History

Spotted: Melba Beals, one of the Little Rock Nine, speaking to Hillview 7th Graders

by Parke Treadway on November 25, 2019

Menlo Park City School District seventh graders are embarking on a unit within their English classes called The Resilience Project. The students are diving into literature based on resilient characters such as The Lions of Little Rock, When My Name Was Keoko, The Island on Bird Street, I Am Malala, and Trevor Noah: Born a Crime in addition to excerpts from Warriors Don’t Cry by Melba Beals.

Teacher Valerie Cypert organized a visit from Dr. Beals for seventh grade students at Hillview Middle School, and they were honored to hear her personally share her experience with school integration in Arkansas in 1957, her ensuing career in journalism and as an author, and how to build resilience in their own lives

To complete The Resilience Project, students will interview a family or community member who has faced obstacles and learned resilience and then create and present a project outlining what resilience looks like and can mean in our communities and lives today.

Photo by Matt Ericksen

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Taking a look at the history of Gaspar de Portolá’s visit to Menlo Park

Note: Menlo Park Historical Association is hosting an Ohlone-Portolá event at the southeast end of Alma St. in Menlo Park where it intersects with East Creek Dr., on Saturday November 9, from 11:00 am to Noon. The event will be held in front of California Landmark #2. Here is MPHA member Bo Crane’s account of how […]

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“More Than a Word”: A film about Native American-based mascots screens on Oct. 14

In recognition of Indigenous Peoples’ Day, the Menlo Park Library is screening a documentary about contemporary debates over cultural appropriation on Oct. 14 at 2:00pm. “More Than a Word: A film about Native American-based sports mascots and the Washington R*dskins” analyzes the controversy over the Washington football team and its contentious name. Using interviews from […]

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Bo Crane leads MPHA tour of Holy Cross Cemetery on October 12

This year the Menlo Park Historical Association (MPHA) annually sponsored tour of Holy Cross Cemetery will be led by MPHA secretary, Bo Crane (pictured), on Saturday, October 12, from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 pm. The Cemetery is at 1100 Santa Cruz Avenue in Menlo Park, located at the street’s bend. Limited parking for this event […]

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Film about storytellers Michael D. McCarty screens on Sept. 30

Michael D. McCarty’s packed schedule doesn’t leave time for him to make it to Menlo Park — for now— so we’ll watch the new film about his remarkable story on Monday, Sept. 30, from 7:00 to 8:30 pm at the Menlo Park Library. After the film, we’ll have a video chat with Michael, so you can […]

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The “Green Shutters” house in Atherton remains a mini-mystery

Wandering the streets of Atherton, we happened upon a for sale sign at 226 Park Lane, a 1.43 acre property being marketed as a tear down for a cool $14,988,000. That was sufficient to get our attention, but we also noticed a weathered sign — Green Shutters — so we figured there was a story […]

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Vallombrosa Center in Menlo Park is building new Lourdes shrine

Thanks to the generosity of an anonymous donor, Vallombrosa Center in Menlo Park has embarked on a project to renovate its Lourdes grotto and build around it a shrine to Our Lady of Lourdes. A retreat center visitor in 2018 noticed the grotto, built in the 1950s after the Archdiocese acquired the property, was in […]

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Remembering “The Day the Music Died” at the Menlo Park Library on Sept. 17

In the early hours of February 3, 1959, a small plane took off from Clear Lake, Iowa, heading for Fargo, North Dakota. On board were the pilot and three young pop musicians: Buddy Holly (pictured), Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper. A few minutes after take-off, the plane inexplicably crashed, killing all on board. On […]

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Remembrances of 9/11 shared by local residents

Atherton resident and InMenlo contributing photographer Laura Pitchford spent a month in Ireland this summer. While there she photographed the Garden of Remembrance in Kinsale (pictured above). “[It] was dedicated by an Irish woman who had worked as a nurse in NYC for most of her life and had nursed many of the firefighters who […]

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Big day for historic Menlo Park businesses – Beltramo’s and the Oasis

Rubble is what’s left of Beltramo’s, a much revered Menlo Park wine and liquor store, following the demolition of the landmark building. In 2016, the Beltramo family announced it was closing the store, which had been operated by the family since 1882, and selling the property. It most recently temporarily housed a store selling fitness […]

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“Winning the Vote: the Fight Continues” is topic at Menlo Park Library on Aug. 14

In honor of the 99th anniversary of women’s suffrage, listen to a talk about the “mighty political experiment” of granting women the right to vote on Wednesday, Aug. 14, from 7:00 to 8:00 pm in the Downstairs Program Room of the Menlo Park Library. In 1920, the 19th Amendment granted women the right to vote. […]

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