In 1965, San Jose resident Andrew Montgomery was inspired by Martin Luther King’s march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. Mr. Montgomery was deeply offended by the laws preventing African Americans from renting and buying homes in certain areas of San Jose. So he started up a chapter of CORE – the Congress of Racial Equality. After hearing about Martin Luther King, Jr.'s march of 1965, Andrew and his friends wanted to follow in his footsteps – right here in the Bay Area.
Carole Peccorini had to grow up quickly. When she was eight, her mother began to show symptoms of mental illness. As her disease progressed, her family struggled to hold itself together. In this story, Carole talks to her husband Francisco Peccorini and her daughter Chalon Bridges about how her mother’s case of Huntington’s Disease affected her childhood.
Marianne Gillmer was born in Germany during World War II. Growing up in her village during those tragic years was tough on her family, especially after her father died in battle. She was aware of death at a young age, but she and her best friend still found ways to remain playful and adventurous. In this story, she tells her daughter Susan about one of her most peculiar playgrounds – the local cemetery.
After graduating from Fresno State in 1972, Dr. Ernest Marquez worked at The National Institute of Health until 2008. Marquez, who is is a Mexican American, tells his friend Judit Camacho what it was like to enter an industry in which he was a minority.
Shortly after World War II in Eastern Europe, Slobodan Dan Paich was just a boy – and he says life felt void of color. He remembers the moment light came back in – it was all thanks to a certain musical tale about a dark-haired beauty named Tosca.
