Friends of the Library, a volunteer support group that considers Sacramento State’s library as the heart of the university, put together a lecture focusing on the book, “River City and Valley Life: An Environmental History of the Sacramento Region” on Thursday, April 9.

The book was edited and put together by two of Sac State’s history professors: Lee M. A. Simpson and Christopher J. Castaneda.

“When we were selecting an author last fall, we had no doubt about these authors,” said Bill Dornam, vice president of the board of directors for Friends of the Library. “I think this is an extraordinary, timely book with its interaction with the environment and informing us on the history of Sacramento.”

Simpson was absent from the lecture due to scheduling conflicts, but Castaneda walked the audience through the details of how the book was put together.

The book consists of a collection of 16 essays, starting in 2005, according to Castaneda, who helped author the chapter on Rancho Seco.

“I ran into an old professor, author Marty Melosi, who suggested I do a study on Sacramento,” Castaneda said. “The book looks at the interaction on urban areas and the environment, city and nature.”

He explained that the chapters are chronologically organized by Sacramento’s history and broken into four themes: Boomtown Sacramento, Valley Reclamation, Government Town and Reclaiming the Past.

“The last part asks how has Sacramento integrated its historical legacy,” Castaneda said.

What Lee and Castaneda had to do was identify the parts with the themes of the chapters and then match up the chapters and writers to the theme of each part.

“Almost all of the authors are history professors connected to the university and we’re really proud about that,” Castaneda said.

The book touches on historical subjects from how John A. Sutter used Indian labor to help build the city to the days of the Gold Rush.

“What caught my attention early on, during the first three decades, Sacramento grew at a slower rate than all of the California cities,” said Kenneth N. Owens in the book.

Owens then explained that this was due to Sacramento not yet having air conditioning, which had the audience breaking into loud laughter.

Castaneda explained to the audience that the book also contains many old photographs of the city during its early developments, giving the reader a clear picture of what they are reading.

The book also touches on agriculture in the region and how hydraulic mining was an issue even in earlier times.

“Sacramento is a great case study for this project,” Castaneda said.