Oral History Program in
the Works
By Nicholas Perry MVHA President
Retro M V
MVHA ’ s Online Clothing Shop Now Open ! Looking to add some hometown pride to your wardrobe ? Then check out the MVHA ’ s online clothing shop where we ’ re selling designs inspired by local history ! All proceeds go to supporting the MVHA and our mission to preserve and share Mountain View ’ s history . Visit the shop at : teespring . com / stores / retromv
Financial Report
By Emily Ramos MVHA Treasurer
Editor ’ s Note : The Treasurer ’ s report was not available at the time of publication . Instead , we ’ ll use this space to remind everyone to renew their membership for 2021 ! Your membership dues are essential to the fiscal health of our nonprofit organization and ensure we can continue to serve the Mountain View community with projects and free programs that share and preserve local history . Thank you for your support !
First Webinar a Success !
By Melissa Wright MVHA Historical Data Committee Chair
The MVHA is proceeding with plans to initiate a new oral history program in 2021 . Our hope is that the program will be a successor to the Mountain View Public Library ’ s “ Bittersweet : Memories of Old Mountain View ” oral history project .
For those unfamiliar with “ Bittersweet ,” the project took place in 1977 and focused on conducting oral history interviews with members of Mountain View ’ s Japanese , Mexican , and Spanish communities . Written transcripts of the interviews are available at the Mountain Public View Library . The original recordings were digitized in 2017 and our now available online at : https :// archive . org / details / mountainviewlibrary
With our new oral history project , our initial goal is to focus on members of ethnic communities not covered by “ Bittersweet ” that have historically had large populations in Mountain View such as ( but not limited to ) the Chinese , Croatian , Filipino , and Portuguese communities . We also want to focus on interviewing our most senior long-time residents , of all ethnicities , to ensure their memories are preserved for future generations . For the Filipino community , we are lucky to have a great head start : Our archives include oral history interviews conducted in the 1980s that were never transcribed or digitized . All we need is someone with the time to help us transcribe them ! Let us know if you ’ re interested .
Ways & Means Committee Chair Mark Perry is compiling a list of individuals we ’ d like to ask to participate in the program . If you ’ re interested in participating , please email him at : mfperry75 @ gmail . com or call ( 510 ) 914-1921 .
you needed copy editor
Cynthia Hanson Editorial Consultant & Copy Editor
Our first virtual event went off without a hitch ! Over 50 people joined us live to hear MVHA President Nick Perry and public space designer John Bela share images and stories about the past , present , and future of Mountain View ’ s Castro Street . The webinar was also streamed live and recorded on Facebook , where it ’ s available for viewing here : https :// www . facebook . com / MVHistory / videos .
Whether you ’ re updating your resume or writing the world ’ s next great novel , Cynthia Hanson is available to help make sure your writing is clear and typo-free . As the MVHA ’ s volunteer copy editor , she ’ s helped make this newsletter shine and is available to hire for other projects .
Contact Cynthia today : cynthialynnhanson @ gmail . com
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