Silicon Valley Women’s Organizations and Resources
Whether you are a woman wanting to network with other moms or business women or those of your culture, we have links to women’s organizations for you!
Arts & Creative Hobbies
Camera Club
Meets monthly for a meeting on second Tuesdays, and holds field trips to take photographs in lovely surroundings. Classes on matting and other photography tips. Contests and community displays.
Golden Hills Art Association
A fairly active group of artists, though not online much. Find announcements about meetings in print media.
Peaceful Poets
The Peaceful Poets are a Milpitas-based group of writers and appreciators of poetry. Their works have been published in the Milpitas Post and Fremont Bulletin. Facebook for meeting dates and times.
Gardening
Gardening with Natives
A special interest group of the California Native Plant Society’s local Chapter which meets on the first Thursday of each month at 7p in the Community Library. The group is open to all, and includes a mix of seasoned native plant gardeners as well as beginners.
Local (Milpitas) Home Gardeners Club 2018
This is a community based home gardening club begun to provide education, share pointers, trade and exchange, and overall support each other in building productive and healthy home gardens.
History
Milpitas Historical Society
Generally meets on the second Wednesday of each month, except in the summer, and has a Holiday party in December. Milpitas History books and other memorabilia available to buy in their online store.
Teenagers in Silicon Valley & Milpitas
What’s there to do for teenagers in this town? How do Milpitas and other Silicon Valley cities treat their teenagers?
Resources for Clubs
Donation Locations
Where to drop off your holiday donations of food, toys or cash for Milpitas and area charities.
Grant Writing
Too often grant writers fall into these traps when applying for community grants.
Grant Writing Help
A list of organizations that provide technical assistance, consulting, classes and research materials in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Halls
Whether you need a meeting hall for business, a wedding, or large event, there’s a place to rent in Milpitas!
Volunteer
Volunteer matching services. Find the voluntary service that’s just right for you.
Please join Executive Producers Donnie Eiland and David Mosqueda for a special virtual viewing of…
54: The Story Of The First Planned Integrated Community In The Country
History of the Sunnyhills Neighborhood Association
Sunnyhills was the first planned racially-integrated community in the United States in 1956, arranged by a Union co-op of the United Auto Workers. Today, Sunnyhills still has one of the highest levels of integration of any neighborhood. More detailed version.
K’Meyer related the story of how the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), a Quaker social action organization, and the United Auto Workers union cooperated in the early 1950s to build Sunnyhills, an intentionally integrated community, to provide housing for the Black and white workers at the Milpitas Ford factory—one of the first interracial housing developments in the nation. Copies of her book are available from the Neighborhood Association and The Milpitas Historical Society.
The Untold Stories of Sunnyhills, Where History Was Made
By Rhoda Shapiro
February 14, 2019
Story how Milpitas resident Donnie Eiland came up with the idea to film a history of Sunnyhills, the neighborhood he grew up in. Back in January, 2019, Eiland flew Ben Gross’ son, Benjamin Gross, Jr., out from Minnesota to take part in the documentary. During his stay, Benjamin spoke at a couple of community events to share fascinating stories about his father, who passed away in 2012, and what it was like to grow up in Sunnyhills.
Sunnyhills…and The Soviet Union?
After the Kitchen Debate, Ben Gross (senior) had been in constant contact with Walter Reuther (President of the UAW), and asked that Reuther extend an invitation to Khrushchev to visit Sunnyhills. Gross wanted the Soviet leader to see an integrated community with his own eyes.
Khrushchev accepted and, once in Milpitas, made a special stop.
The Grosses threw a barbecue in the backyard to welcome the Premier. Khrushchev, his son, and five other officials came out to their Sunnyhills home. A visit to five different homes in the neighborhood was also set up, so that Khrushchev could witness the integrated neighborhood in action.
The event was not disclosed to the media. In fact, Russian security officials confiscated Benjamin’s camera, which is why no photos of the Premier’s visit exist.
I <3 Ol’ School Milpitas!
