Listen to the sixth episode of the Benicia Historical Museum’s COVID Quarantine Camelcast!
Hosted by Benicia resident and BHS graduate Dean Putong, our podcast provides a “camel’s eye view” of Benicia’s unique history.
In Gold Rush in the Golden State, Dean and Executive Director Elizabeth d’Huart discuss the California Gold Rush, its impact on Benicia, and its place in shaping the United States of America.
Our 2020 summer intern, Dean Putong is a senior at Yale University and is a history and political science major who is also the President of his fraternity, Sigma Chi. A passionate and talented individual, Dean spent the summer of 2019 studying foreign policy and political theory at the London School of Economics and has also been chosen as a Yale research assistant, contributing his time and efforts to several books due to be published in 2021. Dean says “I found my passion for history when I was very young, and museums played a vital role in that … I believe learning about history is vital for our society today. With the crises we’re currently experiencing, the past can give us context, references we can draw upon to find new solutions”.
If you missed our other Podcast episodes – Why Are There No Camels at the Camel Barns?, Manifest Destiny, or “Do You Have a Flag?”, The War Within the State Meets the War Between the States: California’s Place in the Civil War, Matthew Turner: Benicia’s Genius Who Changed Ship Design, and Rezanov and Concepción: Benicia’s Romeo and Juliet — be sure to give them a listen!