2015 - 2019 Events
Taste of History
November 18, 2017
Taste of History 2017 at the Visual and Performing Arts Center (VPAC) featuring Juan Felipe Herrera.
Juan Felipe Herrera is the immediate past Poet Laureate of the United States (2015-2017) and the first Latino to hold that position. A former adjunct faculty member at De Anza College, he has been called “the elder statesman of Mexican American poetry.”
Juan Felipe HerreraHerrera, who has written books for adults, young adults and children, is also a performance artist and activist on behalf of migrant and indigenous communities and at-risk youth.
When he was appointed Poet Laureate, the Washington Post reported: “As a child, Herrera learned to love poetry by singing about the Mexican Revolution with his mother, a migrant farmworker in California. Inspired by her spirit, he has spent his life crossing borders, erasing boundaries and expanding the American chorus.”
At this year’s Taste of History, Herrera will share stories and perform with a troupe of friends, musicians and poets.
Day of Remembrance
February 19, 2019
17th Annual Campus Commemoration
The 77th anniversary of Executive Order 9066 marks the beginnings of forced expulsion & mass incarceration of Japanese Americans in World War II. We reflect upon the lessons learned as we continue facing an upsurge in racism, profiling, & attacks on immigrant communities.
Featuring:
- Nancy Ukai, Project Director of "50 Objects." Fifty hidden, faded objects are finally unearthed to powerfully reveal the individual, personal stories of Americans rounded up and imprisoned in concentration camps by their own government.
- Panel discussion on the Japanese American experience & its lessons to continue the fight today against attacks on Muslim Americans and immigrants.
Author Talk: The Suburb in Silicon Valley
March 9, 2017
Come hear Lawrence Coates, author and Professor of creative writing at Bowling Green State University, Ohio. Coates has published five books, all set in Northern California. His work has been recognized with the Western States Book Award in Fiction, the Donald Barthelme Prize in Short Prose, the Miami University Press Novella Prize, and a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Fiction. His latest book, set in the suburban scene of our region, is The Goodbye House.
Beginning in the post-World War II era, housing development in the Santa Clara Valley has largely been on the suburban model – communities of homes within a linear parkland. While the original suburbs were designed with near utopian ends, as a combination of the benefits of urban living with the charms of nature, they have frequently been denounced as a “Geography of Nowhere,” a place where the traditional connections of community life have been lost.
Novelist Lawrence Coates will discuss the origins of suburban space that lay deep within American culture, and also how those have played out in present-day Silicon Valley, based on the research that underpinned his latest novel, The Goodbye House. Read more on the author's website.
Author Talk:
How the U.S. War Department Destroyed the Women's Movement in the 1920s
March 2, 2017
Dr. Jennifer Myhre, De Anza College, Sociology Department
Though most of us were taught that the women's movement died out after the winning of the vote and did not revive until the 1960s, in fact the splintering of the feminist women in the 1920s was a result of a deliberate surveillance and propaganda campaign by our federal government.
This short talk by Dr. Jennifer R. Myhre will use archival materials from the time to bring to light an astonishing tale of the violation of civil liberties and the suppression of democracy which has modern resonance for us today.
Annual Day of Remembrance of Internment
February 16, 2017
Join with Japanese American communities throughout the country who annually commemorate February 19, 1942 and the signing of Executive Order 9066 as a “Day of Remembrance”. This executive order led to the mass racial profiling and eventual imprisonment of over 119,000 Japanese Americans without due process and with no regard for their constitutional rights.
On the 75th Anniversary of the signing of Executive Order 9066 we face an upsurge in racism, profiling, and attacks on our immigrant communities and threats to create a “Muslim Registry”. What lessons should we learn from the World War II incarceration of Japanese Americans to defend civil liberties today?
Featuring:
- Dr. Francisco Balderrama, Professor of History and Chicano Studies, California State University Los Angeles -will discuss the 1930s “repatriation” when scapegoating, fearmongering, and racism led to the deportation of over 1 million Mexican Americans from throughout the US and current efforts to redress this wrong and fight for immigrant rights.
- Rabiah Shere, De Anza student and former intern for Council on American Islamic Relations, and Brenda Pantoja, De Anza HEFAS Intern will provide student views on Islamophobia and threats against DACA students.
- Kimiko Mar, Watsonville-Santa Cruz Japanese American Citizens League Board member, will discuss activism today among the new generation of Japanese Americans.
- There will be a special presentation by Anisa Chaudhry of the De Anza Muslim Students Association.
