Memory Keepers of the Central Valley

The Archive of the Fresno Historical Society is vast – spanning well over 170 years. New technology will allow for the digitization of thousands of photographs and paper records to be shared with the public in new and exciting ways.  Photo courtesy of the Fresno City & County Historical Society. All rights reserved.  

For over a century, the Fresno City and County Historical Society has safeguarded the region’s collective memory. It is the oldest nonprofit in the Central Valley, and its work shapes how people understand the land, the people and the layered histories that define this place.

Today, those memories are in the hands of Elizabeth Laval, who seems born for the task. Her great-grandfather was Claude “Pop” Laval, a prolific photographer passionate about capturing the beauty of the San Joaquin Valley and the Sierra Nevada. Pop would go on to take thousands of photos of the people, places and happenings throughout the Central Valley. He had the forethought to carefully catalog and preserve each negative, providing a visual history of the Valley’s first half of the 20^th century.

Pop’s archives are part of the FCCHS, which was founded in 1919. The Society emerged from a moment of civic urgency. Residents, still reckoning with the aftermath of World War I, recognized that the Valley’s stories needed a steward. The Fresno Morning Republican newspaper reported on the Society’s founding that year, a detail we know today only because the Society later partnered with The Fresno Bee to preserve the paper’s archives. Those records, once scattered across decades, will soon be displayed in the McClatchy Room of the Society’s planned museum — a full-circle moment for the institution and the city’s oldest newsroom.

The Chinese American Museum Project will have a permanent home at The Archive on Kern, showcasing hundreds of objects rescued more than 60 years ago from Fresno’s Chinatown. Photo courtesy of the Fresno City & County Historical Society. All rights reserved.

For decades, the Society has operated out of Kearney Mansion, a landmark that houses thousands of letters, artifacts, photographs and keepsakes. Much of the collection has remained tucked away, emerging only for special exhibitions or research requests. Yet even in its quiet storage, the archive has shaped the Valley’s understanding of itself. It preserves agricultural history, Native American heritage, railroad expansion, early business development and the everyday lives of residents whose stories might otherwise have been lost.

One of the Society’s most profound contributions is its oral history collection, begun in the 1960s. These interviews capture the voices of farmers, immigrants, activists, educators and families whose experiences reflect the Valley’s cultural mosaic. They document migration patterns, ethnic identity, social movements and the African American and Mexican American experiences in Fresno County. Through these first-person narratives, the Society offers a textured, human understanding of the region’s evolution, one that supports scholars, students and community members seeking to understand how the past shapes the present.

Since 1962, the Fresno Historical Society has conducted student, adult, public and private tours of the stunning Kearney Mansion Museum. More than 70% of the artifacts and furniture in the Mansion are authentic. The building was originally the Superintendent’s Lodge of Fruit Vale Estate and was constructed of adobe bricks in 1903.  Photo courtesy of the Fresno City & County Historical Society. All rights reserved.

Education is central to the Society’s mission. Its multicultural programs, exhibitions, and tours bring history to life for thousands of residents each year. Projects like the Sikh youth oral history initiative empower students to document their own communities, strengthening intergenerational ties and reinforcing the idea that history is not distant — it is lived, shared and continually unfolding.

The Fresno Historical Society’s mission in recent years has expanded to include “capturing the present for the generations to come.” One ongoing effort includes the Sharing Our Heritage Oral History Project.  The Sikh Youth Oral History Project was the first in the Valley to train Sikh students how to film and interview their elders. Over 100 local stories are now available on valleyhistory.org with more added monthly.   Photo courtesy of the Fresno City & County Historical Society. All rights reserved. 

The Society’s 2023 acquisition of the historic Republican Printery Co. building marks a new chapter. Once the print shop for Fresno’s first newspaper and later home to the Downtown Club, the building is listed on both the National Register of Historic Places and the Local Register of Historic Resources. Transforming it into a museum and archival repository, now known as AOK (the Archive on Kern), will not only secure the Society’s collections but also contribute to downtown Fresno’s cultural and economic revitalization. It will open the archives to the public in a way never before possible, turning a historic structure into a living civic space.

Through preservation, education and community engagement, the Fresno City and County Historical Society ensures that the Central Valley’s rich heritage is recognized, studied and celebrated — not just today, but for generations to come.

This story is part of the Central Valley Community Foundation’s “Sixty Stories That Shaped Us” initiative to help mark 60 years since our founding. We invite you to join us in celebrating this milestone and this special place we call home. To learn more, visit centralvalleycf.org and follow us on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn @centralvalleycf.