This Sunday March 27, Council Member Arlis Reynolds will be hosting a community bike ride to celebrate Women’s History Month. The 8-mile ride will highlight women-owned businesses throughout the city, and will start and finish at the Costa Mesa Historical Society!
For more information, please contact arlis.reynolds@costamesaca.gov
Last month, with the help of Renee Pina, we premiered our calendar highlighting historic homes in Eastside Costa Mesa. Costa Mesa Television had the opportunity to tour ones of these beautiful houses. Join them as they walk through 280 Magnolia, November’s featured home, and learn about the unique history of this interesting property!
The city of Costa Mesa’s YouTube page has released a new web series “Costa Mesa Flashback” that highlights certain elements of our town’s history. Published on Fridays in honor of #FlashbackFriday, the series so far has covered the history of Costa Mesa’s schools, how Costa Mesa got its name, and the origins of Goat Hill and Mackerel Flats.
In addition to the Fairview Register, we’ll now be uploading issues of The Cadet online. The Cadet is the newsletter for the historical society’s SAAAB Wing. Topics include “Heroes Hall”, “North American Aviation”, “The Motorcycle Patrol”, and more!
Our November/December 2021 newsletter is now online! Topics include “Mr. Siegel Remembers”, “Memoirs of a War Bride”, “Christmas Cards of Yesteryear,” and more.
Our October 2021 newsletter is now online! Topics include “Society Elections”, “1966 Highlights”, “Got Ghosts?”, and more.
Our September 2021 newsletter is now online! Topics include “Peggy Gardner,” “Down Memory Lane”, and “The Gibson’s and Their Jersey Dairy”.
From the OC Fair & Event Center:
“On display Feb. 16 through Sept. 18, 2022
On Feb. 16, 2022, Heroes Hall Museum will open a new special exhibit called Fighting for the Right to Fight: African American Experiences in World War II. Produced by The National WWII Museum, the exhibit features artifacts, photographs and oral histories to highlight some of the extraordinary achievements and challenges of African Americans during World War II, both overseas and on the Home Front.
In the years before World War II, African Americans in many parts of the country were treated as second-class citizens. Discriminatory practices were condoned by the government, and African Americans were systematically denied many rights and liberties by laws that kept them in positions of inferiority. Due to the landmark Plessy v. Ferguson Supreme Court decision in 1896, the United States was a nation where “separate but equal” was law in many states. In addition, many military leaders declared African Americans unfit to serve in combat. However, once the war began, thousands rushed to enlist, determined to fight for freedom, while still being denied equality at home.
On display through September 18, 2022, Fighting for the Right to Fight illustrates how hopes for securing equality inspired many to enlist, the discouraging reality of the segregated non-combat roles given to black recruits, and the continuing fight for “Double Victory” that laid the groundwork for the modern Civil Rights Movement.
Heroes Hall Museum will host an opening ceremony to commemorate the exhibit. The event will feature speakers, performances and kids activities.
When: Saturday, Feb. 19, 2022, at 11 a.m.
Where: Heroes Hall at the OC Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa
Cost: Free admission and parking. A complimentary light lunch will be provided to the first 200 people who RSVP. (We’re sorry, the lunch option has hit capacity but the public is still invited to join us for the event!)”
A new volunteer at the Costa Mesa Historical Society, Renee Pina, has spearheaded a new, full-color calendar of 12 vintage Eastside Costa Mesa homes.
All homes featured were built, or believed to have been built, between 1900 and 1930, and have been loved and cared for by their present owners. The Society hopes to learn more of the history of each of these homes.
12 local businesses have helped to sponsor the pages in the calendar. They are: Pina & Co., French’s Cupcake Bakery, Kean Coffee, Doggie Daycare, El Matador, Dick Church’s, Eastside Mini-Mart, Shirley’s Bagels, Al’s New York Café & Catering, Haute Cakes Caffe, Goat Hill Tavern, and Mi Casa.
A copy of the calendar can be purchased at the Costa Mesa Historical Society for a donation of $10.00.
Dear Fellow Members –
It is with a heavy heart that I must inform you of the passing of Art Goddard, one of our long time volunteers, due to cancer on February 13, 2021. He was 78.
Art and his wife Mary Ellen moved to Costa Mesa in 1977 and she started volunteering at the Society shortly after that. “Art began volunteering for computer stuff, when we first got our Apple (the little one with the tiny screen in a tall little box) in the early 1980s” said Mary Ellen and he has been our main “tech guy” ever since, working primarily behind the scenes. As he told “I Heart Costa Mesa” in 2015, “I saw that this place really needed some technical expertise, some computer savvy. So, I began the process of switching us from paper and things that weren’t going to work in the future, to something that would.”
Art obtained a Bachelors degree from Worchester Polytechnic Institute, attended the University of Alaska-Fairbanks and received a Masters from Montana State University-Bozeman in electrical engineering. He then embarked on a 32 year career starting with Collins Radio and later Boeing, retiring from there as an executive in 2001 which gave him more time to devote to the Society and other hobbies.
One of those hobbies was ham radio. He was first licensed for that in 1956 and was a life member of the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) holding positions in that organization. Art was active on the air from HF through microwaves. A member of the Southern California Contest Club, he took part in contest expeditions, travel was another hobby, to locations ranging from subarctic to tropical around the world.
As part of his volunteering, Art and Mary Ellen collaborated on two books on behalf of the Society published through Arcadia Publishing and still available. They are: Early Costa Mesa (2009) and Costa Mesa: 1940-2003 (2016).
Additionally, Art and Mary Ellen were heavily involved with the Friends of the Library and strong proponents for a new library and at which opening they were recognized in May, 2019.
No Public services are planned at this time but it hoped that a memorial service will be held in 5-6 months when Covid is past us and public assemblies are again possible.
Sympathy cards may be addressed as follows:
Mary Ellen Goddard and Family
c/o Costa Mesa Historical Society
P.O. Box 1764
Costa Mesa, CA 92628
Kind Regards,
Terry Shaw
President, CMHS