Participants are invited to view the Euphrat Museum of Art’s “Justice for All?” exhibit and take part in a “Campus Unity Pledge” project in the VPA lobby area immediately following the event.
Sponsors: DASB/Office of Equity and California History Center Foundation's Audrey Edna Butcher Civil Liberties Education Initiative.
Santa Clara Valley Archives Crawl
October 22, 2016
Local history and California Studies are the specialties of the Stocklmeir Library and Archives, a program of the California History Center at De Anza College in Cupertino. Our collections include photographs, oral history, student research, and other evidence of life and transition in the Santa Clara Valley.
The Audrey Edna Butcher Civil Liberties Education Initiative has added a new dimension to our mission as we document the experiences of politically marginalized communities in our region.
Participants in Archive Crawl will test their experience, knowledge, and imagination using historic photographs, maps, and other fascinating items in the Stocklmeir collections. Special for Fall Quarter - On display in the exhibit hall will be regional photography by the Los Gatos-Saratoga Camera Club titled "Caught Celebrating" - featuring California festival life. Come visit us in our late-19th century pavilion and Historic Corridor on the De Anza College campus! The California History Center will be open from 10:00a.m. to 2:00p.m.
11 participating venues:
- Ainsley House 12:00p.m.-4:00p.m.
- Campbell Historical Museum 12:00p.m.-4:00p.m.
- California Western Americana Collection at Cupertino Library 10:00a.m.-6:00p.m.
- Casa Grande and the New Almaden Quicksilver Mining Museum 10:00a.m.-4:00p.m.
- Gilroy Museum 10:00a.m.-4:00p.m.
- Heritage Pavilion of the Santa Clara City Central Park Library 10:00a.m.-5:00p.m.
- History San Jose 10:00a.m.-3:p.m.
- Saratoga History Museum and McWilliams House 10:00a.m.-4:00p.m.
- Santa Clara University Archives and Special Collections 10:00a.m.-4p.m.
- Dr Martin Luther King, Jr. Library 10:00a.m.-6:00p.m.
- San Jose State University Collections 1:00p.m.-5:00p.m.
- Sourisseau Academy 1:00p.m.-5:00p.m.
- Lace Museum (at King Library) 10:00a.m.-4:00p.m.
- New Museum of Los Gatos 11:00a.m.-3:00p.m.
Exhibit Opening Reception: Caught Celebrating...through the photographer's lens
September 11, 2016
A photographic exhibit of festivals, people, and places captured by the photographers of the Los Gatos/Saratoga Camera Club. Exhibit on view at California History Center, DeAnza College, September 9 through December 18, 2016.
Second Annual San José J-Town FilmFest:
Digging To Chinatown
May 22, 2016
Sunday, May 22, 2016 - 11:00 a.m.
Japanese American Museum of San Jose
535 N. Fifth Street, San José,
De Anza College’s California History Center (CHC) announces the premier of “Digging to Chinatown,” a new documentary video on Heinlenville, Chinatown in San José 1887-1931.“Digging to Chinatown” is a dynamic narrative of an extraordinary Chinese community, buried in history only to surface through excavation. Created by historian Connie Young Yu and videographer Barre Fong, with the sponsorship of the CHC, the documentary uses historic photographs, interviews and never-before-seen images of the archaeological excavation of the Heinlenville site.
This site is extremely significant, not only as an important example of one of San José area’s early Chinatowns, but also because it created a hub for other Asian American communities, including Japanese Americans and Filipino Americans. The area immediately adjacent to the original Heinlenville later became what is now known as San José Japantown.
Program: A conversation with historian Connie Young Yu (Chinatown, San Jose, USA), historical preservationist Leslie Masunaga and filmmaker Barre Fong. Moderated by Tom Izu, Executive Director, California History Center.
For full schedule visit https://jtownfilmfest.com/
Remembering Chatham Forbes, Sr.
May 5, 2016
Thank you for joining us as we paid tribute to Chatham Forbes Sr who passed away in February. He taught history course at the center for over 40 years! He lead several classes to trips to Spain and specialized in different California and local history at De Anza.
We had light refreshments as we remembered a long time friend to the California History Center.
Chatham Forbes, Sr.
September 25, 1930 - February 12, 2016
Author Talk: How We Can Transition To 100% Clean Renewable Energy
April 27, 2016
Wednesday, April 27, 2016
1:30 p.m.
