[inline:1=Historical Society of So. Calif.]The Historical Society of Southern California presents its Tenth Annual History Conference on Saturday, April 9, 2005 from 9:00am-3:30pm at the Autry National Center, in Los Angeles.

This year's conference is entitled "Look, Sip, and Groove: Sensory Paths to L.A. History." Five creative scholars will explore Los Angeles history in a unique way. Sight and smell, taste and sound, represent new avenues through which scholars have traveled in their quests to understand the cultures of southern California. This conference will allow them an opportunity to explore and share the history of our communities in a whole new light.

Designed for teachers, students, academic historians, and the lay public under the theme of "Los Angeles: The Essence of a Community," the history conferences have presented an exciting array of speakers and subjects over the past decade.

Program Participants and Events:

Keynote Address by Dr. Janet Fireman, Editor, California History

Naomi Hirahara, author of "A Scent of Flowers: the History of the Southern California Flower Market, 1912-2004" and "Summer of the Big Bachi"

Ernest Siva, Cultural Director for the Morongo Band, presents "Voices of the Flute"

The Joseph O'Flaherty Teaching Award for excellence in the teaching of history in grades K-12 in the schools of Los Angeles will be presented

Dr. Victor Valle, Director, American Communities Program, CSU Los Angeles, and author of "A Curse of Tea and Potatoes" in "Encarnacion's Kitchen: Mexican Cooking In Nineteenth-Century California"

Dr. Jacqueline Cogdell DjeDje, Department of Ethnomusicology, UCLA, co-editor "California Soul: Music of African-Americans in the West"

Registration for the conference is $60 to the public; $45 for members of HSSC and AMWH; $30 for teachers. Price includes lunch, refreshments, reception, resource packet, and entrance to the Autry Museum of the American West.

To register, please call the Historical Society at (323) 222-0546, or send an e-mail to michele@socalhistory.org.