Education 799A, History of Kern County
Alfred P. Clark, Ph.D., Instructor

Course Description:

This course explores the history of the area now covered by Kern County, California, from Yokut Indian times to the present day. With the use of field trips to museums and historic sites as well as the World Wide Web, it aims at bringing Kern political, economic, social, and cultural history alive. It carries one semester hour of professional credit for those who register for it. It is prerequisite to two Kern County history courses offered by the University of La Verne, EDUC 799B, Kern County History Topics, and EDUC 799C, Kern County History Projects,

Course Goals:

1. The participant will become familiar with the general physical and political geography of the Kern County region.

2. The participant will develop an understanding of the Yokut Indians, their lifestyle and way of life.

3. The participant will improve his/her understanding of the Spanish and Mexican periods in Kern, and be able to describe he activities of visitors and explorers such as Fages, Garces, Ruiz, Zalvidea, Smith, Walker, and FrŽmont.

4. The participant will develop a better understanding of the early U.S. period in Kern, including the early settlers (such as Baker), the gold rush, and the first agricultural developments.

5. The participant will become more familiar with the exploitation of large ranches, the initial oil discoveries and development, railroad and road construction, mining (e.g., borax), and townbuilding in the last decades of the 19th century.

6. The participant will follow the development of agriculture, townbuilding, oil pumping, and transportation throughout the 20th century, along with developments in education and culture.

7. The participant will critically analyze the positive and negative aspects of each of these developments as they shaped Kern County history.

8. The participant will critically analyze the uses of museums, historical sites, and the Web as sources and as enhancements for classroom study of history at the elementary and secondary levels.

Requirements for Participants taking the Course for Credit:

1. Take a Web tour through Kern history, exploring and reading sites linked to the course website on all aspects of Kern County history. To preview or to begin this tour, click Kern County Virtual History Tour.

2. Visit at least one major museum or historical site in Kern (e.g., Kern County Museum; Ft. Tejon State Historic Park; West Kern Oil Museum; Borax Visitor Center) and make a short statement by e-mail to the class reporting what was seen and found. For a list of some of the acceptable museums and sites, click Selected Museums and Sites on Kern County History.

3. Complete a Kern County History Workbook designed to integrate the Web tour, actual site visits, and other learning about Kern County. This short workbook, including maps, time lines, and other activities, is sent to the student when he/she registers. It also includes a printed copy of the Kern County Virtual History Tour designed for this course.

4. Write a statement on how he/she will bring what is learned in the course back to the classroom, and share this statement with the class. This statement, a few paragraphs in length, is sent to all members of the class by e-mail.

Assessment and Grades:

Each registered student will be assessed on the thoroughness of the completion of the Kern County History Workbook and on the creativity and probable success of the plan to integrate what was learned into the participant's curriculum (as described in the statement e-mailed to the class). As a non-degree-credit professional education course, no tests or papers are expected or required.

Materials and Resources used in the Course:

Given that this is primarily an activity course, there is no required text. The primary recommended text is William Hample's Historical Site Makers Kern County (Bakersfield: Kern County Historical Society, c. 1991), because it is in print, inexpensive, and contains a good time line, useful thumbnail historical sketches, and both information about and directions to historical landmarks in Kern Co. In addition, students are encouraged to find works on the Select List of Books on Kern County History in their local libraries for more thorough information on topics of interest to them and to their classes.

The Web provides a wealth of well-written sites created by the Bakersfield Californian, universities, museums, and state and local agencies with excellent materials on Kern County history. The most useful of these are woven into the Kern County Virtual History Tour used in the course, provided online as well as in the Kern County History Workbook.

The course also makes extensive use of museums, historic sites, and historic buildings. Each registered student is required to visit at least one major museum or historical site and encouraged to visit others, not only during the duration of the course but as they continue their lifelong learning in the history of Kern County.