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EVENTS 

TO BE HONEST, I DON'T POST MOST OF MY SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS HERE. 

DECEMBER 2021
I feel honored! The San Diego Public Library selects 12 of their favorite books to feature in a monthly presentation for one calendar year. Empire Builder was selected and June is my month. 
January 16th Virtual Book Talk for the San Diego chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution
Hope to "see you" there! Two choices: Facebook Live or Zoom!
SATURDAY, 12/5/2020 11AM
GASLAMP QUARTER HISTORICAL FOUNDATION- HISTORY TALKS SERIES  GOOD OLD ZOOM SLIDE SHOW :)
NOVEMBER 30, 2020  OASIS - $10 PER CLASS AND YOU MUST BE A REGISTERED MEMBER
I was the key note speaker for this event honoring John D. Spreckels's IMPOSSIBLE RAILROAD accomplishment.
Thanks to a few of his desendants who came to support his legacy. L to R..Erin, Lily, Terry, Lyn, Christine, ME, Codey.
HAWAI'I PUBLIC RADIO - On my way in!
MAY 16, 2019

MONDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2019 1pm
 

City of San Diego City Clerk's Archives and Records Management Division Lectures Program

"SAN DIEGO'S FORGOTTEN EMPIRE, THE LEGACY OF JOHN D. SPRECKELS" – DR. SANDEE BONURA
 

 Archives,  City Administration Building 

POWERPOINT (1pm) ON THE LIFE OF JOHN D. SPRECKELS, THE FOUNDER OF MODERN SAN DIEGO
 
 
 
Dr. Sandra Bonura is a native San Diegan. She is a frequent storyteller and lecturer on the importance of using a multitude of primary sources to gain perspective on historical events. She's at her happiest when she is hunting treasures in archives across the country. Dr. Bonura is the author of four published works based on primary sources:Light in The Queen's Garden: Ida May Pope, Pioneer for Hawai'i's Daughters (2017, University of Hawaii Press); "Queen Lili'uokalani's Beloved Kawaiaha'o Seminary," (2017 Hawaiian Journal of History (vol. 51)); "Lydia K. Aholo—Her Story, Recovering the Lost Voice" (2013 Hawaiian Journal of History (vol. 47)); and An American Girl in the Hawaiian Islands: Letters of Carrie Prudence Winter 1890-1893 (2012 University of Hawaii Press). She is currently awaiting publication on a 2020 biography entitled, "San Diego's Forgotten Empire: The Legacy of John D. Spreckels 1853 -1926).

KONA STORIES NOVEMBER 7, 2017
CHICAGO and OHIO....Retracing Ida Pope's life outside Hawaii. SO EXCITED!
Thank you Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) for hosting this 2014 event. MAHALO!
HAWAIIAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY - IOLANI PALACE SPEAKING ENGAGEMENT

The Queen and Lydia K. Aholo

 

EVENT FEBRUARY 14, 2014
IOLANI PALACE GROUNDS

 

The Hawaiian Historical Society members and friends heard the story of a remarkable woman who lived for more than a century and knew Queen Lili'uokalani "as the only mother I had." The woman—Lydia K. Aholo—was the subject of an illustrated talk presented by Sandra Bonura at the Society's membership meeting on Thursday, February 13, 2014 at the Kana'ina Building (Old Archives Building) to a standing-room-only crowd.

Lydia Aholo was born February 26, 1878, in Lahaina, Maui, to Luther Aholo, minister of interior during the reign of Kalākaua. He had earlier represented Lahaina in the legislature and served as postmaster general. Her mother, Keahi, died shortly after Lydia's birth, and she became the hānai daughter of Queen Lili'uokalani. She was reared in the royal household, attending Kawaiaha'o Female Seminary, Kamehameha School for Girls, and Oberlin College, where she studied music. She discussed her life with the queen and at school in oral history interviews with Helena Allen in 1969. She died at the age of 101 on July 7, 1979.

Sandra Bonura is the co-author of An American Girl in the Hawaiian Islands: Letters of Carrie Prudence Winter 1890-1893. This book includes love letters by a Kawaiaha'o Female Seminary teacher to her fiancé that were found in a forgotten attic trunk. During her research for the book, Bonura located the taped interviews by Lydia Aholo and facilitated their return to Hawai'i, where they are now held at Kamehameha Schools Archives.

HONOLULU BOOK FESTIVAL
LYMAN MUSEUM, Hilo, Hawaii