Description

Get ready for a trip down “Memory Lane” with a unique and fun approach by Steve Staiger from the Palo Alto Historical Association. Using a carousel of eighty slides that he has collected over the last forty years, Steve will share the early history of Palo Alto, Mayfield, Stanford University, and other points of interest. He will also discuss some of the notable people who played a significant role in the development of Palo Alto and the surrounding area, including Sarah (Montgomery) Wallis, who was a member of the Stephens-Townsend-Murphy Party of 1844/45. 

Steve Staiger has been an Historian with the Palo Alto Historical Association since 1984. He grew up in Marin County and developed his interest in local history at Tamalpais High School, where he took a class in Marin County history and researched and wrote the first maritime history of Marin (circa 1967). Steve attended UC Davis, graduating with a degree in history, and then received an MLS from the Library School at UC Berkeley. Having worked for Bechtel in San Francisco for several years, he became a Reference Librarian for the City of Palo Alto in 1977, retiring about twenty years ago. For the last forty+ years, Steve has assisted people in their research of their families’ histories, homes, and other aspects of local history. For the last twenty-five years, he has been a part of the effort to establish a local history museum in Palo Alto which should finally open its doors later this year.