For those who grew up in, went to school in, spent time in, or love somebody from Milpitas. Please keep ALL posts about memories of people and events from Milpitas.
History of Milpitas: the 1900s
On January 26, 1954, Milpitas residents incorporated as a city that included the recently built Ford Auto Assembly plant.
Sunnyhills United Methodist Church History 1957-1982
Sunnyhills United Methodist Church was officially dedicated in January of 1959. Sunnyhills has been blessed with excellent and varied styles of leadership.
“This [country] will in a few years become a…colony; instead of [their] learning our language, we must learn theirs, or live as in a foreign country.”
– Advice to German immigrants from Benjamin Franklin, publisher of die Philadelphische Zeitung, the first German newspaper in America, 1751.
Immigrants speaking other languages have been arriving in Santa Clara County for about 2 centuries contributing to our diverse ethnic history. Eventually they learn English, and begin to call themselves hyphenated-Americans, and become part of this wonderful melting pot. But is being a hyphenated-American a good thing? Does it imply not being 100% American?
Our Ethnic Heritage
Knowledge of Immigrant Nationalities of Santa Clara County
Unless we all start from the premise that we are innocently ignorant of the background and conditions of the rich cultures in our midst, and are challenged to rise to new levels of human understanding and humane relations, we suffer the possibility of engaging in insensitive or even discriminatory behaviors.
Silicon Valley Cultures Project
A fifteen year ethnographic study of the cultures living and working in the hi-tech communities of Silicon Valley.
A History of Black Americans in California
Although Afro-American people were comparatively few in number before World War II, they were settled throughout the state and made significant contributions to its development and growth. National Park Service.
Angel Island: Immigrant Journeys of Chinese-Americans
Between 1910 and 1940, there were as many as 175,000 Chinese immigrants detained and processed at Angel Island, San Francisco Bay, California. Unlike Ellis Island in New York’s harbor, Angel Island is a visible reminder of a shameful period in U.S. immigration history.
Asian-Nation
Your one-stop information source on the historical, political, demographic, and cultural issues that make up today’s diverse Asian American community. You can almost think of Asian-Nation as an online version of “Asian Americans 101.”
Chinese Historical & Cultural Project
Based in Santa Clara County, California, it was founded in 1987 as a non-profit organization to promote and preserve Chinese American and Chinese history and culture through community outreach activities.
A History of Chinese Americans in California
Amid the increased numbers of Chinese immigrants in recent years, it should be remembered that not all Chinese Americans are recent arrivals.
Filipino
The colonial context of Filipino American immigrants’ psychological experiences
In Santa Clara County, 60% of randomly surveyed Filipinos cited economic problems as the main reason they left the Philippines. Fifty three percent also reported a desire to reunite with family. Similarly, 65% of public benefits recipients cited family reunification as the main reason they left their home country. The Filipino community is scattered in the suburbs of San Jose, Milpitas, Santa Clara, and Sunnyvale. While most speak English, many do not consider it their first nor most frequently used language.
Germans & Swiss
Die Deutschen in Kalifornien: Germans in Urban California, 1850-1860
A scholarly thesis by Carole Cosgrove Terry. The society that the European and American newcomers created in urban California was a combination of individual, ethnically-centered but unstructured cultural communities where the German-Californians were an influential and important segment of the citizenry.
Johann August Sutter
General Sutter, as he was generally known, was forced to flee his creditors in Switzerland at the age of 30. Ten years later, in California, he was the “ruler of the Saccramento Valley, founder of New Helvetia, a small sovereign.” After the discovery of gold on his land, he lost everything.
The WWI Home Front: War Hysteria & the Persecution of German-Americans
Anglo-Saxons had their own definition of what was “American”, and anything that did not conform was an undesirable deviation, perhaps even dangerous. And they were having trouble understanding why German-Americans would not willingly give up their German culture.
Hispanic
Early History of Santa Clara County
Although Mexico broke with the Spanish crown in 1821, it was not until May 10, 1825, that San Jose acknowledged Mexican rule. On May 13, 1846, the United States declared war on Mexico. Captain Thomas Fallon, leading 19 men, entered San Jose on July 14, 1846, and raised the United States flag over the town hall.
