Shelly Foote, Smithsonian Historian

Letters sent home by soldiers during World Wars I and II reveal that service abroad was often an eye-opening experience for Ventura County men. For many, it was the first time they had traveled outside of Southern California. Learn more about their experiences when historian Shelly Foote hosts Letters Home: Wartime Impressions, the latest event in the Second Thursday Gallery Talk series on Thursday, March 14 at 2:00 p.m., at the Museum of Ventura County’s Agriculture Museum in Santa Paula. Visitors attending the talk can also see the museum’s exhibition, When Gardening was Patriotic: Posters of World Wars I & II. Admission to Second Thursday Gallery Talk is included with museum admission and is free for museum members.

Foote, who is the former Assistant Chair of Social History at The National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, will share highlights from letters published in local newspapers. A nationally-recognized expert and lecturer on costume history, Foote is a Ventura native who currently volunteers her extensive skills in the Museum of Ventura County’s collections area, and is Chair of the Accessions Committee. She is a past President of the Western Region of the Costume Society of America.

Following the event, visitors are encouraged to walk or drive one block to continue the Second Thursday Gallery Talk experience at the Santa Paula Art Museum at 3:00 p.m. The topic for this month will be Santa Paula Portrait Project. Each museum charges its own general admission and members can attend free at their respective museums. Light refreshments are served and no reservations are necessary. For additional information and monthly schedules for the Second Thursday Gallery Talks: go to www.venturamuseum.org and www.santapaulaartmuseum.org or call the Agriculture Museum at 805-525-3100 and the Art Museum at 805-525-5554. The Agriculture Museum is at 926 Railroad Avenue, and the Santa Paula Art Museum is at 117 N. 10th Street, both in downtown Santa Paula, California. Parking is free at both locations.