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History 1/US History to 1876 Homepage
Global and US Snapshots Local Snapshots Timeline of events in US history
History 2/ United States History 1876-present Homepage |
Leah Halper's Homepage
--William Faulkner
A poem that describes my approach to history, by an anti-fascist playwright-poet who had to flee for his life from Nazi Germany: Questions from a worker who reads
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Extra credit options--UPDATED
PERIODICALLY--MARK YOUR CALENDARS! ALSO NOTE THAT THE OPTIONS AT THE BOTTOM
ARE NOT TIMELY AND CAN BE DONE ANYTIME BEFORE December 1.Please note that
I'm open to your history-related extra credit suggestions as well.
For History 1:
AN AMERICAN MUSICAL CELEBRATION A CIVIL WAR CHRISTMAS By Paula Vogel, Dec. 2-27, at Theatreworks, Lucie Stern Theatre, Palo Alto. We are goin Dec. 12 at 2 p.m.! This glorious tapestry of the American experience weaves fact and fiction, old-time carols, and traditional tunes into a whimsical saga of a country
longing for new hope. Set on a snowy Christmas Eve in Washington, 1864, it imagines celebrated figures from Lincoln and Whitman to John Wilkes Booth rubbing elbows with colorful characters drawn from every strata of society. Created by Pulitzer Prize-winner Paula Vogel, it is a heartwarming holiday feast for the entire family. ãElegance, humor and a touch of the poet...The Best Play of the Yearä öThe Hartford Couran/
The Green Festival. November 13-14-15 http://www.greenfestivals.org/san-francisco/ in SF. Let's carpool and learn about the unfolding universe of green jobs, products, thought, and practice.
For California history:
See class homepage for options.
For Conflict Resolution:
See class homepage for options.
OR anyone in any history class can:
Sing an appropriate historical song for the class, after explaining its context and meaning. I have a binder full of suggestions. Or check out Gavilan's collection of African-American history films and on gay rights history.
OR anyone in any history class can:
Volunteer doing a variety of work at Indian Canyon 279 acres of canyon land for indigenous cultural revival in San Benito County. You will need to call Anne Marie Sayers, who owns the canyon, to set up times and tasks; her number is (831) 637-4238. First look around the website a bit: http://www.indiancanyon.org/ Directions: Take 101 south to San Juan/Highway 156 exit. Stay on that road 7.2 miles, then turn right on Union Road and continue 3.6 miles. At Cienega Road, turn right and continue about nine miles. You will pass the Hollister Hills Recreation Area, DeRose Winery, and Cienega School. A quarter mile past Cienega School, turn right on Grass Valley Road. Proceed 100 meters to the hilltop, and turn left on thedirt road. Pass a shed on the right, and go over a narrow concrete bridge. Veer right through the vineyard--towards the hillside--and proceed 2 miles from the cabin. You will veer left from now on at every fork until you arrive at Indian Canyon's circular driveway. You're there!
For History 1 students:See one or more of the four PBS Africans in America videos owned by the History Department. Write a few paragraphs telling me what you learned.
Anytime, and for various history classes--check with me:Visit one of the museums or historical sites on this list and complete a Museum Report Form. Return the form to me via email, and give me your museum ticket stub or other proof of your visit.
CHSA Chinese American National Museum and Learning Center-- San Francisco County , California Heritage Collection-- Alameda County ,California History Center and Foundation-- Santa Clara County , Campbell Historical Museum.--Santa Clara County , Hayward Area Historical Society--Alameda County , African American Museum and Library at Oakland.; Alameda County, Berkeley Historical Society and Museum.; Alameda County , California Genealogical Society--Santa Clara County, California Historical Society--San Francisco County, Japanese American Resource Center, Los Altos History Museum, Morgan Hill Historical Society And Museum, Museum Of The City Of San Francisco,New Almaden Quicksilver Mining Museum, Oakland Museum Of California, Old Mission San Jose Museum, Pardee Home Museum,Peralta Adobe And Fallon House, Presidio Museum,Ainsley House, Alameda Meyers House Museum & Garden, Alameda Museum, Berkeley Historical Society And Museum,Cable Car Museum,California Trolley And Railroad Corporation, Campbell Historical Museum,Cupertino Historical Museum, Gilroy Museum, Harris-Lass Historic Museum,Headen - Inman House, History Museum Of Los Gatos. There are also many historical sites and museums in Monterey, Santa Cruz, and San Benito County. Check with me before you go!
