Historic Photos of Sacramento: History's Course? You Be The Judge

On July 8, 2007, the coffee table-style book Historic Photos of Sacramento, was presented at the Carmichael Library. The book contains over two-hundred photographs, covering the the city from the 1860s to the 1960s. The photos came from the Sacramento Archives Museum and Collection Center, while the chapter narratives were written by staff in the Central Library's Sacramento Room.

The talk, moderated by Central Librarian James Scott, focused on a comparison of photos from the book with those taken from the current day. Daily life in the context of history, demographics, population shifts, transportation trends and natural history were all touched upon during the one-and-a-half-hour program. From a single point, looking eastward from the corner of of 9th and "K," what can one conclude from the comparison of a photo taken in 1942 to a photo taken last week? The 38 program attendees were encouraged to provide their own perspective on the element of change as presented by the photos.
Scott also discussed the value of photos as a way of judging history with ones own two eyes. As opposed to the written word, which can often be unclear or overly academic, photos provide a 'what you see is what you get' perspective. In other words, photos are a window to the past that we all have the power to look through, study, and make our own conclusions about.

Scott and co-author/colleague Tom Tolley will be giving the same presentation on August 8, 2007, from 6:oo pm to 7:30 pm, at the Central Library's Sacramento Room at 828 "I" Street. Call 264-2920 for reserve a seat or go to http://www.saclibrary.org/. Books will be on sale for $39.95, with 40% of proceeds going to the Central Library's Friends affiliate.