Please join Friends of Sutter’s Fort and the Curatorial Team at Sutter’s Fort State Historic Park for this lunchtime presentation.

An Industrial Army at Sutter’s Fort: How Graffiti at Brings Forgotten Events to Light

The old attic in the central building has history written all over the walls. Graffiti turned archaic has provided one Park employee a chance to bring forgotten events to light. Join us as Park Interpretive Specialist Nathan Wentz expounds on the 1894 occupation of Sutter’s Fort by members of the grand Industrial Army. Register today to find out who they were, what they wanted, and what they did at the Fort.

Please register via ZOOM

Click above or paste https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUlduGtrT0pHN0JhiAdDGQaMul-DztJhxiJ  into your browser.

This talk will be presented by Nathan Wentz

Nathan Wentz is a Park Interpretive Specialist with the State Indian Museum and Sutter’s Fort. He recently graduated from Sacramento State where he studied history. and he has been studying and interpreting local Sacramento history for four years. In his free time, Nathan enjoys reading, music, and camping. The subject of the talk appealed to him because of an interest in economic and labor history.

About this Speaker Series

The Collections Research-In-Progress Speaker Series highlights ongoing research within the Sutter’s Fort museum collection, one of the largest in the State Park system with over 50,000 objects. This free, virtual series offers a unique glimpse into the work of scholars and State Park staff as they uncover new stories from our past. If you’re a history enthusiast or just curious about what hidden stories the Fort has to tell, this is an event you won’t want to miss.

About the Sutter’s Fort Collection

In addition to the historic structures at Sutter’s Fort SHP, Friends of Sutter’s Fort also is committed the preservation of the many artifacts that are part of the Sutter’s Fort Collection. This expansive collection of artifacts is housed both at Sutter’s Fort, and at the State Museums Collections Center, which is also managed by California State Parks.

Artifacts include furniture, tools and artwork, along with thousands of photographs and documents. Due to the difficulty to control the environment in the historic structures of Sutter’s Fort, many of these items are not currently accessible to the public. It is our hope to provide future funding to expand the ability to exhibit these items for public viewing. We also hope to fund efforts to preserve and protect the artifacts.

The Sutter’s Fort State Historic Park Collection is one of the largest in the State Park system, with over 50,000 objects including photographs, diaries, letters, maps, paintings, furnishings, tools, and housewares. The Collection contains items that directly testify to life at Sutter’s Fort in the 1840s such as John Sutter’s magnifying glass, likely used to inspect the nugget that sparked the Gold Rush, and a Spanish-style plow used by Native people who were forced to labor for Sutter. However, the bulk of the collection, traditionally known as the “Pioneer Collection,” was amassed in the first part of the twentieth century and represents the experiences of Euro-American settlers and the history of the formation of the State of California.

While there are many artifacts typically on display at the historic site, most items from the Sutter’s Fort collection are housed at a state of the art curatorial facility on the former McClellan Air Fort Base. This facility is called the Statewide Museum Collections Center (“SMCC”). The talented California State Parks Curatorial team cares not only for the exhibits at the Fort, but for this huge collection offsite.