Historical Essay Contest Begins

Local high school students will have a chance to win $500 by writing a historical essay about Calabasas.

The contest, sponsored by the Calabasas Historical Society, requires students in grades 9-12 to use books or other materials from the society's historical collection available at the

Submissions must be at least 1,000 words, feature a topic about local history and include a bibliography.

"It might be about the first Calabasas subdivision, Park Moderne, the Bird streets, it could be about the early movie industry history here . . . the Chumash Indians," said Sue Jennings, president of the historical society.

The essay must be typed, double-spaced with one-inch margins.

Deadline is January 21, 2012 and the winner will be announced on Feb 15, 2012. Email essays to jensus10@yahoo.com or call 818-716-7572 with any questions.

The Calabasas Historical Society Collection is located in the Calabasas Library and is open to the public on Fridays from noon until 4 p.m.

The historical society held an informational meeting about the contest on Thursday at the library, with several high school students in attendance.

Viewpoint School senior Galina Meyer said she would probably enter the contest.

"I think it sounds really interesting," she said. "There have been a lot of documents that have been hidden away from public eyesight and [the historical society] wants to enourage people to start using them, and this is one of the ways they're doing it."