EXHIBIT ARCHIVE
Shaped By Water: Past, Present and Future
Shaped by Water: Past, Present & Future
August 1-December 30, 2012
Shaped by Water: Past, Present & Future is a traveling exhibition created by the Los Altos History Museum in 2011. The History Museum of Los Gatos will host the exhibition from August 1st through December 31st, 2012.
“Shaped by Water – Past, Present & Future” inspires a deep connection to this precious
and essential resource through indoor and outdoor exhibits that incorporate artifacts,
stories, photographs, maps and artwork by San Francisco Bay Area–based artists. The media exhibition Water, Water Everywhere: Paean to a Vanishing Resource, a film exploration of water issues, will also be featured throughout the duration of the exhibit. Films not included in the exhibit will be featured at our September 27th film screening event.
The story of water in this region is told from a historical perspective beginning with the
indigenous tribal people up to modern day through a comprehensive and interactive
exhibition experience. It underscores how each period in our local history has been
characterized by a changing relationship between humans and water. For example, the
tribal people had an intimate relationship to water and moved around in response to the
wet and dry seasons. This historical period is showcased in a native landscape and shelter
installation that documents how water supported their life needs while they lived near
creeks and the bay. A special sound station will feature three recorded tribal stories about
water.
New immigrants to Santa Clara Valley brought dramatic changes in water usage and
management beginning with the Spanish missionaries who built small rock dams on
creeks, and irrigation ditches. The Mexicans further transformed the watershed through
their ranching practices. Later, immigrants from the eastern United States brought even
more significant changes during the Gold Rush with the proliferation of agriculture and
digging of wells. The exhibition highlights this period with an interactive model of a
groundwater artesian well along with panels describing the environmental impacts of the
Spanish expeditions, Mexican ranchos, and the Gold Rush.
As our region entered the era known as the “Valley of Hearts Delight,” windmills and
water tanks dotted the landscape and the rapid depletion of groundwater made a more
organized water infrastructure necessary. Conserving local surface water in reservoirs
was one of the major accomplishments of this time. Among the highlights visitors can
view documenting this period are original film footage of the Santa Clara Valley 1937
flood, as well as panels with historic dam building photographs and charts showing the
dramatic drops in groundwater levels due to the pumping of water for thirsty farms.
The post-World War II boom brought even larger water infrastructure projects. The
massive state and federal water projects and water treatment facilities transformed the
availability and use of water. As the population of the Santa Clara Valley grew in the
post-World War II boom, the Valley went from being completely self-sufficient using
local water to 50-100 percent reliant on imported water. The “business” of water and
water companies became necessary to help manage community water needs and
conservation efforts.
Current consumption patterns can be explored in exhibits that uncover the amount of
water needed to produce our foods to current and future trends in local water
consumption. An outdoor display will show visitors in actual gallons how much water
they use on a daily basis. Interactive maps will be displayed where at a push of a button
visitors can find out where their water comes from, as well as locate local reservoirs.
Environmental concerns such as pollution of groundwater and surface water, Superfund
sites, and water waste treatment processes are also emphasized. A map will help local
visitors identify what watershed they live in and there will be a “Creek Stories” area
where visitors can write down stories of their experiences with our local creeks.
Looking into the future, our growing population and changes in rainfall patterns have the
potential to severely impact our water supply. The exhibition outlines future challenges
and outcomes with concrete ideas to reduce consumption, reuse, and recycle water.
A fun, interactive fish ladder display teaches young and old visitors alike about the
important role of fish ladders. Resources and ideas for action will be provided to visitors
to continue and extend their thoughtful use of water.
Opening Reception
The History Museum
Saturday, August 25
4-6 pm
Film Screening: “Water, Water, Everywhere: Paean to a Vanishing Resource”
Location: The Art Museum | 4 Tait Avenue
Thursday, September 27
4-6 pm, FREE
Los Gatos Creek Watershed Tour
The History Museum (and Los Gatos Creek)
Saturday, October 13
9:30am-3:30pm
Tickets $35, ages 18+
Purchase your tickets today at Committee for Green Foothills.
The Museum would like to acknowledge community support for this exhibition from the Committee for Green Foothills.
Riveropolis
Riveropolis
Saturday, October 27
Noon-4pm
The History Museum
Riveropolis is coming to the History Museum of Los Gatos this fall!
Help ‘Riveropolis’ artist Gregory Gavin create a temporary interactive 32 foot river and landscape! ‘Riveropolis’ artist Gregory Gavin creates permanent and temporary waterplay environments for schools, museums, neighborhoods and parks.
This is an all day event for kids and parents of all ages with complimentary food and drinks!