A History of Mexican Americans in California
The roots of the Chicano experience stretched back some three centuries to 1519 when Spaniards and their Indian allies carried out the conquest of the Aztec Empire in central Mexico and established what they called “New Spain.” National Park Service.
Irish
California and Bay Area Irish History: The Murphy Family
Martin and his family, Irish immigrants whose search for religious and educational freedom led them to California, were the first English speaking family to settle in Santa Clara Valley in 1849. From his home, Martin introduced the area’s first orchards and modern farm equipment and helped to establish the state’s first schools. In Milpitas we have a park named “Murphy.” The Shaughessy-Murphy Milk Shed still exists at the sewage pump facility near Coyote Creek.
The Irish in California
It is fashionable today, in some circles, to ignore, or at least minimize, the contributions of anyone from Europe. My intent is to point out, in a small way, how important the Irish were to the development of this state.
Japanese
History of Japantown, San Jose
Japanese, new to the country, eventually chose to build their wooden buildings next to Chinatown. Because the Chinese had already settled there, the environment was more familiar to them.
A History of Japanese Americans in California
How the National Park Service selects sites to show the history and contributions of Japanese in our state. A site both to find history and directions to historical sites.
Japanese American Museum of San Jose
Step into the past and help us honor our community’s stories of sacrifice, hardship and resilience. We invite you to come and engage with the firsthand experiences of Japanese Americans who experienced the racial tension and hysteria of WWII.
Japantown, San Jose
San Jose’s Japantown (Nihonmachi) developed from where the immigrant Japanese first settled in Santa Clara Valley. More than a century following its humble beginnings, it remains one of the last three historical Japantowns in the United States.
History of the Ohlone Indians, the indigenous people who inhabited the south San Francisco Bay region of California.
Bloody Island Massacre
To this day, the US Army, State of California, or County of Lake, have made no attempt to apologize for nearly annihilating the innocent Pomo people of Bodanapotti.
California Cultures: Native Americans
At the time of Spanish colonization in the late 1700s, California was home to more than 300,000 indigenous people in more than 200 tribes. Their centuries-old way of life was brought to an end relatively quickly: native Californians soon established regular trading relationships with the Spanish, increasing coastal groups’ power and prestige, giving them greater leverage in dealings with inland groups.
California Indian Heritage Center
After a long search for an appropriate site, the California Indian Heritage Center Task Force and California State Parks secured a new location along the Sacramento River in West Sacramento.
Chitactac-Adams Heritage County Park
The park features the beautiful Uvas Creek and a wealth of cultural artifacts including bedrock mortars and petroglyphs left by the Ohlone Indians. Visit the park.
Federally Recognized California Tribes
The BIA only give the tribe’s legal name — often that of its little rancheria — so I added the tribe or tribes included for each. I’ve grouped the rancherias by tribe, and arranged the groups roughly from north to south.
First Californians
What happened to the first Californians? Before 1769, over 300,000 Native Californians lived in the state. This population was made up of over 100 tribes that practiced diverse cultural and linguistic traditions. In 1870, 22 years after the discovery of gold in California, less than 30,000 were left.
A History of American Indians in California
Unlike the present population of California, the Indians lived well within the capacity of their environment. They developed religious systems and social norms, and they traded with their neighbors for goods or services not available in their own communities. National Park Service.
California Slaughter: The State-Sanctioned Genocide of Native Americans
One has to wonder – if traditional life in the pre-contact Indian villages on the Monterey Peninsula was so great, and the game so plentiful, and their spiritual life so satisfying, what in the world possessed these contented Indians to voluntarily, sometimes it seems, even eagerly, enter a Catholic mission in the first place?
