Catch a glimpse of the treasures found in the California History Room Archives!

In this special presentation and digital exhibit, you'll learn about our Rey Ruppel Photograph Collection.

Reynold "Rey" Ruppel (1914-2011) was a professional photographer who worked on the Monterey Peninsula from 1938 to 1968, and his photos are some of the finest taken of Monterey. During his career, Ruppel’s photos were featured in What's Doing Magazine (also named Game & Gossip) and the Monterey Peninsula Herald. He chronicled some of the most important local events of his time, including: the Centennial Celebrations of 1946 and 1949, the early years of the Bing Crosby Pro-Am Golf Tournament, Salvador Dalí's stay in Monterey, the sardine season of 1946, the construction of Monterey Peninsula College and Las Padres Dam, and the tragic railroad accident that killed Ed “Doc” Ricketts. Ruppel’s work also includes commercial photographs of school children, family gatherings and weddings. Working for insurance companies and local police, Ruppel was also on the scene for local tragedies, fires, crimes and auto accidents. 

Join us for a digital exhibition of photos by Rey Ruppel, as well as a special presentation by Historian, Dennis Copeland, Fisheries Historian, Tim Thomas and Local History Librarian, Andres Garza. We will also have our dedicated volunteers who helped organized the Rey Ruppel Collection on hand to answer questions about the collection.

Free and open to the public