|
|
|
|
Submit
|

Custom Search
CivicLifeSportsSchoolsBusinessFoodOur HomesLetters/OpinionsCalendar

Published July 15th, 2015
Third-Graders Visit the Moraga Historical Society History Center
From left, back row: Colleen Lund, Kathy Zuber, Sam Sperry, Susan Sperry, Elsie Mastick; seated: Margaret DePriester; not pictured: Rosemary Coburn Photo provided

Begun as a sixth-grade project approximately 30 years ago by Susan Sperry, then teaching at Joaquin Moraga Intermediate School, the annual History of Moraga unit took shape. In those days Maggie Skinner, dressed in period costume, and Brother Dennis Goodman of Saint Mary's College brought their slide show to the JM auditorium to tell all sixth-graders about prehistoric animal footprints on the Bluffs, the Saklan Indians hunting and gathering techniques, the importance of the railroad, James Irvine and the pear trees, and early ranching days.
As time passed, the unit was moved to the third grade, Skinner moved and Brother Dennis passed away. Resurrected by Elsie Mastick and the third-grade teachers of Moraga, this annual event moved to the History Center after its completion in 2000. Manned by Society volunteers, the third-graders arrive at the Center every April ready to learn local history lessons.
Kathy Zuber illustrates the prehistoric life that once existed in Moraga; Rosemary Coburn and Margaret DePriester describe how the Saklan Indians survived in our valley. Elsie Mastick picks up the story as Anza brings Jose Joaquin Moraga with him from Sonora, Mexico to oversee the building of the San Francisco Presidio. In his train overalls and hat, Sam Sperry elaborates on the importance of the early railroads. At the last station Susan Sperry relates how Joaquin Moraga ranched his 13,000 acres, raising cattle. Taken over by squatters and troubled by debt, Moraga lost his land. Colleen Lund relates the activities of a typical day on a squatter or sharecropper farm.
The students and their parents leave the History Center with a new appreciation of our tiny town with a history filled with interesting facts from prehistoric times to the present.

 

print story

Before you print this article, please remember that it will remain in our archive for you to visit anytime.
download pdf
(use the pdf document for best printing results!)
Comments
Send your comment to:
Reach the reporter at:

This article was pulished on Page B6:



Quick Links for LamorindaWeekly.com
Home
Archive
Advertise
send artwork to:
ads@lamorindaweekly.com
Classified ads
Lamorinda Service Directory
About us and How to Contact us
Submit
Letter to the Editor
Send stories or ideas to:
storydesk@lamorindaweekly.com
Send sports stories and photos to:
sportsdesk@lamorindaweekly.com
Subscribe to receive a delivered or mailed copy
Subscribe to receive storylinks by email
Content
Civic
Lafayette
Moraga
Orinda
MOFD
Life
Sports
Schools
Business
Food
Our Homes
Letters/Opinions
Calendar


Copyright Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA