Santa Cruz Chapter Annual Meeting - with Sandy Lydon

Submitted by Richard Hausman on Thu, 11/01/2007 - 2:43pm.
Santa Cruz Chapter Annual Meeting - with Sandy Lydon
Please join us for what promises to be a fascinating evening at the Louden Nelson Center, on Thursday, November 15 from 7-9pm.

ON APRIL 30, 1917, the German flag was removed from the carousel at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk. The German language disappeared from local public schools and residents of German ancestry found themselves jeered and taunted when they walked down the street. Freedom of speech was quickly crushed by the Espionage and Sedition Acts and fear was loose upon the land. An off-handed comment could result in a visit by the Sheriff, loss of a job or both.

In a slide-illustrated lecture using local and regional sources, Sandy Lydon, Cabrillo College Historian Emeritus who is well-known for his highly-engaging and equally highly-praised talks on local Santa Cruz history, will illuminate those terrifying days when neighbors reported on each other so willingly that the Sheriff had to ask them to stop because he couldn't keep up.

Against the backdrop of the Great War, the Red Scare and the Flu pandemic, he will ask the questions:

  • How Are We Doing Ninety Years Later?
  • Have we learned anything?
  • And what's this all have to do with Tom Scribner who sits forever playing his saw on Pacific Avenue?

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