Generously supported by
Radiant Light: Memories from the Ming Quong Home in Los Gatos
February 15 – July 15
The Ming Quong Home, translated to “Radiant Light”, opened in 1915 in Oakland and in 1936 in Los Gatos and served Chinese American girls of all ages. The Home was the first institution of its kind in the United States to admit Chinese children. Ming Quong was part of a network of Presbyterian Mission Homes created in San Francisco in 1874 whose initial purpose was to intervene on behalf of young, Asian, immigrant females who had become vulnerable upon arrival into the United States. Although Ming Quong was referred to as an orphanage, it functioned more as a custodial home for girls with families that could not care for them financially or emotionally. Radiant Light chronicles the general history of the home and explore what life was like at Ming Quong in Los Gatos before it became a residential treatment center and home in the late 1950s, and independent of the Presbyterian Church. Ming Quong later merged with the Eastfield Home of Benevolence in San Jose and is known today as EMQ FamiliesFirst. We invite museum visitors to experience Ming Quong through photographs, artifacts, film, and the personal stories of the women who lived there before they pass into history.
The girls enjoying themselves at meal time.
Girls standing outside the entrance of Ming Quong.
Personal accounts and images from the women who lived at Ming Quong will be shared throughout the exhibition. A listening station will rotate oral histories of the women who lived in the home and reflect changes that took place during Ming Quong’s evolution over the decades. Video presentations will be screened throughout the exhibition and include:
- the Chung Mei & Ming Quong: Chinese American & A Radiant Light Reunion, August 3, 2003
- a film about the Ming Quong site in Oakland including interviews with Nona Mock Wyman
- and an NBC Bay Area news segment about a reunion at Ming Quong held in 2005.
generously supported by
Last of the Prune Pickers
by Tim Stanley
11:00 am
Friday, April 27
The History Museum of Los Gatos
Tim Stanley, author of The Last of the Prune Pickers: A Pre-Silicon Valley Story, will be sharing his experiences and knowledge about the Santa Clara Valley orchards and agricultural industry when it was known as the “Garden of the World”.
Tim Stanley grew up in the Santa Clara Valley of California before it was known for silicon. At age 12, as the Valley was being transformed from agriculture to housing tracts, he had the privilege of going to work for an old farmer who became a friend and lifelong role model. The lessons learned while being with the old farmer and on his farm left a deep impression on him. Tim met his wife, Deborah, while in high school and that union has been preserved and strengthened over 40 years. After raising two children and running a business for 30 years, Tim has devoted most of his time to writing about those things that he has found to be helpful and of value.
Tim Stanley published his first two books– Letters to My Feathered Friends: Observations, Meditations and Thanksgivings, and The Last of the Prune Pickers: A Pre-Silicon Valley Story–at the end of 2010. Both are being well received and Prune Pickers has gone to a second printing. He is currently working on two new books that are scheduled to be released soon.
Please note that this a sneak preview of a new exhibit opening in May!
Click here to return to The History Museum of Los Gatos.
Negotiating Identity: History Film Series
The Immigrant Experience
Los Gatos New Public Library
Saturday, May 12
6-9pm
FREE
As part of the inaugural period for Los Gatos’ new Public Library The Museums are presenting two evenings of film programming featuring the work of filmmakers who address the negotiation of a Chinese-American identity.
The Saturday, May 12 program is devoted to the immigrant experience as it relates to Angel Island and will feature a panel discussion with participants that include Eddie Wong, Executive Director of the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation. and Judy Yung, co-author of Angel Island: Immigrant Gateway to America.
This is the second of two films that will be shown in relation to our current exhibit, Radiant Light: Memories of the Ming Quong Home in Los Gatos.
Chinese-American Identity
Los Gatos New Public Library
Saturday, May 19
6-9pm
FREE
As part of the inaugural period for Los Gatos’ new Public Library The Museums are presenting two evenings of film programming featuring the work of filmmakers who address the negotiation of a Chinese-American identity.
The Saturday, May 19 program includes selections which contemplate cultural stereotypes, gender roles, and expectations of the Chinese community, among other points. Bay Area film faculty introduce and contexualize the films.
This is the second of two films that will be shown in relation to our current exhibit, Radiant Light: Memories of the Ming Quong Home in Los Gatos.
Traps, Maps, and Money Belts: Highlights from the Collection
History Museum of Los Gatos
September 22 – January 29
Traps, Maps and Money Belts features common and unique artifacts from The Museum Collection that tell a story about different eras and people in Los Gatos history, including anti-prohibition banners from a controversial 1908 town election. The History Museum of Los Gatos’ collection includes items donated by the local community since 1965.
1915 Corona Typewriter
Gold Rush era Money Vest
Capturing Los Gatos: Images from the “Hooked on Los Gatos” Collaborative Photo Project
The Porter Family, Chuck Bergtold Collection
The Los Gatos Public Library
The Hooked on Los Gatos photo project began in 2003 in an effort to preserve and make accessible the photos and archival documents of the Los Gatos community. In Capturing Los Gatos, Museum visitors will have the opportunity to view historic images of Los Gatans over the past 100 years, many of which have not been published outside of the online project website.
