100th Anniversary of the National Park Service -- September 19, 2016

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Today I went to Good Shepherd School in Pacifica and talked to Junior High kids about the topic of the current DAR essay contest, inspired by the Centennial of the National Park Service, taking a trip with their family to a national park.  I talked about the history of national parks and the National Park Service.  I talked about ways to make a more interesting essay that would catch the attention of readers.  I had extra time with the 6th graders, so I talked about making the trip from what is now Pacifica to Yosemite in 1916.  They were amazed that it would take a train, a streetcar, a ferryboat, a train, probably an overnight stay in Merced, another train and a bus.  

The image is from Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest.  

The Land of Hope -- September 19, 2014

Exhibitors' Herald, 28-May-1921

Today I am speaking to the Junior High kids at Good Shepherd School, Pacifica about the subject of the Daughters of the American Revolution essay contest, "A Child's Journey Through Ellis Island."

Alice Brady was the daughter of theatrical impresario (great word) William A Brady.  She was a popular actress in silent and sound films.  She played Carole Lombard's mother in My Man Godfrey.  In the lost film The Land of Hope, she played a Russian immigrant who arrived at Ellis Island.