The four-part series for 2016 looks at four dramatic events: the 1857 massacre of county sheriff James R. Barton and his posse by bandits in what is now Orange County; the Lugo Case of 1851, involving murders at Cajon Pass, the implicating of two members of the well-known Californio family, and out-of-town bandits looking to make a quick buck, but instead coming to a gruesome demise; a group of mass lynchings in late 1863; and the lynching of multiple murderer Michel Lachenais in late 1870.
For each of the parts, there will be a PowerPoint-illustrated lecture giving background on the events, followed by a group discussion in which participants will be given some primary source material (newspaper accounts, court record information, autobiography snippets, etc.) to help guide the interchange.
Themes involving criminal justice administration, popular justice (vigilantism), race and ethnicity and others will be explored during the discussions. In each case, there'll be some connections made to present-day situations--and there have been many controversial law-and-order matters in our country in recent months and years.
The dates are 24 January (Barton massacre); 15 May (Lugo Case); 14 August (1863 lynchings); and 16 October (Lachenais lynching) with reservations opened about six weeks ahead of time. For the first installment, coming up two weeks from today, it is recommended to call or email ASAP to make your reservations. The Homestead Museum number is 626.968.8492 and the email address is info@homesteadmuseum.org,
In something new for this year, two of these presentations are traveling. The Barton massacre installment will also be presented at 7:30 p.m. at the 11 February meeting of the Orange County Historical Society (click here for the Society's Web site), held at Trinity Episcopal Church, 2400 N. Canal Street in Orange. The Lugo Case program is going to be offered on 5 June at the A.K. Smiley Library in Redlands, with details still being worked out.
A bonus to the Curious Cases roster is a special lecture on Saturday, 6 February at 2 p.m., at the Homestead Museum, by award-winning historian and Yale professor, John Mack Faragher, based on his brand-new book, Eternity Street: Violence and Justice in Frontier Los Angeles. Reservations are also open for that event--again, by contracting the museum at 626.968.8492. For more on Prof. Faragher's book, please click here.
Meanwhile, please keep checking back with the Trembling on the Brink blog for more history of crime, violence and criminal justice from the 1850s to the 1870s, as well as the Trembling Facebook page here. There is also a Twitter feed for the latest news on blog posts, which is here.
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