1/30 Ag story planted on good ground
History center aims to keep farming life alive and well
By JOANNE SANCHEZ
Sentinel staff writer
An account of a young woman’s struggle to get an education after coming to California to work in agriculture was the type of story Watsonville Public Library Director Deborah Barrow said people will learn at the California Agricultural Worker’s History Center.
"I’d liked to know what happened next," Barrow said as an audience of about 100 attendees of the Friends of the Watsonville Public Library meeting nodded in agreement.
Barrow was one of five presenters who spoke during the "Preserving the Agricultural Legacy of Pajaro Valley" presentation Saturday at the Codiga Center and Museum at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds.
With historian Sandy Lydon as moderator, several people gave presentations of their history preserving efforts. They were: Gerry Martin of the Pajaro Valley Historical Association; Pat Johns, exhibit coordinator of the Agricultural History Project; Dale Skillicorn, Redman House Foundation president; and Loretta Estrada of the Rodgers House.
Seated among an array of black and white photographs, people attentively listened as they were told about the near completion of the Rodgers House, the soon-to-end fur exhibit at the Pajaro Valley Historical Association, the educational History of Apples exhibit at the Agricultural History Project, the recently signed purchase agreement of the Redman House and the proposed California Agricultural Worker’s History Center to be housed at the new library.
All presenters concurred that their individual projects complemented each others and that their goals were in tune — preserving the agricultural legacy of the Pajaro Valley and stressing its importance to life in Watsonville today.
"I propose that we work together," Skillicorn said, who plans for the Redman House to be a gateway and information center for people to learn about all history projects going on in the area.
The California Agricultural Worker’s History Center project is due to be completed in 2007 when the new Watsonville Library in which it will be housed is expected to be finished.
Barrow, who last week announced she would be taking the position of library chief in Sunnyvale, is looking forward to the new library and center, which will occupy 2,000 square feet of the 45,000-square-foot library.
"We need to preserve agricultural history through the eyes of the people who worked in it," she said. "We want to get the stories of everyone, all ethnic groups."
She said she is will be looking to the community for photographs and other artifacts that focus on the people who helped build agriculture in the Pajaro Valley.
At the closing of the presentations, Barrow was presented with a $10,000 check from the Friends of the Watsonville Public Library.
Grace-Marie Hackwell, president of the group, said it was to help with the new center and other projects within the library.
"I hope it will encourage other organizations and community members to donate to the center," she said.
posted by me | 10:37 AM
|
0 comments
links to this post
