In the final summer of the Roaring Twenties, just weeks before the stock market crash would shatter the nation’s confidence, a quiet and disheveled stranger wandered into Bakersfield. Within hours, that man—49-year-old Augustus Mahillon—would b...

For decades, Sidney “Sid” Sheffield devoted his life to making Bakersfield a better place — as a teacher, administrator, and champion of local education and health care. His warmth drew people in, his optimism lifted spirits, and his...