About this Event
Join historian Neal Graffy as he chronicles the origin and stories of our city’s patron saint, uncovering many places where her image and influence endure.
Finding Saint Barbara
In 1602, Spanish explorer Sebastián Vizcaíno gave her name to the Santa Barbara Channel, forever linking the saint to California's central coast.
Over the centuries that followed, her image moved beyond churches and devotional art into civic life, appearing in festivals, monuments, and community celebrations. Few places have embraced Saint Barbara as enthusiastically as the city that bears her name.
Presented in conjunction with the Museum's newest exhibition, Finding Saint Barbara, this talk traces her journey from church altarpieces to parade floats, and asks why one small city has embraced its patron saint so completely.
Santa Barbara, An Homage, 1905
Robert Wilson Hyde (1875-1951)
Museum Collection
About the Speaker
Neal Graffy's "delightfully unfettered" take on Santa Barbara history has drawn audiences to over 300 talks since 1989. He's the author of Historic Santa Barbara and Santa Barbara Street Names, and has appeared on PBS, C-SPAN, and in the Emmy-winning documentary Impressions in Time.
Neal Graffy is guest curator of the Museum's exhibition, Finding Saint Barbara.
Event venue & nearby stays
Santa Barbara Historical Museum, 136 East De La Guerra Street, Santa Barbara, United States
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