San Benito County Historical Society and Park

Mission:

To collect and preserve materials pertaining to the history of San Benito County. To promote an interest in and appreciation of the County's past, by providing programs that offer educational opportunities and experiences. To bring together for exchange of ideas those interested in history, especially that of San Benito County.

Activities:

Resource conservation, education and interpretation, Living History activities, special events.

Museum--At the Museum, the public is invited once a month to use archives and research materials under the supervision of Historical Society experts. Research facility is wheelcahri accessible

Park --At the Park, located 1 mile south of Tres Pinos, docents host tours and groups of the following carefully restored historical buildings and vehicles: The Sullivan House , Willow Creek School, Dunneville Dance Hall , Cottage Bar , Tres Pinos Jail, Ferrando House, Ferrando Barn , Garcia House, Woods Cabin , Historic Vehicles, Tank House. Park is not ADA accessible, so this would be a challenge for students who use wheelchairs.

Needs/Projects this semester:

History students are invited to choose between the following options:

--students may work for 15 or more hours help d catalog and organize Society relics during Mondays 9-1 and Fridays and Sat 10-2 at the Museum in downtown Hollister, 498 Fifth Street, from 10-2 on Fridays and Saturdays until May. Students choosing this option will also each choose one artifact and write a short essay to accompany a photo of the object for an online archive at Gavilan College.

--students may opt to research one of the following topics locally under the supervision of SBHS President Anita Kane. These students will make high quality short videos, Powerpoints or display exhibits for park use; this option will require above average research, writing, and presentation skills. Some research may be done by arrangement at the Museum, and some interviews and other work may be necessary:

•the history of apricot farming in San Benito county

•aspects of the the history of specific buildings at the Historical Park

—monarch butterly natural history and restoration project and historical research REY

—history of the one-room schoolhouses of San Benito County

—research and set up horse drawn carriage display using artifacts on site

—hands on help with wood restoration projects both at Museum and historic Park buildings.

•history of a specific ethnic group in San Benito county: Chinese, Portuguese, Italian, German, Irish, Mexican-American

Who should apply:

Outgoing people who would enjoy hands-on work or speaking to groups or visitiors; people who would enjoy historical research or reenactments.

Don’t apply if:

You need lots of supervision. Students under age 18 will need parental permission.

Special Notes:

See website http://www.sbchistoricalsociety.org/sbc-historical-park.php. Some weekend work is available, especially through Living History days. Employees at this non-profit are very busy providing valuable services. Please respect their time by making appointments, coming on time, keeping your business brief, and calling ahead if you have an emergency that prevents you from coming on time. ORIENTATION for this site will be Friday Feb. 22 from 2-3 if you are doing a Park Project; students using the Museum and doing cataloging will be asked to stay from 2-4 p.m. to get cataloging training; you must attend if you wish to work at this agency. Please don’t miss the orientation if you wish to work here.

Address:

Please carefully note which site you will need to go to:

San Benito Historical Society is 498 Fifth Street, Hollister; orientations and cataloging and research work will take place there.

San Benito County Historical Park, one mile south of Tres Pinos on Highway 25, about twenty minutes south of Hollister. Drive around the oval to the cluster of buildings at the back. If you reach Bolado Park you have gone a bit too far.

Contact information:

For docent and cataloging work at the Museum, Sharlene Van Rooy frasha95023@gmail.com 831 245 0295

For research work, Anita Kane, anita@aklarch.net 831 801 8518

For students who come in on Friday or Sat. and need to contact Ms Oliveira, docent@sbchistoricalsociety.orgor 831 635 0335

Updated 1-19