Unravelling California's Spanish Fantasy Past

In the mid-1940s, Carey McWilliams, the seminal journalist and lawyer, coined the term “Spanish Fantasy Heritage” to describe Californians’ penchant for florid and idyllic retellings of the state’s history, often bearing little resemblance to the lives of the myriad peoples occupying the region before the twentieth century.

Join us in discussion with historian Jeremiah Sladeck as he peels away the layers of mythology surrounding the state’s early history to reveal a very different, much darker version of California than the fantasy heritage describes.

Jeremiah Sladeck is a lecturer in the History Department and American Indian Studies Program at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he also earned his PhD. He is a specialist in early California and American West History.