Teaching | Mill Valley Public Library

Edna Maguire, Circa 1940's - Print, Photographic

2019.001.359

Record Type: Photo

Oral History of Bruce Grant - Oral History

Proud Tamalpais High School teacher and track coach Bruce Grant was born in Hollywood, California in 1928. Three years later, Bruce’s family moved to Glendale, Los Angeles County, where he attended local schools and participated in track and field. Bruce first gained familiarity with Northern California while pursuing studies and athletics at the University of California, Berkeley and eventually chose to call the area home, in part due to the abu...

Record Type: Archive

Oral History of Carol Budds - Oral History

Carol Connelly Budds' grandparents, Alfred Axel Lundquist and Caroline Lundquist, came to San Francisco from Sweden in the 1880s. Around 1904 they bought a large plot of land at the corner of Marion Avenue and Cascade Drive in Mill Valley. Carol's mother Karin Lundquist Connelly was the youngest of the Lunquists' four children. Karin married Frank "Pat" Connelly in 1919 and Carol was born in 1926. In this oral history, Carol discusses her family'...

Record Type: Archive

Oral History of Charles Crawford - Oral History

Born on June 16th, 1928, in the San Francisco Presidio, Charles "Chuck" Crawford spent the first 13 years of his life in the bustling Outer Mission neighborhood of San Francisco. On the weekends, his family would take the ferry, and then later the brand new Golden Gate Bridge, to visit his maternal grandparents in Mill Valley. During these trips, his parents fell in love with the town and decided to move up north. After settling in Mill Valley, C...

Record Type: Archive

Oral History of Edna Foster - Oral History

Edna Deming Foster was born March 18, 1894, in Ashland, Oregon, and came to Mill Valley in 1923. After graduating from University of California, Berkeley, Edna married Henry Foster in 1921 and the couple moved into a house on Lovell Avenue in Mill Valley on Armistice Day, 1923. Edna quickly became involved in the PTA at Old Mill School, the Outdoor Art Club, and other local community affairs. In this oral history, Edna recounts her time at UC Ber...

Record Type: Archive

Oral History of Elizabeth Muller Mielenz - Oral History

Elizabeth Muller was born in San Francisco on August 30, 1912 and brought directly to the family home at Buena Vista and Oakdale. Her father was William Muller (no middle name), a German immigrant, and her mother was Elizabeth Haste Muller. Her brother was William Haste Muller. She recalls Mill Valley as being "rugged," with muddy streets, and going to Kentfield by train on May Day to celebrate by dancing around a Maypole. She went to Old Mil...

Record Type: Archive

Oral History of Florence Garvie - Oral History

Florence Garvie was born on Mother's Day in 1924 at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, D.C. Her father served in the Army, so Florence's family moved often in her early childhood, spending several years in Hawaii, Salt Lake City, and California. Florence attended high school in Pennsylvania and received a degree in botany from Pomona College in Claremont, CA. Her first job was as a nursery plant inspector for the Los Angeles County Agriculture ...

Record Type: Archive

Oral History of Fred Mack - Oral History

In this oral history, retired high school teacher and athletic coach Fred Mack recounts his life in Mill Valley. Born in San Francisco in 1945, Fred's family moved to Mill Valley when he was 5 years old, settling into the formerly unincorporated Alto neighborhood. Fred describes his father's love of baseball and how both father and son became involved in Little League. Additionally, he vividly evokes Mill Valley's blue collar baseball culture dur...

Record Type: Archive

Oral History of Janet Daijogo - Oral History

In this oral history, beloved kindergarten teacher and proud aikido black belt Janet Daijogo recounts a happy life despite a traumatic childhood experience of being among the 120,000 Japanese Americans interred by the federal government during World War II. Born in San Francisco in 1937 to second-generation Japanese American parents, Janet grew up on a farm in Pescadero until the age of five, when her family was detained and relocated to an inter...

Record Type: Archive

Oral History of Jim Derich - Oral History

In this oral history, retired teacher and principal Jim Derich recounts his 34-year tenure working in Mill Valley's public schools. Born in Sacramento in 1944, Jim describes growing up in a large extended family and spending summers working at a family-owned resort in the Sierras. After high school, where he met his future wife, Barbara, Jim went first to Cal Poly where he studied electrical engineering. Jim then transferred to San Francisco Stat...

Record Type: Archive

Oral History of Jimmy Dillon - Oral History

In this musically infused and engagingly narrated oral history, guitarist, songwriter, and musical educator Jimmy Dillon recounts his devotion to music since the age of 12 when he decided he wanted to be a guitarist. Born in 1951 in Los Angeles, "in the golden age of rock 'n' roll," Jimmy moved to Michigan with his family as a teenager, where he started gigging with his first band, The Fugitives. In 1969, after finishing high school, he moved bac...

Record Type: Archive

Oral History of John and Virginia George - Oral History

John George, born in August 1905 in Lake City, Colorado, was a resident of Mill Valley since 1930. Virginia Glahn Cameron George, born in May 1913 in Petaluma, California, was a resident of Mill Valley since 1913. After moving west from Colorado and finishing college, John became the principal of high school with 14 students in Astoria, Oregon. He moved to California in 1929 and pursued graduate work at Stanford University. John eventually took a...

Record Type: Archive

Oral History of John R. Boettiger - Oral History

In this oral history, retired academic, writer, Redwoods resident, and member of the Roosevelt family John Boettiger discusses his life, lineage, and love of community. Born in 1939, John lived in the White House of his grandparents Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt from the age of three to six. John subsequently grew up on Mercer Island, outside of Seattle. He attended both Amherst and Columbia University, and went on to become a professor of psych...

