The Society 

By Jonas Norman

 

 

 

     From written documents and photographs all the way to 3-D artifacts, Shasta Historical Society has been preserving them for over 85 years.

The Shasta Historical Society was founded on January 18, 1930 in Redding, as a nonprofit organization. For over 8 decades they have been preserving Shasta County’s history.

 

     The society is run by a board of Shasta County natives who usually have over 100 years of heritage in Shasta County. Executive Director Christine Stokes carries out their requests as a board. They are supported by a few other staff members and lots of volunteers. Since they are a nonprofit organization they rely heavily on donations and an endowment that was willed to them.

“The society’s mission is to collect, preserve, communicate, and promote Shasta County history”, Stokes said.

This mission is not very easy to carry out. In a small building in the center of Redding it is hard to get people to know about what you are doing and what you have.

 

     The society has released a new book every year since 1943 with local history stories. They do topical monthly programs such as Black History month  in February. The also do a lot of things in the community like supporting the Shasta Historic Park by funding all of the school activities.

“We want people to see that they are not just a small building in Shasta County” Stokes said. “We want to be able to show people what we have.”

 

     What they have exactly is a question that only a small group of people actually have the answer too. They have old newspapers, books, hand written ledgers, coroners records, 3-D artifacts, and just about anything else you can think of.

Everything in the archives has special Shasta County history in it and Archives Technical Assistant, Jeremy Tuggle knows all about it.

All of the items date from the 1880’s to about 1910. With so many artifacts, preservation is the main key. The paper artifacts, like newspapers and books, have to be inside a controlled temperature environment.

“It’s a lot of the same routine day in and day out,” Tuggle said, “but I love it, it is my dream job and it has been for many years.”

Tuggle said that even though all of the artifacts are very interesting, the photo archives hold more interest for him.

“Our photo archives are very intriguing going back because there is no time travel, you can’t go back and see what it was first hand, so photographs are the next best thing,” Tuggle said.

The photographs subjects include everything from mining and the lumber industry to selfies. You read that correctly they have selfies. The Shasta Historical Society is not just interested in preserving old history, but new history as well.

 

     The Shasta Historical Society in Redding is dedicated to the collection, preservation, communication, and promotion of Shasta County’s history. They themselves are a big part of Shasta County’s history, and a small piece of American history.