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A series of mini interviews conducted at Claremont’s Fourth of July Celebration in 1994 and 1995 at Memorial Park. ____________________ [Part 1] Speakers include Ann Seltzer, Doug McKenzie, Jesse Shaner, John Bobo, Suzanne Christian, William Smith, Nicholas Polos, Marcy Kurtz, and Caroline Beatty. Ann Seltzer narrates her move to California. “I’ve stayed because I keep finding jobs I like here. . . I may never get out of Claremont! And I have to say I have grown quite fond of it.” Doug MacKenzie has lived in Claremont for 22 years. He graduated from Claremont Graduate University and raised his children in Claremont. His ancestors moved to California during the Gold Rush. Jesse Shaner has lived in Claremont for 45 years. He recalls one of the worst freezes that the citrus growers have ever had. In 1937-1938, “they enlisted everybody they could to smudge in the orchards. And I smudged from eight in the evening until six in the morning in (Redlands). And I never breathed so much smoke in my life.” John Bobo lived in Claremont for 20 years before moving to Northridge. “I have recently assisted my son in opening a business in town called Cyberg8t Internet Services. We provide local access to the Internet, which is the world-wide web communication to about 30 million people throughout the planet.” Bobo served as the principal of Sycamore School during the proposal that threatened to close the school. During this process, three out of five school board members were recalled. “I just feel that the most important event in my life was the recall: the winning of right over wrong and proving that right does prevail.” Suzanne Christian’s father, Pearson Hall, was a federal judge for over forty years. He served on the Los Angeles City Council and proposed the Boulder Dam and the Colorado Aqueduct. When her parents moved to Claremont, they became involved in the city’s social scene. Christian concluded, “But the thing that was the most charming was that we loved Claremont for its small-town atmosphere. Today in the local paper the head story was a coyote seen in the middle of the village.” William Smith told a folklore story of three young students who went to look for a ghost at Scripps College, when one of the young girls disappeared. “To this day no one has ever actually seen her, but now they say that there are four ghosts that walk the hall of the Lang Art Building.” Nicholas Polos taught at Claremont High School for almost twenty years. “It was a tremendous place with a great reputation.” He describes his first year as a student at Pomona College as “tough . . . I had been out of school for ten years; I went on the G.I. Bill – I was a veteran from the Second War, and I hadn’t been to school for ten years. At first, I had a hard time getting by. Finally, I got the hang of it, and I got to love Pomona [College].” Marcy Kurtz moved to California in 1958. She taught at Sycamore Elementary School for many years. “Schools were smaller in 1958 . . . There were so many mothers available for baking cookies and going on field trips and doing things with the children in the classroom . . . I think Claremont children are fortunate, though, because there still is a lot of parent involvement in Claremont.” Caroline Beatty and her husband moved to Claremont in 1949 when her husband accepted the position of Dean of Men at Pomona College. “Claremont at that time had 5,000 people, still really surrounded by many, many orange groves.” Her family lived in a house across from a small orange grove, and she remembers how dirty their house would become when they smudged the grove. “I remember that our son was still young enough to crawl around on the floor in the mornings, and he would be black within an hour from crawling on the rugs which had been suffered from the smudge.” ____________________ [Part 2] Speakers include Jan Carre, Sophie Williams, Phil Ross, and John Dominguez (part 1). Jan Carre attended Girls Collegiate. After graduating from Stanford and working in Santa Monica, she came back to Claremont to run the gift shop at Armstrong Nurseries, which was owned by her family. Sophie Williams was born in Chicago, but she moved to California in the 1940s. Her husband worked at Cal Poly Pomona for many years, but after he retired they moved to Claremont. She discusses her opposition to the Gulf War and her involvement in the Claremont United Church of Christ. Phil Ross discusses the Claremont Economic Institute, a company formed by professors from Claremont McKenna College. He also explained the involvement of Norris Bradbury – a physicist who graduated from Pomona College – in the development of the hydrogen bomb. He talks about moving to Claremont and being involved in the Claremont Parkways and Trees Commission. John Dominguez grew up in the East Barrio in Claremont. In 1949 his father built a house in the Barrio under the direction of the Intercultural Council. His father was the second Mexican-American janitor to be hired by the Claremont school system. ____________________ [Part 3] Speakers include John Dominguez (part 2), Margo Estes, Louise Giffin, Alice Giffin, and Karen Stanley. John Dominguez continues talking about growing up in the East Barrio. He describes the shared property the connected each of the houses in the neighborhood, and the sense of community felt by his family and their neighbors. Margo Estes and her husband moved to Claremont in 1951. She and her husband lived in the veteran units at Pomona College. They raised four children in Claremont. She taught 5th and 6th grades at Oakmont Elementary School, and she later taught at Condit School. Louis Giffin was born in China and went to college in Ohio. She taught at schools in South China in the late 1930s, and then taught in Thailand for a few years. She moved to Claremont fifteen years before the interview. “I am very glad to be here and to be a Claremonter! Pilgrim Place is very nice. It gives us much opportunity for volunteer service.” Alice Giffin grew up in China. She attended Judson College in Alabama and a missionary training school in Louisville, Kentucky. She was a missionary in China and the Philippines for over thirty years. She came to Pilgrim Place to retire with her sister, Louis. Karen Stanley grew up in Claremont. She was the first student body president at Sycamore Elementary School. “I have the most fondest, positive memories of Claremont that I could ever have because it was just a wonderful place to grow up. It was a very, very, very positive experience going to Sycamore School.” ____________________ [Part 4] Speakers include George Nunez, Joan Bunte, Troy Donovan, Lisa Hamilton, Kathy Ledgerwood, Phoebe Deville, and Diana Stenger. The first time that George Nunez came to Claremont was when his family traveled through town on Highway 66. “At that time the prettiest stretch of Highway 66 was the eucalyptus trees on Foothill Boulevard . . . so when it came time to look for a place of my own, of course Claremont came to mind . . . We really enjoy the quiet, small town atmosphere of Claremont. It reminded us of many places we’d like our kids to grow up, and that’s how we decided Claremont was the place to be.” Joan Bunte’s husband taught at El Roble Junior High School for over thirty years. She owned a shop in Harvard Square and another shop that sold rubber stamps. She discusses housing difficulties that her neighborhood faced in the 1970s. Troy Donovan served in the air force in World War II and the Korean War. He moved to Claremont and worked at Pitzer College for a while. He and his wife came to Claremont because they liked the New-England, small town atmosphere. Lisa Hamilton told a story from when she was in the Fourth of July parade as a senior at Claremont High School. She attended Condit, Mountain View, and Sumner Elementary Schools. Kathy Ledgerwood was a student at the Claremont School of Theology who was working at the United Methodist Church in Claremont. She explains why she came to the Fourth of July celebration. Phoebe Deville was a neighbor of Elsie Clevenger, who told them many stories about her father, Charlie. Phebe remembers hearing Elsie tell her about how her father would pan for gold in Palmer Canyon in order to buy shoes for his ten children. Diana Stenger came to Claremont moved to Claremont with her three children. Her children go to First Baptist School.
Agriculture--California Business Churches Elementary education Communities Education (Higher)--California Elementary schools Entertainment--Parades Family-owned business enterprises Fourth of July celebrations Hispanic Americans Local history Parks Universities and colleges Education
Place
Claremont (Calif.)
Provenance
Claremont Heritage California Revealed is supported by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, administered in California by the State Librarian.
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