Monterey says goodbye to historian Dennis Copeland.

Longtime historian and Monterey archives manager Dennis Copeland died last weekend. He had been the steward of the City of Monterey's historical collections and research since 1999, as well as an expert on early California history, especially the Monterey region.

Originally from Fremont, Copeland moved to Monterey for a job with the Monterey Public Library. A promoter of local history, he oversaw various local projects at the Monterey Public Library’s California History Room and Archives, Colton Hall Museum and Old Jail, Presidio Museum of Monterey and Pacific Biological Lab.

He retired from his job with the library in 2020, but returned in 2022 to work part time on the library’s vast digital collections to make them available for future generations. 

As Monterey Library and Museums Director Brian Edwards shared, among recent projects he was involved with was a “memory lab,” a program that allows private citizens to digitize their memories.

“He was a gentleman and a scholar,” Edwards says. “A consummate professional, passionate about Monterey and Monterey stories.” 

Copeland wrote books and articles on the region, from early Indigenous peoples and the Spanish and Mexican capital of Alta California to its fame as sardine capital of the world and international tourist destination, including Steinbeck, Susan Gregory, and Tortilla Flat, Monterey's Waterfront, with historian Tim Thomas and A Monterey Album: Life by the Bay, with Jeanne McCombs.

Here you can listen to him talking, in 2012, about California's first Constitution. He was also an expert on everything John Steinbeck and Ed Ricketts, and knew well their families and scholars handling the subject.

“I’m a better historian because of Dennis,” says Thomas, who was Copeland’s friend for 30 years and met with him every Sunday to discuss, with other friends, local history. Thomas also shared that Copeland was a huge Giants fan.

“Dennis taught me so much about how to be a historian and a museum professional, and I owe my career to him,” says Jordan Leininger, cultural heritage collections manager at CSU Monterey Bay. “He took a chance on me by hiring me early on, and I will always be grateful for his generosity, guidance and belief in me. I am forever in his debt and hope that I can accomplish even a fraction of what he did for the Monterey historical community.”

“Dennis was a pretty private person, but a delightful man,” shares Chalet Booker, now with the Community Foundation for Monterey County, who used to work closely with Copeland as cultural arts assistant for the City of Monterey. “He had a dry sense of humor and was a very caring person.”

“Dennis will always be known to me as one of a small handful of truly dedicated historians in the very history of our region,” wrote Monterey County Historical Society Executive Director and Curator James Perry, who refuses to write or speak about Copeland in past tense. “Our acquaintance became a friendship born out of our commitment to preserve the past. I am only one of untold thousands of researchers, students and educators that Dennis gave his time and knowledge to with patience and kindness. He was one of the few people who inspired me to stay my course and ultimately become a veritable historian serving our region.”

Another good friend of Copeland was Steve Hauk of Hauk Fine Arts in Pacific Grove. “He was wonderful, knowledgeable, always gracious and fun to be around,” Hauk says. “People really depended on him.”