The Clift Royal Sonesta Hotel, a San Francisco landmark since 1915, continues its monthly speaker series, Making History Fun Again, designed to celebrate the city’s legendary past through lively storytelling, fascinating personalities and unforgettable local history.
On Thursday, October 15, award-winning arts and culture journalist Rae Alexandra will present “Unsung Heroines: The Women Who Changed the Bay Area,” a spirited journey through the lives of 35 remarkable women whose courage, creativity and determination helped shape San Francisco and Northern California.
Drawn from Alexandra’s long-running KQED series Rebel Girls From Bay Area History, her book, Unsung Heroines: 35 Women Who Changed the Bay Area (published by City Lights and available in bookstores all over Northern California), restores an extraordinary and diverse group of women to their rightful place in the region’s story. Their lives span the earliest years of San Francisco and the greater Bay Area through the present day.
Educators and organizers, adventurers and entertainers, activists and innovators, the women in Unsung Heroines challenged convention, transformed their communities and opened paths for generations that followed. Together, their stories offer a vivid new rendering of Northern California history—one told through women whose influence has too often been overlooked.
During the program, Alexandra will share some of the surprising personalities and discoveries behind the book, explore why these stories disappeared from familiar historical narratives, and discuss what changes when women are placed at the center of the Bay Area’s past. The evening will invite audiences to reconsider who gets remembered, whose accomplishments become part of civic identity and how overlooked lives can illuminate the region we know today.
Born and raised in Wales, Alexandra began her career in London as a music journalist for the spirited rock ’n’ roll magazine Kerrang!. After moving to San Francisco in 2002, she contributed to alt-weeklies including SF Weekly and The Village Voice. She joined KQED in 2016, serving for a decade as a reporter and producer covering the people, movements and cultural forces that make the Bay Area distinctive. She is currently working on her second book. For more information, please visit Rae Alexandra.
The complimentary event begins with non-hosted cocktails at 5:00 p.m., followed by the program from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. in The Clift’s historic Redwood Room. Advance reservations are required.
Event Details
What: Making History Fun Again - Unsung Heroines: The Women Who Changed the Bay Area
Featured Speaker: Rae Alexandra, award-winning arts and culture journalist and author of Unsung Heroines: 35 Women Who Changed the Bay Area
When: Thursday, October 15, 2026 | 5:00 p.m. non-hosted cocktail hour | 6:00–7:30 p.m. program
Where: The Redwood Room, The Clift Royal Sonesta Hotel, 495 Geary Street, San Francisco
Admission: Complimentary with RSVP
RSVP: Making History Fun Again Speaker Series at The Clift — Eventbrite
Upcoming Speaker Series
Thursday, November 19 — Heather Knight of The New York Times leads a panel on the history of Bay Area media featuring Will Hearst, Wendy Tokuda, Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez and John Rothmann.
About Rae Alexandra
Rae Alexandra is an award-winning arts and culture journalist and the author of Unsung Heroines: 35 Women Who Changed the Bay Area (City Lights). She began her career in London at Kerrang! and later contributed to SF Weekly and The Village Voice. From 2016 to 2026, she served as a reporter and producer at KQED. She is currently working on her second book.
About The Clift Royal Sonesta Hotel
Located at 495 Geary Street, The Clift Royal Sonesta Hotel blends contemporary design with timeless character. Home to the legendary Redwood Room, the hotel has been a cultural fixture of San Francisco since 1915. Following a multimillion-dollar renovation, The Clift offers 372 stylish guest rooms and suites, state-of-the-art event space, and an enduring commitment to hospitality that is, and always has been, legendary. Learn more at The Clift Royal Sonesta Hotel or by calling (415) 775-4700.