Record Type: Archive

Oral History of Katherine Kirkland - Oral History

In this oral history interview, longtime Tennessee Valley resident Katherine Kirkland recounts tales an active life as part of a close-knit community. Kathy spent her childhood on her grandfather's dairy farm in Tennessee Valley, part of the community of Portuguese families that worked the land both in the valley and beyond. With a practical mindset, she relays some of the challenges of farming, from the rationing days of World War II to the high...

Record Type: Archive

Oral History of Lynda Chittenden - Oral History

In this oral history, beloved school teacher Lynda Chittenden recounts her 30-year teaching career in the Mill Valley School District. Lynda was originally hired by superintendent Jim Collins to teach at Old Mill School in 1967, a time, she recalls, when public education in Mill Valley was in the process of radical transformation. Lynda describes various pedagogical initiatives in which she was involved over the years as well as the ways in which...

Record Type: Archive

Oral History of Margaret "Kett" Zegart - Oral History

In this oral history, longtime Mill Valley resident, artist, and retired teacher Margaret "Kett" Zegart recounts the story of her life. Born in Michigan, Margaret grew up in East Lansing in a family with Scandinavian roots. She attended Cranbrook Academy of Art and Michigan State University. After college, she moved to New York City, where she worked for magazines and made art. Margaret recounts living as a young artist in New York City and the p...

Record Type: Archive

Oral History of Otis Guy - Oral History

In this oral history, bicycle enthusiast, retired fireman, and father Otis Guy recounts his life on and off two wheels. Born in Alabama in 1953, Otis’s family moved soon after to San Rafael, where he grew up. After high school, Otis joined the fire department, beginning a long career as a fireman and EMT. Throughout this oral history, Otis conveys his passion for bicycles. He discusses his life as a road racer and his founding of the Velo Club Ta...

Record Type: Archive

Oral History of Phil Fath - Oral History

In this oral history, musician, husband, father, and long-time Mill Valley resident Phil Fath discusses his musical career, family, and community. Born in 1929 in Brooklyn, New York, Phil grew up in an Eastern European Jewish family. Phil recounts how he was introduced to music through a working class political organization his father belonged to and started playing the clarinet at the age of 10. Phil attended the renowned High School of Music & ...

Record Type: Archive

Oral History of Ray Strong, 1978 - Oral History

California artist Ray Strong was born January 3, 1905 in Corvallis, Oregon, and was a resident of Mill Valley from 1948 to 1965. He married Elizabeth Rumsey Brown and they had two children, Timothy and Barbara. In this interview, Ray expresses deep admiration for the California landscape, and for the beauty of Mill Valley in particular. Ray's broad, interdisciplinary experiences shine through as he recalls his involvement in projects ranging from...

Record Type: Archive

Oral History of Ray Strong, 2006 - Oral History

California artist Ray Strong was born January 3, 1905 in Corvallis, Oregon, and was a resident of Mill Valley from 1948 to 1965. He married Elizabeth Rumsey Brown and they had two children, Timothy and Barbara. This 2006 oral history interview follows an earlier 1978 interview conducted by Donald Oman. Both interviews touch on Ray’s experiences in and around various art colonies, as well as his his meetings with luminaries like Frank Lloyd Wright...

Record Type: Archive

Oral History of Rita Abrams - Oral History

Musician and teacher Rita Abrams was born in 1943 in Cleveland, Ohio. She graduated from the University of Michigan and did graduate work in Special Education at Boston University. In 1969, seeking a change of climate and scenery, Rita left the East Coast for the Bay Area and found a job as a kindergarten teacher at Mill Valley's Strawberry Point School. Inspired by her newfound home, Rita describes how she sat on a bench in the downtown plaza on...

Record Type: Archive

Oral History of Russ Kiernan - Oral History

Tenacious and fearless runner, Dipsea Race winner, and teacher Paul Russell ("Russ") Kiernan was born in Oakland on January 8th, 1938. Russ attended several San Francisco schools as a child, and pursued his higher education at San Francisco City College and San Francisco State University. Immediately following graduation, he began work as an elementary school teacher, ultimately spending most of his career at Francis Scott Key Elementary School i...

Record Type: Archive

Oral History of Ruth Lescohier - Oral History

In this oral history interview, Ruth Lescohier recounts a long career steeped in local history and political activism. Ruth first moved to Mill Valley with her husband after his naval service during World War II. The couple eventually built a home in Blithedale Canyon with two decks and a "beautiful view" of the Bay. Ruth was teaching elementary school in Marin City when a credentialing requirement led to a serendipitous discovery of her passion ...

Record Type: Archive

Oral History of Sarah Edna Maguire - Oral History

Sarah Edna Maguire was born April 23, 1889 in Nevada County, California. Edna, as she called herself, began her teaching career in Mariposa, where she worked for a decade before moving to Mill Valley in 1921 and begininng to teach in the Mill Valley School District. For 20 years Edna served as principal of Homestead School. In 1955, the Edna Maguire school was built and named in her honor. Edna passed away at the age of 92 in Santa Rosa. Edito...

Record Type: Archive

Oral History of Shirley Hasley - Oral History

In this oral history interview, beloved elementary school teacher Shirley Hasley discusses not only her 38-year career in Mill Valley, but the people, experiences and attitudes that helped shape her steadfast convictions. Shirley (nee Andrews) moved with her family from Oklahoma to California in 1943. Growing up in a farm-like environment on the edge of Bakersfield, Shirley learned to work hard and take pride in what she did. Shirley tells how, e...

Record Type: Archive