In the Land of My Ancestors – Kanyon “Coyote Woman” Sayers-Roods and POST
The film is about the life and work of the mother of Kanyon “Coyote Woman” Sayers-Roods, Anne Marie Sayers, and her work stewarding Indian Canyon, the only Federally recognized Indigenous land in the Bay Area, located just south of Hollister. Kanyon will share more about her story, the film, and other issues related to Indigenous communities of the Bay Area.
Indian Canyon
The free, non commercial, Indian Created and Managed information site on Costanoan/Ohlone and California indigenous people.
Indigenous History in the Bay Area, Part 1: Overview – Mark Hylkema and POST
Before the Spanish arrived here and before California became a part of the United States, the Bay Area was one of the most densely populated and linguistically diverse areas in North America. This session provides a broad overview of historic Indigenous communities in our area based on what we know of archaeological studies and oral histories. Participants will learn a basic framework for understanding the complex and varied native communities of the Peninsula and the South Bay. Session 2 and Session 3.
Indigenous Populations in the Bay Area
It is critical to recognize the Bay Area’s Indigenous populations, past and present. Despite the atrocities of colonization and genocide, Native communities persist today and are active in efforts to preserve and revive the culture. According to the U.S. Census, the Indigenous population in the Bay Area is 18,500 strong and is projected to grow over the next few decades.
Ishi Collection
Ishi, born probably about 1860, spent most of his life in hiding with his family, avoiding the assaults of white settlers moving into Yahi territory. Finally, on 29 August 1911, Ishi walked into the nearby town of Oroville, CA. Apparently, all the members of his family, along with the rest of the Yahi, had perished
Linda Yamane’s Apprenticeship Blog
Ohlone feathered baskets involve a labor-intensive three-rod coiling technique. In addition to the delicate work of incorporating fine mallard duck feathers throughout the outer basket wall, the baskets are adorned with quail topknot feathers and abalone shell dangles.
Living on Ohlone Land
The agreement with Planting Justice is a first step in a far more ambitious effort to repatriate East Bay land to Ohlone people. The Sogorea Te Land Trust intends to acquire dozens or even hundreds of parcels in a patchwork throughout the East Bay, partly using funds generated by the “Shummi Land Tax” — a voluntary way for non-indigenous Bay Area residents to acknowledge the theft of Ohlone land and work toward its healing.
Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area
Over ten thousand years ago, before the waters of the Pacific Ocean passed through the gap now spanned by the Golden Gate Bridge and filled the interior valley-basins, the ancestors of the present-day Muwekma Ohlone along with the neighboring tribal groups had established their homes within this changing landscape.
Ohlone Costanoan Esselen Nation
Presently Ohlone Costanoan Esselen Nation represents over 600 enrolled tribal members of both Esselen and Carmeleno descent from at least 19 villages from a contiguous region surrounding Monterey Bay.
The Ohlone People
Ancestors of the Ohlone people wandered into this land of great abundance several thousand years ago.
An Overview of Ohlone Culture
In the 16th century, (prior to the arrival of the Spaniards), over 10,000 Indians lived in the central California coastal areas between Big Sur and the Golden Gate of San Francisco Bay. This group of Indians consisted of approximately forty different tribelets ranging in size from 100-250 members, and was scattered throughout the various ecological regions of the greater Bay Area.
Early California: pre-1769–1840s: Native California
Beginning in the 1840s, leaders and politicians used the phrase, “Manifest Destiny” to justify American expansionism and make it seem preordained. Instead of waiting for the organic, though inevitable expansion of the U.S. population to the West, the federal government took actions to both accelerate and control westward expansion. The goal of “settling” the country from ocean to ocean had a profound impact on the Native Americans, who had no place in this vision of the nation’s destiny.
Shapes and Uses of California Indian Basketry
A basket was worked, and formed of grasses, twigs and fibers into a piece of artistic design–sometimes only to be admired for its artistry, but usually created to serve a further purpose. Baskets were made to serve all the container needs of the early California peoples who had no pottery.
Short Overview of California Indian History
Few contemporary Americans know of the widespread armed revolts precipitated by Mission Indians against colonial authorities. By Professor Edward D. Castillo
Song for the Ohlone by Martha Robrahn: We have walked these hills and valleys long before your time, When the waters ran clear, the forests stood tall, The earth gave us all we could ever need, And we lived our lives in dignity.