For History 2:
A COMIC CONFECCIîN
SUNSETS AND MARGARITAS
By Josˇ Cruz Gonz‡lez
West Coast Premiere
Papa Candelario is losing his grip! Once a neighborhood hotspot, his
Mexican restaurant has lost some fire, and his overly-assimilated family
is spinning out of control. His son has visions of the Virgin, his sassy
granddaughter is dating a girlfriend, and half the community has joined
the immigration march outside. Whatâs a man to do? This tasty premiere is
a comic confecci—n with a heart of pure gold. Delicioso! ãGreat comic
gusto...it has a big heart.ä öThe Denver Post
March 10öApril 4, 2010
Lucie Stern Theatre, Palo Alto
Theatreworks A STUNNING AMERICAN DRAMA
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
Dramatized by Christopher Sergel
From the novel by Harper Lee
Timeless, compassionate, unforgettable, this Pulitzer Prize-winning
classic resonates across the decades, inevitably finding its place in the
human heart. Seen through the enquiring eyes of Scout, a young tomboy
learning the hard truths of prejudice and privilege in Depression-era
Alabama, this endlessly engaging tale of heartache and joy, innocence and
integrity, finds the search for family, justice, and common ground the
defining test of the American character. ãTerrific, gripping...Now is the
time to discover÷or rediscover÷this American classic.ä öThe Hartford
Courant
sAN jOSE rEP
The joint is jumpinâ to the music of Thomas ãFatsä Waller in this Tony¨
Award-winning
musical revue. Five phenomenal artists and a jumpinâ jazz band take you
through the pain and triumphs of the African-American experience during
the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s and 30s. It was the Golden Age of Jazz
with places like the Cotton Club and Savoy Ballroom where snappy swing
music, snazzy jazz and the stride piano infused the energy of the country.
Life and love are song and dance in this sexy, funny, jazzy musical
featuring the seminal Fats Waller tunes: ãHoneysuckle Rose,ä ãAinât
Misbehavinâ,ä ãBlack & Blue,ä ãThe Joint is Jumpinâä and ãI've Got a
Feeling I'm Falling.ä
ãA whole series of jazz worlds ö uptown and downtown, raffish and posh,
funny and startlingly beautiful.ä ö New York
Times
To protect their daughter from the Communist regime, Soniaâs parents sent
her to the United States during the Cuban revolution and she never saw
them again. Thirty years later and living in the Midwest, Sonia, a
fiercely devoted mother of two, has created a home that embraces her own
cultural traditions along with her husbandâs Jewish religion. Three months
after 9/11, their son announces he is quitting college to join the army.
Sonia combats grief and terrifying abandonment through political forces
that once again threaten to shatter her family. Can she come to terms with
her secret past, her parentsâ decision, her childrenâs choices and her
duty to her adopted country? Set in Minneapolis in 2001 and Cuba in 1961,
Sonia Flew questions parental sacrifice, familial responsibility and
patriotism in times when worlds collide.
Taking Flight
by Adriana Sev‡n
January 28- February 14, 2010
Written by and starring Adriana Sev‡n, Taking Flight is a hilarious and
heartbreaking play that chronicles the journey of mental and physical
recovery shared by two friends in the wake of the 9/11 tragedy.
City Lights Dead Man Walking Jan 21-Feb. 21.
The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams at Pear Avenue Theatre
May 7 -30
A portrait of the playwright as a young man, caught between ambition and
his ties to his Southern-belle mother and reclusive sister. Heartbreaking,
funny, beautiful. (A co-production with California Conservatory Theatre
For History 4A:
City LIghts Cyrano March 18-April 18



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Gavilan history--a work in progress
Playwriting