Community Outreach Program

As part of the City of Vallejo's Participatory Budgeting process, the Museum is seeking funding to implement a three-part community outreach program that will increase awareness among Vallejoans about the city’s past and the important contributions made by many of our city’s residents.

The first part of the project consists of the design and fabrication of ten “pop-up” exhibit panels that will be loaned to local schools, community centers, senior residence facilities, libraries, retail centers, churches, Farmers Markets, City festivals, or other high-traffic areas of the city. These panels will reflect ten different themes of Vallejo and Mare Island history and will be designed for either “stand-alone” use or in combination with each other. The themes selected for the first ten panels include: 1) Vallejo as California’s state capital, 2) Founding of the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, 3) Vallejo’s Hispanic Heritage, 4) Growth of Vallejo’s African American community, 5) Filipino Immigration, 6) History of Vallejo’s schools, 7) Vallejo transportation history, 8) Vallejo sports history, 9) Mare Island’s role in World War Two, 10) Vallejo’s wartime defense housing communities. 

These ten themes were selected because they reflect the areas of greatest interest expressed by visitors to the Museum. The pop-up banners will be approximately 3’ X 6 ½ ‘. They are portable and free standing, requiring no installation hardware or technical expertise by the borrower.

The second part of the project consists of three portable display cases that will contain artifacts (or reproductions) reflecting themes of Vallejo and Mare Island history. Topics of these cases can be changed to suit the locations where they are placed or the event where they are used. The topics may also augment one or more of the banner themes described above. These locked exhibit cases will also be available for loan and display at the types of locations described above.

The final part of the project will allow local residents to share their stories via oral history recordings. The Museum will purchase digital audio and video recorders which will be used to gather oral histories at community events like Juneteenth, Pista Sa Nayon, etc. or at senior citizens facilities, veterans’ organizations, schools, or other locations. More extensive oral history recordings also can be done at the Museum, in a more controlled setting. Oral history recordings can often augment written records or fill in gaps in the community’s history. They provide first-person recollections and can be used as a bridge between older and younger generations. Capturing the stories of Vallejoans will insure that their history will be preserved at the Museum for the benefit of future generations. These recordings can be loaned to schools or churches with school services for educational enrichment programs.                        Total Project Cost:   $29,413