Catherine Sinnott, who was born in 1924, was on the move most of her life–growing up on a sheep ranch in Sonoma country, studying nutrition at UC Davis, working as a food researcher in Albany, and being on active duty with the Marine Corps women’s Reserve during the latter stages of World War II. Then […]

Sophie and Robert Wing, who brought together two old Lafayette families when they married in 1961, were both born in 1930. Sophie was the youngest of 8 children in the Machado family that ran the Alta Crest Dairy in Lafayette. She describes the dairy operations and in particular the roles assigned to her, from a […]

Summary: The Root family bought a 500 acre farm in Happy Valley in 1904. The property was known as Locust Farm, because of the huge locust trees which stood in front of the house. Nathaniel Jones, a former owner, had planted the trees with seeds he brought with him from the Eastern U.S. Some of […]

Mabel Skuce moved to Lafayette in 1946, and she has lived here ever since. In this interview, she describes and discusses the city as it existed in the middle of the last century: its stores, restaurants, and schools, as well as some of its more general characteristics. Her “tour” of the Lafayette of 60-plus years […]

Summary: Ken and Marge Cusick, long time residents of Lafayette, tell stories of their neighborhood and area which has changed dramatically since they came here. Cusicks moved to the Springhill Valley in the early 1950s, and continue to live here today. Ken had a dentist practice in Berkeley that attracted many of his Lafayette neighbors. […]

Barbara spent her early years in Berkeley and many summers in Yosemite where her father was with the National Park Service (1920-1930). At 15 months old, Barbara backpacked with her family from Tahoe to Yosemite sitting in a saddlebag. She lived in Washington D.C. when her father was Assistant Director of the Interior Department. She […]

Summary: Born in 1917, Edwin Quenzel was 98 when he gave this interview. He was raised in Berkeley and served on U.S. Navy battleships in World War II. After the war he moved to Lafayette and began a 50-year career as a licensed building contractor. Mr. Quenzel also built sets for the Dramateurs for many […]

Summary: Ann’s family moved to Lafayette in 1946/47. Her parents built a home with a swimming pool on a one acre lot on Redwood Lane in Happy Valley. At that time Happy Valley Road was lined with huge walnut trees all the way into town and was mostly agrarian. Her father was an entrepreneur and […]

Summary: In the late 1940s, Patricia’s grandfather purchased 4 acres, and her father one acre, in Happy Valley. They chose the location because they wanted to live in the country, with walnut trees and plenty of land. She discovered a fossilized turtle on the property. The industrialist Henry J, Kaiser, along with other neighbors, attended […]