Benjamin Peterson
Chair

Benjamin is a 3rd generation native of San Luis Obispo and a graduate of SLO High and Westmont College, where he obtained a BA in History and served as Student Government President. He is currently a District Representative for State Senator Monique Limón. 

Julie Moore
Vice-Chair

Julie Moore grew up in Northern California. She graduated from San Diego State University with a BA in Political Science and History. While attending college she spent one year as a foreign exchange student in Uppsala, Sweden. She received her teaching credential at Cal Poly. Julie taught grades Kindergarten through tenth in the local schools for 11 years and was president of the Teachers’ Association. She also spent six years abroad teaching school in Rabat, Morocco and Lhokseumawe, Indonesia.

John Villa
Treasurer

John Villa has family roots that go way back: His family name, originally Villavicencia, includes a substantial contribution of Salinan ancestry, enough to qualify John as a member of the local Salinan Tribal Council. John is the owner of Villa Automotive, and is also well known for his support of local youth sports. His response to our invitation to join the Board was simple: “Put me in, Coach!” John’s Aunt Arlene Zanchuk imbued all of his family with a great love of local history and an appreciation of the need to support our organization financially: Arlene left a substantial bequest to the History Center for the Dallidet Adobe.

Jim Andre

Jim Andre taught finance and accounting at USC, Cal Poly, and Loyola Marymount University. He spends considerable time in Southern California, but he has been a member of our Center his entire life – in fact, his father Peter R. Andre is the man who incorporated the Historical Society of San Luis Obispo County in 1953! Jim’s grandfather J.J. Andre was an early downtown business owner, and the Andre family story is recorded in publications on file in our Research Room. Jim will be working with us to improve the financial stability of the Dallidet property and the History Center as a whole.

John Ashbaugh

John has taught history and global studies at Allan Hancock College since 2001. John’s varied career also includes city planning, public education, and co-founding the SLO County Land Conservancy. He ran for public office and served two terms on the San Luis Obispo City Council and served on the city’s planning commission. John holds Masters degrees in landscape architecture, city planning, and education and a doctorate in educational leadership and organizations from UCSB. As the History Center President, John hopes to bring the organization to a new level of volunteer participation, collaboration with our allied organizations in historic preservation and partnerships with the local business community.

Sandy Baer

Sandy has served two previous terms on the History Center Board of Directors, including as Vice-President and Chair of the Dallidet committee. She also served on the City’s Cultural Heritage Committee for 10 years and the Promotional Coordinating Council for eight years. She authored feature articles for SLO Journal for 18 years, mostly about local luminaries, county history, the arts and culture.  She recently joined the San Luis Obispo County Library Foundation Board.  She enjoys cooking, baking, canning and reading.

Kathleen Cairns

Kathleen Cairns taught History/Women's Studies at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and at California State University Sacramento. Before that she was a journalist in Long Beach, CA. She holds a Ph.D. in history from UC Davis, and is the author of six books--all focused on women and California history.

Sharon Gottesfeld

Sharon has extensive volunteer experience as a Museum volunteer docent and on the Exhibits Committee. She also attended the January Board retreat and thus will be able to “hit the ground running” with us. She is an attorney, and has lived in San Luis Obispo for 4 years.

Dr. LeolA Dublin Macmillan

Dr. Leola Dublin Macmillan is the new Resource Development Specialist for the United Way of San Luis Obispo County. She is a critical cultural scholar, essayist and social justice activist. She holds a Ph.D. in American Studies from Washington State University. Her scholarly production includes work on adolescent identity development in marginalized girls, and the representation of women and girls in American visual culture.

Dr. Macmillan has served on the board of Just Communities Central Coast, is on the steering committee of RACE Matters SLO County and is a member of the SLO Police Department’s Police and Community Together (PACT) community group. She has more than 30 years’ experience as both an educator and an activist. She has taught in a broad range of disciplines - both inside and outside of higher education - from environmental science to adult literacy. Dr. Macmillan has also worked as a consultant, providing diversity training, grant writing, strategic planning, facilitation, and editorial services for her clients. In 2019, Rep. Salud Carbajal recognized Dr. Macmillan as Congressional Woman of the Year.

Michael Miller