Solano, The Way It Was

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Wartime proclamation reflected somber mood

My last column looked at the early years of the Fairfield-Suisun Airbase, a wartime response to the attack on Pearl Harbor.  Although the local newspapers did not report much about the activities, local residents were eager to learn more about the “great flying field.”

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Sunday, October 21, 2007

Course was spelled out for pupils 100 years ago

In my last column we took a sneak preview of what it was like for school students back in 1909. I thought you might find it quite interesting how much of an education you had to have just to enter high school.  In 1911, the Solano County Schools Board of Education issued a book of “Rules for Promotion and Graduation” and a “List of Supplementary Reading Books.”

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Sunday, October 14, 2007

Construction took off in building an Army airfield

Area dirt flew at what was later Travis Air Force Base

My recent columns on the wartime housing boom in response to the incoming personnel for the Fairfield-Suisun Army Air Field led me to look a bit closer at the early years of Travis Air Force Base.

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Sunday, October 07, 2007

Snapshots of an era

Lessons learned from class of 1909

Among the collections at the Vacaville Heritage Council and the Solano County Genealogy Society at the Old Town Hall on East Main Street are yearbooks from Solano County Schools dating back as far as the late 1890s.  These publications are a treasure that help historians gain some insight into past attitudes, styles of dress, and pride in school and community and to perhaps learn something valuable from the “good old days.”

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