Those Who Came Before
Long before the Stanfords built their farm, the Muwekma-Ohlone called this land their own. Now the University is striving to preserve 5,000 years of history.
East Bay Mysterious Rock Walls are also known as the Berkeley Mystery Walls. These crude, stone walls are located in the San Francisco Bay Area in California. In places, they are up to a meter high and a meter wide; the walls run in sections anywhere from a few meters to over a half mile long. The rocks used to construct the East Bay Walls are a variety of sizes. Some are basketball-sized rocks, while others are large sandstone boulders weighing a ton or more. Parts of the wall seem to be just piles of rocks, but in other places it appears the walls were carefully constructed. The exact age of the walls is unknown, but they have an old appearance. Many of the formations have sunk far into the earth, and are often completely overgrown with different plants. The purpose of these walls is still unknown. Since the wall is not continuous and is composed of multiple sections, they could not have been used as a fence. They are not tall enough to have been used as defense mechanisms. The walls function is unknown as well as the constructors. The East Bay Walls are accessible in several area parks, including Ed R. Levin County Park in Santa Clara County and Mission Peak Regional Preserve in Alameda County. The walls are found in the east bay of San Francisco.
The Real, True Story of the Mystery of the East Bay Walls | Bay Curious
East Bay Rock Walls and Alignments
There are many crude walls throughout the hills surrounding the San Francisco Bay Area. In places, they are up to a meter high and a meter wide and are built without mortar.The walls run in sections anywhere from a few meters to over a half mile long.
The rocks used to construct the walls are a variety of sizes. Some are basketball-sized rocks, while others are large sandstone boulders weighing a ton or more. Parts of the walls seem to be just piles of rocks, but in other places it appears the walls were carefully constructed.The exact age of the walls is unknown, but they have an old appearance.
America Unearthed: Ancient Ruins Discovered in California (S3, E7) | Full Episode | History
Berkeley Mystery Walls, Fremont, California
Neither Spanish settlers nor anyone since has been able to tell who built these strange California rock walls. There are remnants of ancient stone walls all over the East Bay, and no one knows how old they are, who built them, or why. Though people have been pondering the enigma of the Berkeley Mystery Walls for well over a hundred years, no conclusions have been reached, and despite wild speculation, no serious scholarly study has ever been undertaken.
Dikes and Sills
Visually, a dike looks like a natural wall of stone, sort of like a dam – or dike. A sill appears on a hillside or cliff face as a horizontal band of stone, like a window sill. Since both dikes and sills are originally of subterranean origin, some sort of regional uplift and/or erosion must have taken place to expose them at the surface. However, the East Bay Walls are definitely sandstone and full of shell fossils, so not volcanic by any stretch.
Mexican Rock Walls
Walls of Rock
I’m assuming many of the walls – there are miles of them in total around here – are put up by families, not someone making a solo effort. The work must be dangerous: to drop a heavy rock, or have it topple after it’s positioned, can easily be a bone-breaking event. Up on the trails, I’m conscious that a twisted ankle or a sprained knee would mean a painful hobble to get help, but having 120 pounds of lava fall on my foot would be a whole other problem.So, I tip my straw hat to the guys who can construct and maintain these things. The walls are often a guide to the route I need to take, and they also indicate the long, long heritage of land cultivation around here.
Grand Natural Wall in Montana
It is easy to see how these walls are formed and broken down by erosion by looking at the Grand Natural Wall on the Eagle Creek in Montana, the biggest of many igneous “dikes” that formed within sandstone cracks millions of years ago. This “wall-like” appearance is quite common along this stretch of the river. Millions of years ago, during active volcanic periods, dark molten material was forced into cracks in the sedimentary rock. Over time the molten material solidified and subsequent erosion of the surrounding softer rock exposed the dark igneous walls you see today.
Mystery Walls – Bison Weirs?
