Saving Big Basin – Heroes and Heroines

In the winter of 1900, a female writer sent a bold letter to the Santa Cruz Sentinel urging citizens to preserve the old growth redwoods in Big Basin. Just fifteen months later, Big Basin Redwoods State Park became a reality.

On Thurs, May 8from 7 – 9 pm at historic Park Hall, 9400 Mill Street, in Ben Lomond the San Lorenzo Valley Museum presents Dr. Traci Bliss at its Lecture Fundraiser speaking on ‘Saving Big Basin – Heroes and Heroines’ an untold local story with never-before-seen photos. Dr. Bliss will combine social, political, and family history to provide a fresh perspective on the Park’s creation, with emphasis on the unsung role of women.

The Bliss family settled in Santa Cruz in the 1870’s and were also pioneers in the Brookdale area where they bought property. Jennie Bliss, the sister of Traci’s great grandfather, married William T. Jeter, lawyer, bank president and the first Democrat to be elected mayor of Santa Cruz. Through Jennie’s persistent urging, Jeter embraced the campaign to save the Big Basin Redwoods. Together with Andrew P. Hill, he forged a preservationist coalition of women’s groups, businessmen and academics dedicated to saving the redwoods that became the California’s oldest state park, Big Basin Redwoods State Park founded in 1902.

This untold local story will combine social, political, and family history while providing a fresh perspective on the Park’s creation. Join us for a trip back in time to when Boulder Creek was truly a small town, Brookdale didn’t exist as a town, and women made the non-partisan coalition unstoppable.

Dr. Bliss, an Emeriti Professor and award-winning educator, holds a BA, MA, and PhD from Stanford and an MPA from the University of Texas at Austin. She serves as the President of the History Forum at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History (MAH). With San Lorenzo Valley historian, Randall Brown, she is the author of three chapters in the forthcoming MAH History Journal: Redwood Logging and Conservation in the Santa Cruz Mountains—A Split History. Dr. Bliss has been a docent at Henry Cowell Redwood State Park since 2009.

Thank you to our sponsors for making this lecture-fundraiser event possible: Toll House Resort and Bill & Cheryl Luehmann

“Saving Big Basin – Heroes and Heroines” Lecture Fundraiser with Dr. Traci Bliss. Thurs, May 8from 7 – 9 pm at historic Park Hall, 9400 Mill Street, in Ben Lomond.

Tickets are $25. For SLV Museum members, students w/ID and seniors 65+, tickets are $20.Available @ SLV Museum, www.slvmuseum.com or 831-338-8382.