7/28 Historic Find at Redman House

BY ROGER SIDEMAN

On the eve of events held around the world to mark the 60th anniversary of the atomic bombs dropped on Japan and the end of World War II, archaeologists at the Redman-Hirahara House are revealing how the war was a very personal affair for many in the Pajaro Valley. While clearing out decades-old debris from a dilapidated barn behind the home, which was built in 1897, student crews found signs that the barn temporarily housed as many as four Japanese families who were displaced after the war, said Rob Edwards, director of the Cabrillo College Archaeological Technology Program. The prominent Japanese Hirahara family bought the house in the 1930s and lived there until the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake ravaged its foundation, making it uninhabitable.Traces of vintage wallpaper and linoleum flooring first clued Edwards and his students in to the likelihood that the barn once housed Japanese families. A small, square closet, apparently added to the barn’s original frame, “is just the right size for a Shinto shrine,” Edwards said.Underneath the wallpaper, they found many pages of Japanese texts nailed into the walls. Crews removed the papers for analysis.“We had no idea of the barn’s importance to the history of the Pajaro Valley,” Edwards said.During the war, the federal government interned 120,000 Japanese immigrants and Japanese-Americans, declaring them a threat to national security. Many lost their homes, property and businesses as a result of Executive Order 9066, which was signed by President Roosevelt on Feb. 19, 1942.In Watsonville, 10 percent of the city’s 1942 population of 8,900 was bused to what is now the California Rodeo Grounds, before being taken to internment camps after three months. Many spent the next few years behind barbed wire in Poston, Ariz. Because there was very little construction during the war, and because two-thirds of the local Japanese-American population didn’t already own land, there was barely any available housing upon their return in 1945.“Anywhere there was a roof, the Japanese would use it,” said prominent local historian Sandy Lydon. “It makes sense to me that a house that size had people living all over the place.”Discrimination against Japanese-Americans continued after the war. One letter mailed to the editor of the Register-Pajaronian stated that residents had gotten along just fine without the Japanese during the war and there was no need for their return. “This view was shared by most people in the Pajaro Valley,” said Watsonville resident Mas Hashimoto, who lived in the camps from age 6 until he was 10.Then, there were the results of a survey conducted by the Watsonville Chamber of Commerce and published in the Register-Pajaronian. “The survey asked its board members whether, upon the return from internment, they would hire us, rent to us or to sell groceries to us, and the vote was 15-3 against our return,” Hashimoto said.“Next week commemorates the bombing of Hiroshima; the timing couldn’t be better,” Lydon said. “We often overlook the things that are closest to us. These finds remind us of the other hand of the story — the return of people of Japanese ancestry.”•••

7/15 Ag history unearthed: Cabrillo students turn historic mansion into dig site

Sentinel Staff Report

WATSONVILLE — Ever wonder what an archaeological excavation looks like up close?

On Thursday, it looked like a bunch of Cabrillo College students hunched over the ground with small shovels looking for human artifacts, and loving every minute of it.

Nearly a dozen students took part Thursday in the college’s Archaeological Technology program, which was carried out at the historic Redman-Hirahara House near Highway 1 and Riverside Drive.

Students are learning their craft, while unearthing cultural artifacts on the grounds of the dilapidated Victorian mansion.

So far they’ve found old buttons, antiquated glass, buttons that look like they came from baby clothes — and a few marbles.

The Cabrillo program is working with the nonprofit Redman Foundation, which plans to restore the house and turn the property into an agriculture demonstration project.

The excavation will be open for public viewing 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday for the next two weeks. For details, contact Rob Edwards at 479-6294 or redwards@cabrillo.edu.

Photo: Cabrillo College student Eryn Supple, part of the Archaeological Technology program, sifts dirt Thursday at the Redman House. (Bill Lovejoy / Sentinel)

7/12 Digging up the Past

BY ROGER SIDEMAN

Naomi Scher unearthed a rusty hand sickle. Gavin Raders found a dusty beer bottle. These aspiring archaeologists are behind the Redman House’s second “groundbreaking” since it went up in 1897. This time, four 10-by-15-foot plots of land are being set up for the students to dig in.“We’ll go as far down as we can until we hit sterile,” said Rob Edwards, director of the Cabrillo College Archaeological Technology Program Summer Field School. “Sterile” refers to the first layer found with no sign of human activity.Each successively deeper layer of earth will be examined for artifacts, which could then be linked to people who lived or worked on the property.“We’re looking to see if there’s a difference in artifacts between the Japanese and Anglo-American residencies,” said Raders, an anthropology major at the University of California, Berkeley.Raders said he hopes to someday use the experience to go on a dig in Peru. Most of the 25 students are undergraduates from community colleges around the state. Others include college graduates working on associate’s degrees to help land them careers in the field.The program replicates the job training they’ll need to become cultural resource consultants, Edwards said.“We’re trying to give the students the real tools to keep jobs,” he said.Under state and federal environmental laws, all new building projects may require consultants to show that construction would not disturb “heritage sites” such as native burial grounds.Edwards was not sure whether the students would find anything “especially Japanese,” he said.The Redman family sold the house in the 1930s to the prominent Japanese Hirahara family, who lived in the house until the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake ravaged its foundation, making it uninhabitable.“Chinese people had certain cultural patterns, but the Japanese were more adaptable, more assimilated,” Edwards said. The point of the dig, he said, is for students to do the hands-on work that will teach them the basics of archaeological investigation, which include learning various field study techniques such as how to record, store, analyze and report archaeological findings.After the fieldwork ends, analysis of materials from the site will take place over the next year.Local couple Pat and Rowland Rebele are underwriting part of the staffing for the fieldwork and will provide funding for the analysis of the artifacts. Some of the students will stay at the Red Roof Inn in Watsonville with a special discount from owner Chuck Allen.The public will be invited to stop by the house next week when a special tent is set up to provide background information on the house and the dig. Tours will be offered.

