Special for toddlers! Join us for a craft and storytime at the Hayward Area Historical Society.
In honor of Earth Day, join us for a storytime and craft celebrating bugs and nature.
Celebrate Earth Day and create your own contact paper earth ornament and binoculars to spy birds and bugs. Drop in for themed activities appropriate for all ages in our cozy classroom space! No reservations required | FREE
Contribute to Hayward’s history! Do you have family photos that capture Hayward area memories? Bring your photos to the HAHS Museum and we will scan them to create a digital copy to add to our collection. You keep the original! Please limit to 12 photos per person.
Start your day with a morning walking tour at Lone Tree Cemetery! Visit the final resting places of the Rodeo King of the West, an Indy 500 winner, the town’s namesake, and many more! This tour will also examine some interesting grave markers and discuss local legends. Meet in front of Mausoleum 2, located behind the cemetery office. Recommended for ages 14+. More information about the 2025 tour schedule is available here.
Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day at the Hayward Area Historical Society by creating your own beaded shamrock or rainbow collage.
Special for toddlers! Join us for a craft and storytime at the Hayward Area Historical Society.
This month, we will read St Patrick’s Day stories, and decorate a shamrock.
For children age 5 & younger.
Celebrate Black artistry by creating your own Story Quilt!
Inspired by Faith Ringgold and Gee's Bend quilters, create a quilted collage that represents your family and heritage. All materials provided.
Optional: bring a photo of your family or a special place to add to your quilt.
Celebrate Black artistry by creating your own Story Quilt!
Inspired by Faith Ringgold and Gee's Bend quilters, create a quilted collage that represents your family and heritage. All materials provided.
Optional: bring a photo of your family or a special place to add to your quilt.
The vast majority of those who occupied the White House never came close to replicating the extraordinary leadership of the likes of Washington, Lincoln, or Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Why? Gerald Henig (author and professor emeritus of history at California State University, East Bay) offers little-known and compelling stories—funny, tragic, and, in some cases, startling— that help to explain why only a handful of our chief executives etched a place for themselves in the annals of presidential greatness.
Registration Required | Free
Join in celebrating Black History Month at the Hayward Area Historical Society! This week, families are invited to make collages inspired by Alma Thomas’s beautiful paintings.
Plus, there’s an opportunity to make your own dragon or lantern for Lunar New Year!
As always, there’s also a book/toy nook to play in and a free play art table and coloring pages that are always available.
Ever wonder what happens with artifacts when they are not on display? Curious as to what happens behind the scenes at HAHS? Sign up to tour the Hayward Area Historical Society collections with Registrar Emily Conrado and learn more about how we store and preserve artifacts.
Registration Required | Free
Celebrate the Lunar New Year with us at the Hayward Area Historical Society! Decorate paper dragons and make paper lanterns to ring in the Year of the Snake.
For those with shorter attention spans, our toy/book nook is available for play. We also host a free-play art table.
All ages, no reservation required.
Tell Santa what you want for Christmas and take your own photos with the jolly fellow.
Mrs. Claus has stories to share, so bring your little ones to meet her!
Tell Santa what you want for Christmas and take your own photos with the jolly fellow.
Mrs. Claus has stories to share, so bring your little ones to meet her!
Tour the first floor, enjoy hot cocoa, and participate in fun games while waiting for the magical moment when the mansion lights up for the holidays! In partnership with HARD.
Ever wonder why there are so many urns on top of headstones? Notice all those pointy obelisks and floral motifs that adorn burial markers? Have you ever seen a headstone resembling a tree trunk or a log? Each communicates a different sentiment, idea, and identity. Start your morning with a walk through Lone Tree Cemetery and learn about cemetery iconography, symbolism, and the cultures that elevated them.
Registration requested. Meet at Mausoleum 2, behind the cemetery office.
No Dia de los Muertos celebration would be complete without skulls! On the last day of our wonderful community exhibit, come decorate a skull mask to wear for the day!
As Day of the Dead approaches, we all need a skeleton buddy. Come decorate your very own skeleton friend.
