Listen to the ninth episode of the Benicia Historical Museum’s COVID Quarantine Camelcast!
Providing a “camel’s eye view” of Benicia’s unique history.
In A Capital Capitol, Executive Director Elizabeth d’Huart and Museum Research Historian Dr. Jim Lessenger discuss Benicia’s brief time as the state capital, the reasons why the seat of government moved to Sacramento, and the capitol building they left behind.
Jim Lessenger, a long-standing Museum volunteer and Chair of the Exhibits committee, is a physician by profession and an historian by hobby. He has published thirty-one articles and two books in the field of medicine, and four books in the field of history, including The Benicia State Capitol, published in 2019 by Arcadia Publishing. Jim has long been fascinated by California history, and Benicia has enough history and stories to fill a shelf of books. Dr. Lessenger still practices medicine by volunteering as the medical director of a free clinic and drug treatment community.
If you missed any of 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, Rezanov and Concepción: Benicia’s Romeo and Juliet, Gold Rush in the Golden State, Benicia’s Early VIPs: General Vallejo and His Peeps, and The Sandstone Powder Magazine – Benicia’s Little-Known Gem — be sure to give them a listen!