Student protest has a long, creative history
While students made their voices heard with marches against gun violence in Washington and here at home Saturday, protests by young people have a long, creative history in the Bay Area. That history is now on display in “The Art of Protest,” an exhibition at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Main Library in downtown San Jose. The exhibition — on loan from the San Jose Peace and Justice Center — features nearly 30 silk-screen poster prints made at UC-Berkeley and UCSanta Cruz in the late 1960s and early 1970s, at the height of the Vietnam War and free speech protests. The posters were primarily displayed on bulletin boards and walls, not carried around on signs. But they are authentic, old-school stuff — to
the point that many are printed on perforated, continuous-feed computer paper that was readily available on campus in those days.
One poster advertises a draft-card turnin event, and another depicts then-President Richard Nixon as Linus from the “Peanuts” comic strip, sucking his thumb and holding a U.S. flag blanket while saying, “Security is a silent majority.” The historic pieces have been joined by a more contemporary poster that was created by artist Benny O’Hara for the “Rise Up For Justice” rally in San Jose that protested the inauguration of President Trump on Jan. 20, 2017.
The posters are on display during library hours on the fourth floor through March 30.
FALCON WATCH >> It’s that time of year again, and
fans of San Jose City Hall’s resident falcons — Clara and Fernando El Cohete — are keeping a close eye on the three eggs the birds have produced. Watching the city’s FalconCam — aimed at the nestbox atop City Hall — has been an obsession for many since Clara first arrived on the scene in 2007. Should any of this year’s eggs hatch — and falcon folks guess that may happen around April 4 — this will be the 12th year that Clara has produced young.
MYSTERY SOLVED? >> In my column about the names of downtown San Jose’s residential buildings, I wondered about the origin of Park Townsend, a condo complex on Julian and North First streets. A couple of readers, including Bret Mannon, suggested the name might pay homage to the family of Dr. John Townsend, an early San Jose physician who was part of the Stephens-Townsend-Murphy Party that traveled from Missouri to California in
the 1840s.
According to research by late San Jose historian Clyde Arbuckle, Dr. Townsend moved in 1849 to San Jose, where he bought and improved 195 acres of land about two miles from the pueblo near Coyote Creek. He and his wife died in 1850 from cholera and his son, John Henry Moses Townsend, was raised by his uncle, Moses Schallenberger. The younger Townsend went to Santa Clara College and Cambridge and later served on the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors and the state Assembly. The Townsend neighborhood — along with Townsend Avenue and Townsend Park — in North San Jose near San Jose Municipal Golf Course are all named for the family.
And it’s worth mentioning another downtown residential building that has a name with historic connections: Donner Lofts, which was built on the site of the DonnerHoughton house, which burned down in 2007.
ANIME SENSATION COMING TO SAN JOSE >> Symphony Silicon Valley has secured the U.S. premiere of an international phenomenon, “Joe Hisaishi Symphonic Concert: Music from the Studio Ghibli films of Hayao Miyazaki,” which will coincide with this year’s Fanime convention over Memorial Day weekend.
Miyazaki’s anime work — including “Spirited Away,” “Princess Monokoe,” “Howl’s Moving Castle,” and “My Neighbor Totoro” — has a huge international following, and Hisaishi, who scored all the films, will conduct and perform his scores from the movies with scenes playing behind the orchestra. The concert played to a sold out arena in Japan, then moved last year to three sold out performances in Paris.
“I went after it when I learned of the Paris program, and it took a year to get the deal done,” Symphony Silicon Valley President Andrew Bales said.
Tickets are on sale now
for four performances, May 25-28, at the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts at www.symphonysiliconvalley.org.
SPRING FLING IN PALO ALTO >> Gideon Hausner Jewish Day School’s fifth annual Spring Benefit on March 10 was a huge success, raising $235,000 for the Hausner Scholarship Fund. The fund provides more than $1.2 million in tuition assistance each year to about one-third of the students who attend the Palo Alto school.
Joni Block, Hausner’s director of development, said the event committee — led by Michelle Azout and Nancy Popp — outdid themselves by transforming the school’s gym into a glamorous nightclub. “The Spring Benefit is our major fundraiser of the year, but it’s also a wonderful way for parents, staff, and community members to kick up their heels and have a fun night out.”