"The Way They Were: Remembering Life in Pico Rivera Circa 1900-1945," Exhibit Text & Guidebook
Client: Arts & Culture Committee, City of Pico Rivera, CA., 1997.
Nominee: 1997 California Cities Helen Putnam Award for Excellence, Community Service Category
Guerra & McBane converted oral histories previously acquired during the CPOP Project (for CPOP description in oral history section) with both Anglo growers and Mexican workers and residents of the citrus industry in what became the City of Pico Rivera. The purpose of the project was to foster community pride and to provide context for conversations about the shared heritage and personal experiences of community members. The gathering and displaying of personal records and stories proved to be a successful method to engage the community in working together. The exhibit opened with an evening of scholarly lectures on the history of period fashions (examples of which were included in the exhibit) and ended with a mariachi band performance.