The Spanish settlers in the area reported that the walls were already there when they arrived, and when they asked the local Ohlone American Indians, they said the same thing. Some think ancient Chinese navigators would have built the walls, but there would have had to have been thousands of them here well before the Ohlone Indians and over 10,000 years ago. However, the walls were the only structure left, which would have been odd for a civilization that knew how to build from stone.
Stone walls at Ed Levin County Park
Arlene, a local hiker, asked me about the stone walls at Ed Levin County Park. She said she’s been to the park but hasn’t seen the walls. Perhaps she’s among the sane folks who avoid hiking to the heights behind Ed Levin’s Sandy Wool Lake — the summits require 2,000 feet of climb in 3.9 miles, most of it unshaded and wind-blasted. The insane, like yours truly, have enjoyed the benefits of gazing upon these these interesting piles of stone.
To reach the walls you have to hike to the Monument Peak summit, about a quarter mile from the intersection of the Monument Peak and Agua Caliente trails. Either trail is a major slog, but the Monument Peak Trail is a little bit easier.
Unravelling the Mystery Behind the East Bay Walls: Who Really Made Them and Why?
In the hills around East Bay and elsewhere near San Francisco, there is a series of stone walls that extend discontinuously for miles. The walls are about 3-4 feet high in most places and are not enclosed. There is also no record of them being built or who might have built them.
New England Is Crisscrossed With Thousands of Miles of Stone Walls
Notice how farmers in the 1800s and earlier built stone walls out of rock debris in their fields. A lidar map on this site shows how each field was enclosed by a small square or rectangle of these discarded rocks, never in long, unenclosed areas. They were built from the ground up, never buried like our Mysterious Walls. Usually the remains of a farmhouse can be found nearby to these New England walls. No buildings or foundations have been found near the walls in our hills.
Sheep Jumping Fence
Including this to show how even sheep can manage to get over a wall made of sticks about 4′ high. Why would anyone try to contain wild game like elk or deer or farm animals like cattle or sheep with low rock walls? I can see how maybe more modern people saw these already half built walls, and reengineered them for their own purposes, such as hiding behind when hunting.
The Character and Function of Ancient Chinese Walls and Fortifications
Early Chinese were building huge, wide walls for fortifications against enemies and against flood waters. They were very good at constructing such walls, and they worked as they expected. They were not randomly piled rocks. Our walls are up in mountains and none are near rivers that need diverting, which they wouldn’t work for anyway. And if the walls were built for defense, defense against whom?
I’m not counting the “collection” in our garage, no I’m not! As some of you know, we homeschooled our son. So I’m going to talk about our favorite “field trips” in the area. I’m going to focus on museums for children and the young at heart.
We were members for years when Scott was younger, going to the BIG PURPLE BUILDING where they “let you play in the street” almost once a month. Well, the “street motif” is gone, but the newer design provides room for more hands-on exhibits. The Children’s Discovery Museum is easily reached by the Light Rail, stopping right in front of the building. Getting there by train doubles the fun. The museum is located on Woz Way, named after Apple Computer’s inventor, Steve Wozniak, who was the prime benefactor for the museum. The museum is supported by individual and corporate members.
Children are encouraged to get right in exhibits and think and play with the concepts. Interactive workshops are scheduled for Sunday afternoons.
Irvington Fossils. This fossil collection was excavated in the 1940’s-60’s in a quarry located in the Irvington area of Fremont by a group of young boys. The collection of fossils included mammoths, sabertooth cats, giant cave bears, dire wolves, camels, western horses, sloths, and pronghorn antelopes.
Best time to visit is Saturday evenings when they show a double feature of classic silent movies. The town of Niles was the Hollywood of the silent movie era, and movies by Charlie Chaplin and Broncho Billy were made in the area. Tours of the town to see the old film day buildings are also available. The whole area is considered historic. You can also ride a train up the Niles Canyon, once scenery for cowboy movies. Things To Do In Niles.
We offer weekday tours and activities for school groups that will fill their day of fun in Niles.
