How Immigrants Made the Monterey Peninsula

Wednesday, October 21, 2026

7:00 PM, Carpenter Hall at Sunset Center, Carmel

Henry Meade Williams Local History Lecture

How Immigrants Made the Monterey Peninsula, with Dr. Carol Lynn McKibben, author and Professor Emeritus, Stanford University

The Monterey Peninsula is the product of generations of newcomers who brought their labor, traditions, ideas, and aspirations to this remarkable place. This engaging program explores how successive waves of immigrants and migrants fundamentally shaped the Peninsula's economy, neighborhoods, culture, and identity. Focusing on the twentieth century, the presentation highlights the experiences and lasting contributions of African Americans, Central Americans, Southern Europeans, and Asian communities whose stories continue to define the region today.

Dr. Carol Lynn McKibben is an Affiliate Scholar and Lecturer at Stanford University's Bill Lane Center for the American West, where she has taught California history, U.S. Urban History, and U.S. Immigration history since 2006. She is the author of three acclaimed books: Beyond Cannery Row: Sicilian Women, Immigration, and Community in Monterey, 1915-1999 (2006), Racial Beachhead: Diversity and Democracy in a Military Town (2012), and SALINAS: A History of Race and Resilience in an Agricultural City (2022). Her scholarship explores the intersections of migration, race, and community building, and she has led and contributed to numerous community-based history projects on the Monterey Peninsula for more than three decades.