News and Events

North Palm Canyon

Special Exhibit Then and Now

Architect E. Stewart Willams

At the close of his life, Modernist Architect E. Stewart Williams contributed reference photographs for five commercial blocks in downtown Palm Springs. These photos were taken at the launching of his career in 1946.

Then and Now is an exhibit in print and DVD of photographs at twenty-one locations from 500 North Palm Canyon Drive to 200 South Palm Canyon Drive. Williams DVD display runs continuously on the large HD monitor during open hours at the McCallum Adobe.

Seen here is a picture of 282-290 North Palm Canyon Drive in 1946 and 2009. In 1946 Pueblo styling of the Desert Camera building and its upper deck are gone, replaced by an unembellished facade. The liveliness of the scene in front of the Malt Shop and the informality of the bicyclist are not in evidence in 2009.

Digitizing Photograph Collection

History at your fingertips

During her years as PSHS Director, Sally McManus identified catalog data for 10,733 photographs, and volunteer Dorothy Nelson keyed that data into 51 Apple computer files. With that huge head start, it took only from November 2008 and all through the summer of 2009 to move all of the data. The society has chosen PastPerfect, software approved by the American Association of State and Local History for museums and historical societies, as its collections management platform.

Oral History Project

Voices from Our Past

The oral history project created by board member, Cydronia Valdez, completed audiovisual interviews with Jane Hoff, Moya Henderson and Letha Cote this summer. Voices from Our Past highlights the memories of members of our board, members of the historical society and our volunteers. Soon we will move further into the community. We are excited about continuing the collection of memories from many different aspects of life in Palm Springs.

Moya's Book

Images of America: Palm Springs by Moya Henderson

Book Images of America: Palm Springs

This summer it was our privilege and honor to work with Moya Henderson on her pictorial history book of Palm Springs entitled Images of America - Palm Springs. She selected many pictures of Palm Springs and told the ultimate story of how the city began, how it grew and some of the people and activities it attracted.

In February Moya will be participating in a whirlwind of book signing engagements, and she graciously has donated any profits from the sale of the book to benefit the Historical Society. We will have copies of her new book to sell at the McCallum Adobe after its release date, February 9, 2009. First book signing will be at The McCallum Adobe Saturday, Feb 28 at 1:00pm.

Copies may be reserved by:
calling 760.323.8297
email admin@pshistoricalsociety.org

“Our Mission is to record, preserve and display historical artifacts of the Palm Springs area.” Palm Springs Historical Society

Upcoming Event

Sunday, Nov 11, 2012 - 12 noon

Pioneer Picnic

Nestled downtown in the midst of magnificent views, the O'Donnell Golf Club will once again be the setting for our annual Pioneer Picnic. Built in 1925 by Thomas O'Donnell, this historic setting will welcome members and guests of the Palm Springs Historical Society to an afternoon of great food and fun. We will be celebrating the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway's 50th Anniversary coming in 2013! Please join us! RSVP by Nov 7. Call 760.323.8297.

Directions to O'Donnell and check out the club »

Learn more about the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway »

Scholarship Winners

The 2012 Melba Bennett Memorial Scholarships were awarded to Veronica Munoz and Brisa Villarreal both students at Cathedral City High School. Veronica Munoz will be attending UC Santa Barbara majoring in History and Brisa Villarreal will pursue her passion for the Culinary Arts at Le Cordon Blue in Los Angeles. We thank Melba Berry Bennett's children, Deedee Busch and Peter Bennett for funding the scholarships each year.