NESFM Tour offers:
A viewing of one or two silent films made in Niles by Broncho Billy and Charlie Chaplin
A brief talk on early film making history and Niles role in it.
A tour of the Edison Theatre c1913, Museum exhibits and the original tin lined projection booth.
A “Zoetrope”, (moving pictures) workshop where the students get to make their own moving picture strip.
A guided walking tour of the historic Niles district with our local historian / docents.
Now the Scott’s a teenager, The Tech Museum of Science & Innovation is by far the coolest museum in Silicon Valley. Upon entering, he makes a beeline for the submersible robots on the bottom floor.
Second Sunday each month is free admission.
We also like to see whatever movie is playing at the IMAX theater.
If you can’t make it to The Tech today, visit their online exhibits and mess around with science for a bit.
At the Intel Museum in Santa Clara, you can experience the power of computer chips first hand, and the evolution of their development. Explore the pages of the site and interact with our Web movies to learn more about the museum and computer chips.
Spend a day at the Computer History Museum. Find out why computer history is 2000 years old. Learn about computer history´s game-changers in our multimedia exhibitions. Play a game of Pong or Spacewar! Listen to computer pioneers tell their story from their own perspective. Discover the roots of today´s Internet and mobile devices. See over 1,100 historic artifacts, including some of the very first computers from the 1940s and 1950s. 1401 N. Shoreline Blvd
Mountain View, CA 94043 650-810-1010
An affordable, sustainable, conservation-centered outdoor adventure for families with children.
Come play with us! The education department at Happy Hollow Park and Zoo encourages children of all ages to embrace their wild side. Join us as we explore our natural world and make new friends!
In the 1950’s, people from all over the USA fell in love with Disneyland, and wanted some place like Disneyland in their home town. Jaycees, Alden Campen and Ernie Renzel (former Mayor of San Jose) took this dream to heart, and following Oakland’s lead (the creation of Oakland’s Fairyland), approached City “fathers” in 1956 with the idea of developing a children’s park on property owned and for sale by the Kelley Family.
Beginning the week of Oct. 4, 2021, Happy Hollow’s new operating hours will be Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. This schedule will continue through the fall and will be reevaluated as we approach the winter holidays.
When you’ve completed your stay at the park and zoo, take the little train over to the San Jose Historical Museum, which is more of a city than a “museum.” I think all the historic buildings in the area are hauled here, renovated, and then opened to visitors. Children will like the horse drawn trolley rides and O’Brian’s Candy Store. The dentist office will help them appreciate their dentist even more!
A four year old once told me he didn’t believe in mummies, so I took him along with us to the Egyptian Museum. Maybe ghosts are debatable, but mummies are in abundance here! The Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum, architecturally inspired by the Temple of Amon at Karnak, houses the largest collection of Egyptian artifacts on exhibit in the western United States — including objects from pre dynastic times through Egypt’s early Islamic era.
No feature about area museums would be complete without a note about our most famous tourist trap/historical house. You are kept waiting for the next tour in the gift shop, so it’s a bit hard not to spend more than you intended.
Not many remember, but the Winchesters not only invented rifles but also roller skates! One section of the store is dedicated to a “museum” of the inventions of Mr. Winchester. If you stick to this end of the premise before the house tour, you’ll have a much less expensive stay.
The mansion was continuously under construction for the life of its owner, Sarah Winchester. I’ll let the link tell the story. What is myth and what is fact is frequently debated locally. It’s an especially spooky place to visit in October and open all night on Halloween.
I decided it was time to see how well my seven year old daughter knew the Pledge of Allegiance. We had been to many events that said the pledge at the beginning, but I wasn’t sure how well she knew it. So to begin, I said a phrase and she would repeat it back to me. By the end we were saying it together and she finished with, “…one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all… You may be seated.”
I guess we need some work on this!!!!!!!!
— Contributed by Tom Jollie
Does your youngster have a unique way of saying the Pledge or any country’s national anthem, etc.? Email me, and I’ll post the best here.
