Education 799B, Kern County History Topics
Alfred P. Clark, Ph.D., Instructor

Course Description:

This course continues the exploration of the history of the area now covered by Kern County, California, from Yokut Indian times to the present day, by engaging the participant in field trips to a minimum of ten museums, historic sites, industries, architectural treasures, and/or farms relating to Kern County political, economic, social, and cultural history. It carries one semester hour of professional credit for those who register for it. Prerequisite: EDUC 799A, History of Kern County.

Course Goals:

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

2. The participant will develop a better understanding of the Yokut Indians as well as the Spanish and Mexican periods in Kern.

3. The participant will become better acquainted of the early U.S. period in Kern, including the early settlers (such as Baker), the gold rush, and the first agricultural developments.

4. The participant will become more familiar with the large ranches, the oil industry, railroad and road construction, mining, cities, farms, education, and culture of 19th and 20th century Kern County.

5. 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 of each of the following sites related to Kern County history. The purpose of the prior Web tour is to prepare the participant for the visit (both academically and logistically) and to show the participant how his/her pupils and their families could use the Web for the same purpose.
   a. Kern County Museum, Bakersfield
   b. West Kern Oil Museum, Taft
   c. Maturango Museum of Indian Wells Valley, Ridgecrest
   d. Desert Museum, Randsburg
   e. Borax Visitor Center, near Boron
   f. Edwards Air Force Base Museum and NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center Tour
   g. Old Town Kern, Bakersfield
   

2. Visit each of the sites listed in Requirement 1 along with three (3) additional sites selected from the other museums, historical sites, architectural treasures, industries, farms, and other sites of historical, cultural, economic, and/or social importance in Kern County. Before visiting the sites the participant is advised to review them on the Web or in a Kern County guidebook. Prior instructor approval of the three sites is required. Some examples of additional sites are the following:
   • Any Kern County site marked with a historical marker
   • Any Kern County city with a heritage park (e.g., Delano) or historic buildings
   • Any Kern County farm, mine, industry, or business with tours for individuals or groups
   • Any National or State park, forest, preserve, or center in Kern County (e.g., Ft. Tejon State Historic Park; Tule Elk State Reserve; Tomo-Kahni State Park)
   • The California Living Museum, Bakersfield
   • The Twenty Mule Team Museum, Boron
   • The Kern Valley Museum, Kernville
   • The Shafter Depot Museum, Shafter
   • The Havilah Courthouse Museum, Havilah
   • The Tehachapi Heritage Museum, Tehachapi
   • The Silver City Ghost Town, Bodfish

   With permission of the instructor, students could visit museums and sites outside of Kern County which impact or shed light upon Kern County history. Examples of such museums and sites are the following:

   • The Southwest Museum, Los Angeles
   • The Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, Los Angeles
   • The Page Museum of Ice Age Fossils, Los Angeles
   • Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park (Hwy. 43, 20 miles north of Wasco)
   • "Little Petroglyph Canyon" or other petroglyph sites on the China Lake Naval Air Weapons Station.
   • The Antelope Valley Indian Museum (near Lancaster)

3. Share observations on the visits to the 10 sites with the rest of the class (using e-mail, listserv, and chat technologies).

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 insights reported to the class after each of the site visits as well as 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 (local as well as state registered) in Kern Co. Since there is no comprehensive recent history of Kern County, this inexpensive, readily available guide serves a very useful purpose in a course devoted to visiting historical sites. In addition, students are encouraged to collect materials at the sites they visit and find works on the Select List of Books on Kern County History in their local libraries that discuss the sites they visit and which are useful for the curriculum that they teach.

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 which is part of EDUC 799A, History of Kern County, a prerequisite to this course.

EDUC 799B is built upon the collections, documentation, guidebooks, and docent information at museums, historic sites, historic buildings, visitor centers, farms, and industries throughout Kern County. The opportunity to see, feel, hear, touch, and smell the artifacts of Kern history is the essence of this course.