Roles of women highlight series
$5,000 grant allows Long Beach’s Rancho Los Alamitos to present program about historical period
Rancho Los Alamitos has received a $5,000 grant from the nonprofit California Humanities for a three-part virtual series it created that focuses on the role women played at Long Beach’s historic rancho. The series will premiere this month.
California Humanities is a nonprofit organization that for decades has donated money to promote the humanities, including history, religion, literature, art, philosophy and other subjects.
The nonprofit’s spring round of Humanities for All Quick Grant funding totaled $75,380 distributed among 16 organizations, according to its recent announcement.
“These projects will bring the complexity and diversity of California to light in new ways that will engage Californians from every part of our state and will help us all understand each other better,” Julie Fry, president and CEO of California Humanities, said in a statement. “We congratulate the grantees whose projects will promote understanding and provide insight into a wide range of topics, issues, and experiences.”
“Women’s Stories from the Gathering Place” has its origins in the Long Beach 2020 Women’s Suffrage Centennial celebration, according to a Rancho Los Alamitos press release. That celebration, according to the press release, revealed the historical work of women in the area and inspired its staff to look into the work of women at the rancho.
The first program, “Cooking for a Crowd,” is
about Lydia Shinkle, the rancho’s cook from 1920 to 1943. She prepared meals on a wood-burning stove for the Bixby family and ranch hands. The program will feature a virtual tour of Shinkle’s living area, the ranch hands’ dining room and the kitchen, followed by a cookie-making activity from home.
The program takes place at 10 a.m. on June 26. Participation is free, but registration is required at https://bit. ly/RLAcook.
The second program, on Aug. 8, will feature author Cindi Alvitre reading her children’s book, “Waa’aka’: The Bird Who Fell in Love with the Sun” (2020). The book tells a traditional Tongva creation story.
The final program, “A Seat at the Table,” will be a symposium on women’s roles in civic engagement. The program, on Oct. 10, will feature Cal State Long Beach student researchers sharing their findings on local women’s historical civic action, the rancho’s press release said. The Historical Society of Long Beach is also a partner in that program.
“This project,” California Humanities spokeswoman Cherie Hill said in an email, “stood out for its emphasis on dynamic participatory learning experiences.”
Rancho Los Alamitos, meanwhile, will use its grant money from California Humanities to create new programs and attract new audiences, said Director of Development Elena Arrojo. Typically, the rancho’s fundraising efforts are to maintain its structures and grounds.
“We are delivering humanities programming virtually, but we have discovered that it has some values because it breaks down access issues,” Arrojo said. “The topic really centers on women’s stories and that hasn’t been told too well.
A lot of the history belongs to men at the rancho,” Arrojo added. “This comes at a time of social reckoning on the stories we tell. Thinking about what stories we should tell.”