PSN's Larry Wilson reports from a Tuesday conference at the Pasadena Musuem of History (co-presented by Altadena's own Michele Zack) called "The Integration of PUSD: How it Happened by Many of the People who Made it Happen & Its Legacy Today." It's a pretty checkered history whose ripple effects we still feel to this day. High points of the story for us:
- Newport Beach was called "Altadena by the Sea" in 1975 because so many had fled there to avoid integration. (But why "Altadena," considering our town is 30-some percent black?)
- A reactionary school board during that era tried to make John Birch Society material required reading.
It's quite a tale. Check it out!