7/01 Green-shirted Volunteers and a Redman Clean-up

BY STEVE BANKHEAD

Dancing in the street: The annual St. Patrick’s International Festival in the Plaza is a must for me, so I mingled with the crowd near George Washington’s bust last weekend listening to a salsa band, watching members of the large crowd dancing around musicians on Peck Street and breathing in the diverse aromas from nearby food booths. Dozens of green-shirted volunteers from various ethnic communities were everywhere helping in operate the fundraiser. I ate my fair share of pozole, lumpias, barbecued meats, a hot dog and a great pico de gallo fruit cup — then got more to go. If you missed it this year, be sure to come in 2006. I can only eat so much unassisted. Our faces were red, man!: Though the June 25th cleanup of the Redman House promised a peak inside the grand lady, a heavy padlock and missing key kept the responding press unimpressed.Roger Sideman of the Pajaronian took a nice photo of me dragging a soiled chair from an outbuilding to the dumpster, then graciously helped me lift it in. In comparison, Bill Lovejoy of the “other county daily” stood by as I strained to toss in a box of mouse-tainted debris, then ran a photo of me with my tongue hanging out from the effort. Newspaper competitions can be vicious games.Despite the obstructive lock, cleaning and clearing did proceed. Project director Dale Skillicorn was ably assisted by Carol Kent, Phil & Karell Reader and Barbara Powell. Among the articles tossed were mounds of old files compiled by developer Ryland Kelley, with many relating to his ill-fated Wingspread Project. Locals might still recall the contentious 1988 battle over his efforts to build a hotel and performing arts center in the Aptos area. All those lost dreams went to the city yard paper recycle bin, a final victory for environmental opponents of the project.The Redman House interests me on a personal level, since it’s related to my residence. It was built in 1897 by a contractor named Joseph Uren, who happened to be the builder and first resident of my home. In fact, I think my house is the older of the two since Joseph built it for his wife Laura Radcliff, who married him in 1888 and I once found a newspaper layered above the original linoleum announcing the death of Pancho Villa. After Laura’s 1945 death it passed to retired farmer Marie Wyman and then Lucy Pusich, a tall woman nicknamed “Big Lou” and famed for her strudel. My mother-in-law, Rosie Perry, was Lucy’s friend and neighbor back then. Lucy became ill in the 1960s, and knowing my wife Alice loved the structure, sold it to our family the day before she died.It appears every owner of my home has stayed with it to the end, and I have no immediate plans of moving either. I owe that much loyalty to Laura, Jane, Lucy, Rosie and even Pancho Villa.A Frank discussion: I saw Dennis Osmer recently, and we discussed items from past columns about his dad, former police chief Frank Osmer. Dennis shared a revealing tale of Frank when his dad mentioned confronting a knife-wielding hooligan. When Dennis asked what he’d done, Frank said “Ah, nothing. He dropped the knife and ran.”After Frank’s passing many years later, Dennis spoke with an eyewitness of the confrontation, and the story grew in stature. The knife wielder had gone loco in a downtown bar and police officers were called, but they were uncertain what to do. Then Frank entered, got in the man’s face and began shouting orders with his ex-MP voice. THAT was when the guy dropped the knife and ran. It was a telling detail, and Frank’s modest omission of it was telling of his character.Jill at the wheel: One of the nicer sights at the Green Valley Grill has been waitress Jill Pepper. She always added extra dimension to the question “Would you like some pepper with your salad?” But she decided to take a job as a UPS driver. “Prettiest waitress” would be a tough competition locally, but I’ll go way out on a limb and suspect Jill will be the prettiest UPS driver around.Going south: Alice and I will be at a family reunion through 4th of July week, so this column will take a break with us. However, I leave the readers this pledge: Not one dime of city funds will be expended on my trip, unless the city manager wants to help me with those zoo tickets. I hear they’re pricey. Have a great holiday, and wave a flag. It’s a very healthy exercise.•••