California History articles from March 2006

California History archives from March 2006

Fig and fog hypnosis.(Fresno)(Editorial)
March 22, 2006... Back in the early seventies I lived in Fresno for five years--five long years that seemed more like fifty. The dense, lush heaviness of the fig trees that bordered the Fresno State campus--with their huge leaves, knotted branches, and abundant...

Really big fruits and veggies.(COLLECTIONS)(exaggeration post cards)(Brief article)
March 22, 2006... Minnesota has Paul Bunyan and Babe, the Blue Ox. Florida has its gators, the world's largest reptiles. And, of course, they say that everything is larger that, life in Texas. But in California, home to the world's tallest trees and an...

Chaos theory--a drive-by guide to bay area's science museums.(CALIFORNIA JOURNEY)
March 22, 2006... The panoramic view from the new tower of the recently reopened de Young Museum in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park is the new "must-see" destination for every Bay Area visitor. My spouse and I were there to celebrate her birthday with her...

Percy H. Steele, Jr., and the Urban League: race relations and the struggle for civil rights in post-World War II San Diego.
March 22, 2006... "Colored people [in San Diego] are not allowed in restaurants, hotels, nor to drink soda water in drugstores, nor can they rent bathing suits at any bathing house or beach in this city," confided E. J. Gentry to James Weldon Johnson, national...

Governor Reagan: a reappraisal.(Ronald Reagan)
March 22, 2006... Today's Republicans seem devoted to a political apotheosis of Ronald Reagan. Determined to ensure that the "judgment of history" will rank him among the "greats," they react strongly to anyone challenging the standard assumption that Reagan...

Arturo Tirado and the Teatro Azteca: Mexican popular culture in the central San Joaquin Valley.
March 22, 2006... Imagine going to a movie house in a small western town in the 1940s and 1950s and seeing Clark Gable, Cary Grant, and Katharine Hepburn performing live before packed audiences. Sounds incredible, but this was exactly the experience of many...

American Prophet: The Life and Work of Carey McWilliams.(Book review)
March 22, 2006... AMERICAN PROPHET: The Life and Work of Carey McWilliams By Peter Richardson (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2005, 334 pp., cloth, $35) Peter Richardson, editorial director at PoliPointPress in Sausalito, has given us a...

The Bay Bridge.(Book review)
March 22, 2006... THE BAY BRIDGE By Paul C. Trimble and John C. Alioto (Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2005, 128 pp., paper, $19.19) We normally think of the "Images of America" series from Arcadia Publishing as volumes offering us brief,...

Building San Francisco's Parks, 1850-1930.(Book review)
March 22, 2006... BUILDING SAN FRANCISCO'S PARKS, 1850-1930 By Terence Young (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University, 2004, 260 pp., cloth, $45) Terence Young has given us an informative, reliable, and workmanlike portrait of the movement to create Golden...

Chinese Immigrants, African Americans, and Racial Anxiety in the United States, 1848-82.
March 22, 2006... CHINESE IMMIGRANTS, AFRICAN AMERICANS, AND RACIAL ANXIETY IN THE UNITED STATES, 1848-82 By Najia Aarim-Heriot (University of Illinois Press, Champaign, 2003, 291 pp., cloth, $39.95). What factors led to the passage of the 1882 Chinese...

Home Bound: Filipino American Lives Across Cultures, Communities, and Countries.(Book review)
March 22, 2006... HOME BOUND: Filipino American Lives Across Cultures, Communities, and Countries By Yen Le Espiritu (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003, 271 pp., cloth, $55, paper, $24.95) Yen Le Espiritu's study of Filipino American lives...

Killing for Land in Early California: Indian Blood at Round Valley, 1856-1863.(Book review)
March 22, 2006... KILLING FOR LAND IN EARLY CALIFORNIA: Indian Blood at Round Valley, 1856-1863 By Frank H. Baumgardner III (New York: Algora Publishing: 2005, 284 pp., $29.95 cloth, $22.95 paper) It is one of California's tragic and dirty little...

Preserving the Living Past: John C. Merriam's Legacy in the State and National Parks.(Crow's Range: An Environmental History of the Sierra Nevada)(Book review)
March 22, 2006... PRESERVING THE LIVING PAST: John C. Merriam's Legacy in the State and National Parks By Stephen R. Mark (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2005, 204 pp., cloth, $39.95) CROW'S RANGE: An Environmental History of the Sierra...

Individuals.(DONORS)
March 22, 2006... The California Historical Society is deeply grateful to the following individual donors for their contributions received between June 1, 2005 and June 1, 2006: $10,000 AND ABOVE Mr. Darius Anderson, San Francisco Mr. Ted Balestreri,...

Corporate, foundation, & government support.(DONORS)(Brief article)
March 22, 2006... The California Historical Society is deeply grateful to the following organizations for their contributions received between June 1,2005 and June 1, 2006: $10,000 AND ABOVE Barkley Fund, Corona Del Mar Boston Private Financial...

Beautiful desolation.(SPOTLIGHT)(obituary-Will Connell )(Obituary)(Brief article)
March 22, 2006... Steeped in the surrealist movement, Hollywood glamour, and industrial photography, Will Connell (1898-1961) passed -along his irreverent sensibility and strong technical skills to his students at Art Center, then located in Los Angeles. ...