11 Students Capture Local History For Lanterman House Internships

LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE, CA — Eleven, area high school students recently completed their virtual history internships at the Lanterman House in La Cañada Flintridge, after conducting oral-history interviews with a slew of longtime locals, including medical workers, a restaurateur, a bookstore owner and an award-winning actress-director.

Their work will be permanently archived at the historic Lanterman House for the 2021 program, which was conducted remotely, for the second year, as students were unable to volunteer or work in-person during the pandemic.

This year, the 11 high-schoolers, with guidance from program advisor Mary Lou Langedyke, recorded interviews with locals on their personal and professional challenges during COVID-19 and pandemic-related shutdowns. Interns learned research and interviewing skills, along with such details as how to process and preserve an interview with legal and ethical guidelines.

“We are so grateful to our volunteer interns and the community members who agreed to participate in the program," said Laura Verlaque, Lanterman Historical Museum Foundation executive director. "The stories they captured offer a truly fascinating insight into how living during the COVID pandemic has impacted our community over the last year.”

Participants in this year’s Lanterman House internship program were:

• Shahzareh Ali, La Cañada High School, who interviewed Shahan Atmajian, Emergency Services Coordinator, City of La Canada Flintridge.
• Ella Baghdassarian, La Cañada High School, who interviewed Mary Virgallito, Associate Administrator of Quality and Patient Safety at USC Verdugo Hills Hospital and longtime local resident.
• Brendan Ehrhart, Loyola High School, who interviewed Dr. Mark Ewoldsen, science teacher at La Cañada High School and Principal of the La Canada Education Foundation Summer School.
• Anna Heur, La Cañada High School, who interviewed Dr. Tony Chahine, local optometrist and longtime La Cañada resident.
• Adam Jensen, La Cañada High School, who interviewed Ethan Stern, Executive Director of the Community Center of La Canada Flintridge.
• Samuel Khoh, St. Francis High School, who interviewed local resident and award-winning actor, director and producer Angela Bassett Vance.
• Thomas Kim, La Cañada High School, who interviewed Ann Neilson, active community volunteer and president of the Assistance League,
• Jenna Milbrodt, La Cañada High School, who interviewed Bent Hansen, owner of local Mexican restaurant, Los Gringos Locos.
• Jeseung Park, Crescenta Valley High School, who interviewed Jenny Franz, 5 th grade teacher at La Canada Elementary School and lifetime La Cañada Flintridge resident.
• Ella Sahakian, La Cañada High School, who interviewed Jessica Palacios, manager of Once Upon a Time Bookstore and lifetime La Crescenta resident.
• Paige Speaker, La Cañada High School, who interviewed Kristi Cohen, Human Resources Administrator for USC Verdugo Hills Hospital who oversaw COVID testing and vaccine distribution for the hospital.

Along with the interviews being archived at the local level, Lanterman House archivist Julie Yamashita is prepping a grant proposal to preserve the works in the state-wide database, California Revealed, a statewide initiative that helps public libraries, archives and heritage groups digitize, preserve and provide online access to materials documenting state history, art and cultures.

“We currently have 53 oral histories available on the database,” Yamashita said. “It is
an amazing resource that offers primary source materials to everyone.”

Until this year's works are secured online, locals can log in and listen to various museum contributions here.

The Lanterman House, a bungalow-style, historic house museum and Crescenta-Cañada Valley. landmark, dates to 1915. Follow this link for more information on the site. Tours are planned to resume in September.

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