Mission Conservation Program

07/10/2025

10/08/2024

Have been busy with creating a “Selfie Museum” from the sea of antiquities that comprises the Jensen Agricultural Museum & Research Center of the Boronda Adobe History Center in Salinas. Every day has lent itself to the excitement of discovery and the learning that accrues. In so doing I have spent my days coordinating museum development and CSU Monterey Bay Service Learning and a host of other volunteers in populating the Online version of PastPerfect Museum Software with our catalog of historic documents and an incredible array of antiquities and veritable treasures. At the same time, I’ve been called upon to prepare my 35th CHOICE Magazine book review for the National Library Association, and manuscript and book reviews for the British Archaeological Review and the University of Arizona Press respectively. Well, in the midst of all else, a few weeks ago I was contacted by our publicist Wendy Breckman and invited to do a live TV interview with the host of Monterey On Tonight. If interested in my 20 minute segment, my interview begins at 0:23:20 and ends at 0:39:06…and that between and betwixt concert footage of Johnny Cash and Kris Kristofferson.

Shared with Dropbox

09/28/2022

Amazon’s already posted our forthcoming Rizzoli “Casa Santa Fe” book…and photographer Melba Levick and I are slated for a book signing and talk by yours truly on Saturday, April 29th at the Collected Works Bookstore & Coffeehouse 202 Galisteo St, Santa Fe, NM 87501, United States.

Casa Santa Fe: Design, Style, Arts, and Tradition

12/31/2020

Photography by renowned photographer Melba Levick, with an Introduction by Professor Rubén G. Mendoza offers a glimpse into the tireless efforts of Father President Fermín de Francisco Lasuén to found five of the 21 California missions within the span of a single year...and the origins and peoples who populated Mission San Miguel Arcángel in 1797.

Click images to enlarge ISBN: 978-1-59005-511-3 Hardcover, 3-panel binding, 8.5 x 11, 68 pages, 41 four-color plates.     Mission San Miguel Arcángel was founded on July 25, 1797 in what is now California’s Central Coast. The site was chosen in part because of the larg

11/17/2020

https://www.rizzoliusa.com/book/9780847865161

11/17/2020

https://www.rizzoliusa.com/book/9780847861514/

05/19/2016

For those who might be interested in obtaining either a print or digital version of the "Archaeology on the Edge of Empire" exhibition catalog, find it on www.magcloud.com. The exhibit catalog, like the exhibition itself, serves as a visual chronicle of Mission archaeology on the Monterey Bay for the period from 1995 to 2016.

Ancient Editions: Archaeology on the Edge of Empire

01/08/2014

On this day I was once again pleasantly surprised to receive word of a new video produced by the City of Monterey History Fest folks, and one which documents my work and those studies undertaken by the Royal Presidio Chapel Conservation Project team of which I was a part from 2006-2010. See http://youtu.be/jbf4oOxgtFY

The Cathedral of San Carlos Borromeo, also known as the Royal Presidio Chapel, is one of the most beautiful buildings in the United States. It is located in ...

01/07/2014

Posted on Jan 02, 2014 Recommend Twitter Professor Ruben Mendoza has been selected to deliver the keynote address at the annual meeting of the California Mission Studies Association (CMSA). The meeting will be held Feb. 14-16 at Mission San Antonio de Padua and Paso Robles. An expert on many aspects...

12/17/2013

DR. RUBÉN MENDOZA SELECTED TO GIVE 2014 CMSA CONFERENCE KEYNOTE ADDRESS

Long-time CMSA member, archaeologist and professor Dr. Rubén Mendoza has been selected to give the 2014 Keynote at the Annual CMSA Conference. An expert on many aspects of mission and California history, Dr. Mendoza will address the conference theme of "Ranchos y Vaqueros: Missions and Mission Land After Secularization." His presentation will address the transformation of the missions and mission lands through the course of the 19th century.

"I look forward to the Conference and to the opportunity to speak to post-Secularization transformation of the California missions," sad Dr. Mendoza, a professor at Cal State University, Monterey Bay.

Said CMSA President David A. Bolton: "We are honored to have Dr. Mendoza as part of our opening day activities. His talks have been annual highlights to our previous Conferences, and we are pleased to be able to showcase his research as part of Friday's Keynote address."

The keynote address will again be a part of the CMSA Conference's Friday night reception in historic Paso Robles.

Mission San Antonio de Padua has been selected as the site for the 2014 CMSA Conference to be held February 14-16, 2014, the Board of Directors has announced.