Cecily Johns moved to Santa Barbara in 1985 after accepting a position as Associate Librarian at UCSB. After several years of getting to know the city, she decided to pursue her interests in historic preservation and began to volunteer with SBTHP.…
Born on January 26th, 1911 in Kobe, Japan, Amy Kakimoto immigrated to United States at age twelve or thirteen. In 1928, she married her husband Ikuo (Ikey) Kakimoto, a Santa Barbara native who owned and operated a produce store at the corner of…
Born in 1923 at St. Francis Hospital to Italian parents, Bruno Mautino is a Santa Barbara native and served in the Air Force during World War II. Owner of the S.B. Tire and Retreading Company, Bruno also played in the American Legion Band and played…
The CCC is a state agency established in 1976 that employs youth to aid in preservation, reconstruction, and the conservation of California's natural resources. Although stationed at a center in Camarillo, many came to Santa Barbara during the 1977…
Born on November 7th, 1909 in Berkeley, CA, Campbell Grant was one of the select scholarship winners at the renowned Santa Barbara School of the Arts in 1930. He recalls the people and programs at the school that made it a successful establishment…
Donnie Yee, a cousin of Tommy Chung, was born November 10, 1930 in China, but moved to Santa Barbara as a child. He quickly got involved in local sports leagues, participating in baseball, track, and football. Donnie fought in the Korean War as a US…
The above interview is between Elizabeth Hvolboll and Luis Moreno, founders of El Coro del Real Presidio de Santa Barbara, a local choral group which celebrates and performs music of the Californios. The group sings in Santa Barbara’s annual Una…
Raised in El Paso, Texas, Elvira moved to Santa Barbara in 1975, where she started teaching a Spanish language course for native Spanish speakers at Santa Barbara City College (SBCC). In teaching the course, she discovered that the amount of readily…
Emilio Tabacci came to Santa Barbara in 1926 after immigrating to the US with his Swiss-Italian parents. His family owned a bakery on the 100 block of East Canon Perdido Street, near the site of what is now Jimmy' Oriental Gardens. He spent much of…
Evelyn Rose Foxen was a descendent of Benjamin Foxen of Rancho Tinaquaic. She grew on the property of the Maria Romero Lopez adobe, one of Santa Barbara's oldest homes built in 1855. Her grandfather, Salvador Foxen, raised her while her parents,…
Born on September 1st, 1937 in Los Angeles, California, Gary Ray Chafe was the eldest son of Raymond Chafe and Edmee Silva. In the summer of 1947, Chafe’s father relocated the entire family to Santa Barbara following a job assignment with the Socal…
Bud was born on April 7, 1925 in Ohio and moved to Santa Barbara in 1954. As an original Presidio volunteer, he was the first Los Soldado de Cuera - a group of volunteers who interpret the Presidio soldiers - and was a part of one of the first…