Suffrage
The ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1920 established the right to vote for white women in America. The suffrage movement’s success depended in large part on the groundswell of state initiatives and the organization of local women’s clubs at the turn of the century. As the sixth state to allow women to vote in […]
How they built Westwood
Following WWI, Arthur Letts, owner of The Broadway Department Store was a man rich with cash and dreams of becoming a developer. Letts had his eye on the last big stretch of land between downtown and the beach. Then like a fairy tale out of some developer storybook, Lett’s daughter Gladys married Harold Janss, prince […]
Pacific Ocean Park Pier
Pacific Ocean Park—or “P.O.P.” as it was commonly known in Los Angeles from the ’50s through the ’70s, was extraordinary in both its glamorous rise and spectacular fall. As a family-oriented attraction in the ’50s with modernist-styled rides designed by Hollywood’s best, P.O.P.’s attendance occasionally surpassed that of Disneyland. Christopher Merritt and Domenic Priore’s spectacular […]
The Santa Monica Pier
The Santa Monica pier stands as a world-famous icon and beloved by all who live here and all who visit. Jim Harris is the world’s leading authority on this California landmark, and his talks never disappoint.
At the Table: Exploring Food, Family, and Our Shared Histories
Presented by two longtime friends, through storytelling, images, and guided reflection, we explore how traditions are passed down, evolve over time, and serve as a powerful bridge between generations and communities.
July 18, 2026 11am-1pm