Artist and Educator Rachel-Anne Palacios
Join artist Rachel-Anne Palacios as she discusses the Day of the Dead and make your own Day of the Dead-themed tin art to take home. In partnership with the Hayward Arts Council and the Hayward Public Library.
Registration full, join waitlist. Ages 14+
Learn about the symbolism of monarch butterflies in Dia de los Muertos imagery and make your own monarch before they all migrate south.
Day of the Dead Festivities are filled with bright and happy colors! Add vibrant colors to your festivities with your very own tin foil art. Also learn about the role the marigold plays in Dis de los Muertos celebrations and make your own tissue paper marigold.
Our Tell Your Own Story writer's workshop was a success, and now we get to hear the fruits of their labor! Join us at the Museum on the second floor to hear our participants tell their own stories. Stop by and lend an ear. You may be inspired to join our next workshop!
Lead Paranormal Docent Gail Reilly will speak about investigating McConaghy House and Meek Mansion over the last decade and share her experiences from not only our sites, but other historical venues from around the state.
Free | Registration Full
Hayward/South County Black Women Organized for Political Action (BWOPA) Chapter invites you to a Voter Information and Registration Event. BWOPA partners with The Links Incorporated Eden Rose Chapter, the Hayward-South County NAACP, and the League of Women Voters of the Eden Area. Light refreshments will be provided.
The presentation will include information regarding:
Why your vote is important
An overview of elections: National, State, and Local
The pros and cons of Assembly and Senate bills
How you can get out the vote
Voter information question and answer session
On-site voter registration
Free | Registration Required
Summer is here, and it is time for our annual Independence Day Celebration at Meek Mansion! The Blues Bottle Band will brighten the day with live music, so bring your family and a picnic to Meek Park. Local artisans, artists, community groups, and organizations look forward to chatting with you and sharing information about their projects on the south lawn. Walk through Meek Mansion to learn more about the Meek family and their place in history, and, of course, participate in outdoor activities, historical games, and fun crafts for the whole family. We hope to see you there!
Free
As we all know, the Hayward area is known for being a great place to grow fruits and vegetables, so much so that we often have more on our trees and in our gardens than we know what to do with! Lucky for us, there is ForestR. ForestR is a nonprofit organization that offers many programs, but fruit tree gleaning is their specialty. Join us on June 1st to hear more about ForestR’s programs and how their fruit-gleaning service can help redistribute the overabundance your fruit tree produces.
Free | Registration Required
Stop by the Museum for a morning story time and a Mother’s Day craft!
Writer Naomi Shibata will share how documenting family stories began as a gift to her mother and evolved into a means of connecting five generations of her family. She will discuss lessons learned along the way, as well as how she worked with novice writers to help them turn oral histories into the written word. For interested attendees, we will offer a four-part writing workshop that begins in June and concludes in September with a reading of the participants stories.
Do you have family photos that show moments in time worth being remembered for generations to come? Maybe some birthday party pictures from Valle Vista or family picnics at Kennedy Park? Informal snapshots of granny in her garden or your school buddies on the playground? Bring them to the HAHS Museum on this day to be scanned and digitally added to our collection. You keep the original! Please limit to 12 photos per person.
It’s Cherryland Community Association’s annual Easter Eggstravaganza and Meek Mansion will be open for self-guided tours! Children can make their very own Easter bags for their HAHS goodies, and try to find a few hidden features on the Mansion’s first floor. It’s fun for the whole family!
Meek Mansion will be open between 10:00 AM and 2:00 PM. Festivities in the park will continue beyond this time.
Start your day with a morning walking tour of the burials sites belonging to some notable Haywardians! This 1.5 hour tour will visit the final resting places of the Rodeo King of the West, an Indy 500 winner, the town’s namesake, and many more. The tour will also examine some interesting grave markers and discuss local legends. This tour requires a slight walk uphill and will navigate some uneven paths.
Meet in front of Mausoleum 2 (located behind the cemetery office)
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