by Linda Castillo
The last few months I have had the honor to be a part of the Juana Briones Advisory Council for the Los Altos History Museum. The Advisory Board is made up of an amazing group of talented individuals from all professional backgrounds sharing their experience and ideas for the upcoming exhibit and accompanying programming.
During this time, I have had a chance to learn more about the inspiring life of Juana Briones.
The story of Juana Briones is a tale of resilience, ingenuity and business savvy – the hallmarks of Silicon Valley. Juana Briones was an early entrepreneur who owned several businesses, many parcels of land, was a talented midwife and traditional healer in what is now Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Palo Alto, San Jose, and San Francisco.
Olga Loya as Juana Briones
From an invitation by fellow advisory board member, Darlene Tenes, I was able to attend the San Jose Woman’s Club presentation of Olga Loya as Juana Briones.
In a dramatic and historically accurate monologue and dialogue with the audience, Olga Loya used her spellbinding storytelling skills to bring Juana Briones to life. Juana Briones was a rancher, businesswoman, landowner, and humanitarian, who lived from 1802 to 1889. Olga portrayed Juana’s acts of strength, including separating from her husband and taking her fight to save her land all the way to the Supreme Court.
The co-curators of the exhibition, Dr. Perlita R. Dicochea and Halimah Van Tuyl facilitated a two-week summer workshop where local youth learned about many aspects of Juana Briones’s life with a robust curriculum that included an introduction to historiography, connecting Juana Briones’ story to present-day social and political topics related to ethnic/racial identify, gender issues, religion, multiculturalism, social hierarchies, and traditional healing and midwifery across cultures.
The workshop included guest presenters including local historians specializing in California history: Dr. Albert Camarillo, Emeritus Professor at Stanford University, Dr. Bobby Vaughn, Professor of Anthropology at Notre Dame de Namur, and Dr. Kyle Livie, Associate Professor of History at Ohlone College. There were also many hands-on activities and fieldtrips.
In the end, the students applied what they learned and their interpretation of Juana’s life story to create original pieces for the exhibit. I was fortunate to be there on the last day of the workshop where the students shared their final pieces. I loved how each student connected with Juana Briones in a different way and how their pieces truly spoke to unique facets of Juana’s life experience. I was so impressed by the range of work the students created from art installations, videos, interactive experiences and more.
Juana was a truly resilient, innovative and strong woman whose life story needs to be celebrated. I can’t wait for the exhibit to open so I can share the story of Juana Briones with my young daughters.
The exhibit opens October 18, 2018 through March 31, 2019. You can be a part of celebrating the amazing life story of a local woman, Juana Briones (1802b – 1889d) who will inspire the next generation.
- VISIT the exhibit with your family to learn more about this remarkable woman.
- DONATE to help make the exhibit programming happen.
- SHARE the information about this exhibit with your local community.
For more information about the exhibit visit https://www.losaltoshistory.org/
Linda Castillo is the Founder and Executive Editor of www.ModernLatina.com. She writes on topics that empower and inspire Latinas including art, motherhood, green living, culture, travel, and issues transforming the Latino community. Linda has earned a B.S. in Business and a M.S. in Mass Communications from San Jose State University.