In order to keep museum experiences dynamic, engaging, and relevant, CCSPA is proud to sponsor traveling exhibitions at the Morro Bay Museum of Natural History and Spooner Ranch House at Montaña de Oro State Park. These traveling exhibits feature various natural, cultural, and historic topics to expand the interpretive opportunities offered at their respective locations. See below for what’s on display at each site!

Illuminating the hardships, joys, and lives of female pioneers in California, Her Side of the Story: Tales of California Pioneer Women will appear at The Spooner Ranch House in Montaña de Oro State Parks from September 20th to November 5th . The traveling exhibit features 30 first-person accounts collected from women who traveled by land or sea to settle throughout California prior to January 1, 1854.

As preparations were being made for the commemoration of California’s Golden Jubilee in 1900), a letter printed in a San Francisco newspaper asked why “no provisions had been made for the pioneer mothers.” In turn, The Association of Pioneer Women of California was formed. The group collected and preserved the reminiscences of women who arrived in California before 1854in a single ledger. This incredible document, filled with over 800 handwritten stories of California pioneer women, is the basis for the exhibition at Spooner Ranch House. The ledger and exhibition create a more complete and balanced understanding of our shared history by highlighting women’s voices and experiences as they traveled to California.

The ledger, however, does not represent all voices. As such, an important section of the exhibition is comprised of forty diverse portraits of unidentified women. These women represent the thousands of pioneers whose stories were never recorded; each one had a story to tell which is lost to time.

Her Side of the Story: Tales of California Pioneer Women was developed by the Society of California Pioneers and travels through Exhibit Envoy. Exhibit Envoy provides traveling exhibitions and professional services to museums throughout California. For more information, visit www.exhibitenvoy.org.

This traveling exhibit experience was funded by the Harold J. Miossi Charitable Trust.

This exhibit, developed by State Park staff, examines the impact of World War II on the Central Coast, and especially on the San Luis Obispo Coast District of California State Parks.

World War II was a global event that impacted the Central Coast in myriad ways—from the influx of soldiers who trained at Camp San Luis Obispo and Morro Bay, to the expulsion of residents of Japanese descent from their coastal homes, to the gripping fear of a potential attack on the coast that initiated coastal “black outs.” The exhibition explores this history through panels, audio recordings, and tactile displays that engage visitors in the experience of WWII along the Central Coast, and especially within our local State Parks.

Through examining the events of WWII that took place at our local State Parks, this exhibition endeavors to broaden historical perspectives and bring to light some of the lesser-known stories of this period of local and international turmoil.

Past Exhibits:

Albatross: Life on the Wind and Sea (December 2023 – April 2024)

The Curious World of Seaweed (October 2023 – December 2023)

Beauty and the Beast: California Wildflowers and Climate Change (March 2023 – September 2023)

Seeds: Nature’s Artful Engineering (October 2022 – February 2023)

Seeds: Nature’s Artful Engineering (October 2022 – February 2023)

Her Side of the Story: Tales of California Pioneer Women (June 2022 – October 2022)

Dog Boats and Rum Runners in State Parks: San Luis Obispo County in the Prohibition Era (November 2021 – June 2022)

Bear in Mind: The Story of the California Grizzly (November 2021 – January 2022)

We Are Not Strangers Here: African American Histories in Rural California (August 2021 – October 2021)

Do you want to contribute to CCSPA’s efforts in funding traveling exhibits and exhibit upgrades? Make a donation to CCSPA today! With your support, these facilities will continue to provide meaningful, memorable educational opportunities for the thousands of visitors who come to them each year.

* Be sure to select “Traveling Exhibits & Exhibit Upgrades” as your program of support in the drop-down menu.