DON CURLEE: FARMING’S ETHNIC HISTORY PRAISED
Don Curlee
Visalia Times-Delta
October 5, 2009
California’s second largest farming county has found a way to pay
tribute to both its agricultural and ethnic heritage in a long-term
and dramatic way.
The Tulare County History of Farm Labor and Agriculture Museum will
open in November in oak-studded Mooney Grove Park near Visalia,
as the park observes its 100th anniversary. The blossoming of the
rich agricultural traditions of the county coincide with the park’s
existence.
Focal point of the recognition is a handsome new two-story building
in the park with 17,000 square feet of ultra-modern exhibit
space. Planners and promoters of the project foresee it packed with
antique farm equipment, photographs of both early day farms and the
people who made the farms and county prosperous.
For the next few years, a different ethnic group prominent in the
county’s agricultural history will be featured in the museum for
a three-to-six-month period. Local committees of each ethnic group
are interviewing long-time residents about the family connections
to agriculture, taping conversations and gathering photographs and
memorabilia.
First to be featured is the Armenian connection. Groups to be honored
later include blacks, Okies, Italians, Portuguese, Japanese, Native
Americans, Germans, Dutch, Slavs and more.
Nothing in the planning suggests that Okies are a separate ethnic
group, just an important segment of the agricultural labor force that
arrived in three separate waves during the 20th century.
Kiosks, banners and interactive modules will be strategically located
around the building, as well as displays that typify the early farm
lifestyle of each group featured. Planners and promoters are expecting
school groups to flock to the displays and built-in teaching tools
to the tune of 20,000 a year.
A theater-style room with surround sound will project filmed images
and sounds that describe early-day farming, often supplied by heirs
of the first settlers to Tulare County a San Joaquin Valley.
Because of its location in the center of the San Joaquin Valley and
its overwhelming mix of crops, Tulare County easily justifies the
museum’s location as typical of the entire San Joaquin Valley.
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Assistance for the museum project came in the form of a $1.4 million
grant in 2006 from the state through the library system. To go
from grant to turn-key operation in two years is a phenomenal
accomplishment.
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Perhaps because of slow economic times, several construction bids
came in below estimates, with work completed ahead of schedule.
The only admission fees that will be charged are the current $6 per
car to enter Mooney Grove Park, and $20 per bus load for students
visiting the museum.
The coordinator for the Armenian delegation, which opens the curtain
on the museum schedule, is Sam Farsakian, who grew up on a Visalia
walnut orchard. The property, still in his family, is now a shopping
center. He promises captivating examples of early 20th century life
near Yettem in northern Tulare County and elsewhere by escapees of
the Turkish genocide.
Communities from the top to the bottom of California’s vast
agricultural empire have similar stories to show and tell
about early-day settlers and their latter-day heirs. Building a
state-of-the-art museum might not be on the agenda for each of them,
but displaying that proud heritage in every way they can is something
they owe to their current residents and communities. Tulare County
is making a tremendous payment.
# Don Curlee is a freelance writer who specializes in agricultural
issues. Write to him at Don Curlee-Public Relations, 457 Armstrong
Ave., Clovis, CA 93612.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
