Financial Report
By Emily Ramos MVHA Treasurer
Checking Account Balance as of 7 / 3 / 2021 : $ 22,706.50 Income : $ 228.12 Expenses : $ 627.50
Checking Account Balance as of 10 / 6 / 2021 : $ 22,307.12
MVHA board members at our Downtown Mtn . View walking tour training .
MVHA Board Updates
By Nicholas Perry MVHA Past President
Your MVHA Board of Directors continues to work on a wide range of exciting projects ! Updates below :
Los Altos History Museum Exhibit : We continued our collaboration with the Los Altos History Museum ( LAHM ), providing input on elements of Mountain View history to incorporate into their new permanent exhibit . One of the recent highlights of this collaboration was connecting the LAHM to the family of Joe Perez , Mountain View ’ s first Mexican American councilmember . We ’ re excited that Perez ’ s inspiring story , from a childhood working as a migrant farmworker in the orchards of Los Alto to becoming mayor of Mountain View , will be included in a part of the LAHM exhibit that profiles the lives of prominent figures from our area ’ s past . The Perez family provided us with digital copies of photos of Joe to include in the exhibit and which we will also add to our own archives .
Interpretive Signage : We continue to help the City of Mountain View research content for new interpretive signage at historic sites in the city . This edition of the newsletter highlights some of the research we ’ ve done for an interpretive sign at the new Wyandotte Park ( see page 4 ). We also provided information for a new historic marker at the site of Mountain View ’ s historic Chinatown near Villa and View streets in Downtown Mountain View .
MVHS Monument . We continue to build upon our partnership with Mountain View High School alumni who are working to install a monument at Eagle Park dedicated to the high school and its remarkable underdog 1975 championship football team . Our subcommittee is making progress on formalizing the MVHA ’ s role in the project . Stay tuned for more information in our next newsletter .
Downtown Walking Tour Manual . Although I ’ ll be out of town during our November 7 Downtown Mountain View walking tour event , I enjoyed putting together an in-depth training manual for our tour guides to use . The manual includes information and photos of 18 historic sites on and around Castro Street . We conducted a test run of the tour on October 3 , and your newly trained MVHA Board tour guides are looking forward to sharing the tour with you ! Our hope is to eventually offer a recurring walking tour program , but we ’ ll need to grow our roster of volunteer tour guides . If you ’ re interested , contact us !
Questions or want to get involved ? Please don ’ t hesitate to reach out to any one of your friendly MVHA Board members . We can be reached at info @ mountainviewhistorical . org .
Certificates of Deposit Balance as of 7 / 3 / 2021 : $ 60,519.62 Certificates of Deposit Balance as of 10 / 6 / 2021 : $ 60,519.62
Finding Your
Family History
By Robert Cox MVHA Vice President
Genealogy has grown to be the # 1 hobby in America . Its modern resurgence follows the publication of Roots by Alex Haley and the subsequent 1977 TV mini-series . The hobby received a second boost with the advent of genetic genealogy , popularized by Ancestry , which also provides tools to help customers search archives of historical documents and find references to their long-forgotten ancestors .
Many people think , “ I ’ d like to know more about my family history , but where do I begin ?” The first and most important part of your research is to start talking to family members , so you can document what they already know . In my decades of working on my family history , the most common regretful refrain I have heard is : “ I wish I ’ d talked to my parents or grandparents while I still had the chance .”
There are a few guidelines you can follow to having conversations with your older family members that will yield useful genealogical information . First , find the members that are interested in talking , and make the interview process as pleasant for them as possible . Often bringing a small gift or inviting your interviewees out for lunch can help build a connection , making that person more likely to open up . Above all , show that you appreciate them and their time . Second , recognize that every family has its “ surprising ” stories . While I ’ ve found one or two family members who like to shock others by blurting out these stories , more often it takes several conversations before family members are comfortable enough to share their stories with you . Take notes , if possible , but do it in a way that doesn ’ t offend the interviewee . Write down everything you ’ ve learned after an interview . Also , understand that no one ’ s knowledge of the past is perfect . Our understanding of our family history is always evolving , and it ’ s necessary to cross-check everything we learn with documents and other sources of information .
In my next column , I ’ ll talk about the best free online sources of family history information .
Earl Askam as Officer Torch
Mtn . View Family History Fun Fact ! Earl Leslie Rengstorff Askam ( 1891- 1940 ), a grandson of Mountain View pioneer Henry Rengstorff , played Officer Torch in Universal ’ s Flash Gordon science fiction movie series .
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