Kirsch Center Room 115
Mark Jacobson, a Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Stanford University and director of the school’s Atmosphere/Energy Program will speak here at De Anza on April 27, 2016, 1:30 p.m., Kirsch Center, KC 115, on how California and the entire Nation can convert to 100% clean renewable energy. The technology exist, only the political and social will to do so is needed.
Mark Jacobson is a founder of The Solutions Project
These are some of the latest articles about him and his project:
2016 Day of Remembrance
February 18, 2016
Campus Center, Conference Rooms A & B
14th Annual Day of Remembrance - Lessons Learned from the World War II Internment of Japanese Americans and the present danger of "Islamophobia." Join Japanese American communitites throughout the United State in commemorating the date, February 19, 1942, when Executive Order 9066 led to the mass imprisonment of 110,000 people of Japanese ancestry in direct violation of the Constitution and Bill of Rights.
Featuring:
- Brice Hamack, Northern California Civil Rights Coordinator, Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)
- Shirin Sinnar, Assistant Professor of Law, Stanford Law School
Author Talk: Wind, Water, and Solar for All Purposes
April 14, 2015
Tuesday, April 14, 2015
1:30 to 3:30 p.m.
Kirsch Center Room 115
Mark Z. Jacobson is a Senior Fellow of the Woods Institute for the Environment and of the Precourt Institute for Energy. He has served on an advisory committee to the U.S. Secretary of Energy, appeared in a TED Talk, and on the David Letterman Show, and is cofounder of The Solutions Project. Mark Jacobson develops and applies computer models to understand air pollution, global warming, and renewable energy resources.
Student Led Teach In
March 5, 2015
Thursday, March 5, 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.,
Campus Center Conference Rooms A&B
Students from participating classes will lead workshops on topics such as, "Know Your Rights", "Criminalization and Profiling of Youth" and "Community Efforts to Address Police Brutality and Mass Incarceration"
Annual Day of Remembrance of Internment
February 19, 2015
Race Prejudice, War Hysteria, and the Failure of Political Leadership: The World War II Internment of Japanese Americans and its Relevance to the Defense of Civil Liberties Today.
Join with Japanese American communities throughout the country who annually commemorate February 19, 1942 and the signing of Executive Order 9066 as a “Day of Remembrance”. This executive order led to the mass racial profiling and eventual imprisonment of over 119,000 Japanese Americans without due process and with no regard for their constitutional rights.
The community now uses this date to encourage active participation in the defense of civil liberties and has promoted reflection and understanding of racial profiling such as the post 9/11 scapegoating of Muslims and Arab Americans and the long-standing police brutality and mass incarceration targeting African Americans and others. This year’s event will also share lessons learned from the movement to win redress/reparations for the World War II internment.
Under the theme of “Ferguson: Racial Profiling, Mass Incarceration, and Civil Liberties”, the commemoration is offered as part of a series of activities – including faculty- and student-led teach-ins and the “Remembering Civil Liberties” public art fence installation.
The Audrey Edna Butcher Civil Liberties Education Initiative of the California History Center aims to engage De Anza College students, staff, and members of the local community in active study of civil liberties issues and democratic values informed by local and regional history.
Featuring:
- Karen Korematsu, Executive Director, Korematsu Institute
- Abdi Soltani, Executive Director, ACLU of Northern California,
- John Ota, Attorney, former National Coalition for Redress and Reparations activist
- Susan Hayase, former Vice Chair, Civil Liberties Public Education Fund Board
Sponsors: California History Center and The Audrey Edna Butcher Civil Liberties Education Initiative.
Public Art: Remembering Civil Liberties
February 17 - March 12, 2015
This temporary interactive public art fence installation will explore the connections between civil liberty, segregation, and mass incarceration, past and present.
Chain link fence sections will surround the flag pole in the main quad. The De Anza community will be invited to add hand drawn tags to share their own stories, feelings, and ideas for change. Printed tags with text and images will refer to Japanese American internment camps, Jim Crow laws, and the prison industrial complex. Collaborative artwork from a Euphrat Museum Art & Social Justice Leadership Institute will also be incorporated.
Vertical tags will be reminiscent of those given to Japanese Americans under Executive Order 9066. Horizontal tags could mirror the shape of Colored and White only segregation signs and references to the prison industrial complex might include silhouettes of corporate logos.
Faculty Led Teach in
January 22, 2015
Thursday January 22, 2015
1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Campus Center, Conference Rooms A&B
Special presentation by Raj Jayadev of Silicon Valley De-Bug's Albert Cobarrubias Justice Project. Discussion guided by the Black Leadership Collective.