Some of us hear our calling quite young. David Bisol was one of them.

Growing up in Goleta, he initially thought the area had very little history, until a memorable book on the Rancho Dos Pueblos crossed his path in seventh grade. He read it enthusiastically and began identifying sites mentioned in the text.

“I felt connected to my community,” Bisol said. “I had a sense of being for the first time.”

Today, Bisol is the executive director of the Santa Barbara Historical Museum. He vividly recalls his first trip to the museum and subsequently joining as a junior historian. About the same time, he began following the historical writings of author Walker A. Tompkins. The two developed a lifelong friendship and later collaborated on several occasions.

Bisol’s family has lived in the area for generations. In fact, his paternal grandmother was a Cota — for which the downtown street is named. Bisol attended UCSB and majored in history, with a minor in business.

Bisol worked as the museum curator for 17 years before taking the reigns as executive director three years ago. He said he loves the people of the museum and cites their thirst for knowledge as inspiring.

Looking forward, Bisol said he wants to shatter the traditional impressions of a historical museum.

“I don’t want us to be a repository for old objects,” he said. “Instead, we offer perspective on Santa Barbara’s history.”

Bisol is actively collecting diaries — a priceless vehicle to interpret history — and other items that demonstrate the soul of the city.

Asking someone such as Bisol about his favorite piece in the gallery is like asking a mother to name her favorite child, but he narrowed it down to three items: a portrait called Gingi (which promotes the current exhibit), an ornate Chinese shrine and a WPA-era model of Mission Santa Barbara, which also happens to be a working radio.

While the Santa Barbara Historical Museum traditionally has been a first stop for visitors looking to get an overview of the city’s history, it is in the process of creating programs that build on the third- and fourth-grade curricula in local schools. Bisol wants to engage Santa Barbara children early on and have their stories captured as part of the archives. He said a connection to the city and their heritage may even help reduce youth delinquency.

The museum recently joined the age of social media with Facebook and Twitter accounts. Bisol was approached by staff members about the idea and embraced it wholeheartedly.

“We want to be a resource that appeals to all ages, which means we have to keep up with the way people communicate today, and that includes Twitter,” he said.

When asked to say something special about Santa Barbara history, he retorted, “We have an artistic heritage, which is more enriched than any city of our size nationwide.”

He said the vast patronage of vacationing East Coast barons helped seed and build the thriving art community, adding that “Santa Barbara is an internationally recognized brand, and therefore we have a responsibility to be an internationally recognized historical museum.”

Clearly, Bisol loves his job. He gave a detailed tour through the collection and told story after story about anything that caught this reporter’s eye. Interesting tidbits include: The hottest day on record was 134 degrees; the legendary Zorro was originally a Santa Barbara-based bandito who certainly robbed the rich, but little evidence stands that he gave it to the poor. Apparently that version was another Hollywood ending. Bisol also noted that the single largest migration of man was part of local history: the California gold rush.

The museum will host a new exhibit this month titled “Portraits in Paradise: The Photography of Carolyn and Edwin Gledhill, 1906-1944.” It will open at 5:30 p.m. Thursday with a presentation by the couple’s grandson, David Gledhill.

Click here to learn more about the exhibit and the museum.

— Noozhawk contributor Jenn Kennedy can be reached at jennkennedy@noozhawk.com. Click here to see more of her work.