Red Skelton’s Commentary on the U.S. Pledge of Allegiance
As a schoolboy in Vincennes, Indiana, one of Red Skelton’s teachers explained the words and meaning of the Pledge of Allegiance to his class. Skelton later wrote down, and eventually recorded, his recollection of this lecture.
I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG OF THE UNITED STATES
OF AMERICA, AND TO THE REPUBLIC FOR WHICH IT STANDS,
ONE NATION, (SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE),
INDIVISIBLE, WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL.
Flag Display
Should you fly the US flag at half staff today? Check the image above. There need be no authorization from the government for the private sector (non-governmental sector) to use the Flag to honor any citizen. Individuals are not acting illegally when using the Flag according to their own usage. Only on government or public buildings are the flag code required to be followed.
The Pledge of Allegiance
Hand in hand with the Red Scare, to which it was inextricably linked, the new religiosity overran Washington. Politicians outbid one another to prove their piety. The campaign to add “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance was part of this movement.
You can find out more about ancient and medieval times right here in the South Bay Area. Learn about the mysterious rock wall formations, too.
Paleontological
Boy Paleontologists
In the Irvington gravel pits, known as Bell Quarry, located off of Osgood Road from 1944 to 1960, the Boy Paleontologists of Hayward unearthed plant and animal fossils including mammoths, saber cats, horses, camels, and even rodents. A new species named Tetrameryx irvingtonensis, a four-pronged antelope, was the most significant find. Presently Freeway 680, between Washington Boulevard and Durham Road, covers this fossil field.
Children’s Natural History Museum
Including “Irvingtonian Fossils”, the “Boy Paleontologist” Room, “Bones of Vertebrates,” and “Environments through Time” exhibits. View the fossils from Irvington and Warm Springs District that provide clues for a changing landscape in the East Bay. 4074 Eggers Drive, Fremont, California
Open Tues and Thurs 2-5, first and third Saturdays (1-5).
Fossils of Fremont
Geology maps help to show where fossils may be located along the Mission Fault line.
Fossil treasure trove discovered at Silicon Valley construction site
The discoveries are revealing what Silicon Valley looked like 20 million years ago during the Miocene Epoch, when the ocean extended as far inland as Bakersfield. Since 2011, when work on the project began, crews have found nine whale skulls, to be exact. They have inventoried 529 types of fossils altogether. Of those, 168 are vertebrates, such as sharks; 267 are invertebrates, such as scallops — some as big as dinner plates. Thirty-nine 39 are plants, such as fossilized pine cones; and 55 are other ancient items, from animal tracks to burrows.
Mammoth Discovered in San Jose
On Saturday, July 9, 2011, Roger Castillo, a San Jose truck mechanic, was walking his dog along a levee next to the Guadalupe River, just north of West Trimble Road and the Mineta San Jose Airport. The bones may belong to a Columbian mammoth, Mammuthus columbi, a species known to have lived in the San Francisco Bay Area during the Late Pleistocene.
Trove of ancient marine fossils surprises Bay Area dam builders
Crews had no clue when work started on a Bay Area dam in 2011 that they would stumble onto a trove of marine fossils many millions of years old. Hundreds of specimens have been found at the Calaveras Dam site near Milpitas, Calif. Among the 529 specimens inventoried are scallops as big as dinner plates, a hippo-like mammal called a Desmostylus, megalodon sharks, and whales with and without teeth. Most of the fossils are believed to be about 20 million years old.
Ancient History
Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum & Planetarium Temporarily Closed. While not exactly Milpitas history, you’ve never seen so many mummies and ancient artifacts in one place! Located in San Jose.
Medieval
Society for Creative Anachronism
The International Headquarters of this organization is in Milpitas! This is a link to the first page of their Heraldry section. Want a Coat of Arms?
Milpitas Post founder Mort Levine, with his daughter Deva Luna, reflects on his family’s history in Milpitas, and talks about the life of his wife Elaine Levine, co-founder of The Milpitas Historical Society and original publisher of the Milpitas Post.
Society for Creative Anachronism