Jim Martino was the fourth child of Natale, who bought a house with 100 acres and began farming in the Springhill Valley in 1919. Jim, who helped operate the farm after finishing high school, says that his father won many prizes for his pears and other fruit. Jim also remembers that his father would leave […]
Oral History: Joyce Allen Stewart — July 14th, 2017
Joyce Allen Stewart is a member of one of Lafayette’s oldest pioneer families, the Allens. Her father, Harold Allen, was born in Lafayette in 1889. Her grandfather, Albert Allen, was born in Lafayette in 1869. Joyce was raised in Lafayette and was a member of the first class to graduate from Stanley School in 1954. […]
Oral History: Louis Armanino — May 6, 1980
Summary: Louis Armanino was born in Italy in 1881. He came to the U.S. at the turn of the century and settled in Lafayette in 1916. In this interview, which was conducted in 1980 when he was 99 years old, Mr. Armanino describes his dairy farm consisting of 50 cows which was located near the […]
Oral History: Effie Root Stahle — May 11, 1978
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 […]
Oral History: Natale “Nat” Martino — May, 1975
Summary: Nat Martino (1888-1977) gives us a sense of what daily life was like in the farm-centered rural area of the Springhill Valley. In 1919, he purchased a farm house on today’s Martino Road where he raised a family. He describes how he used farming practices he learned in Italy to create a successful fruit […]
Oral History: Mabel Skuce — June 2nd, 2017
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 […]
Oral History: Rita Santos — October 3rd, 1978
Summary: Rita Santos moved to Lafayette in 1900 at the age of 3. She lived in Happy Valley, first on her father’s ranch, and then her husband’s, until she passed away in 1992. In this interview she describes what it was like to grow up and to live in a small town that was rural […]
Oral History: Ken and Marge Cusick — December 6th, 2015
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. […]
Oral History: Bruce Wood — May 29th, 2017
Bruce Wood helped to found Lafayette Little League in the early 60s and was a popular baseball coach for many years. He placed an ad in the local newspaper and organized a group of volunteers who went on to be coaches, umpires and fund-raisers, as well as create baseball fields still in use today. He […]
Oral History: Betsey Young — April 28th, 2014
Betsey was a dancer all her life. In 1956 she co-founded the La-Frantics, a local Lafayette community theater group that put on shows at the Town Hall. Betsey choreographed and performed in the La-Frantics shows for the next 30 years. She also founded the Lafayette Suburban Junior Women’s Club and the Lafayette Community Garden Club, […]
