Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National Historical Park – News Release
Richmond College Prep invites the community to get their hands dirty on 7/20
Richmond, CA – On Saturday, July 20, from 9 AM to 3 PM, the Richmond community is invited to expand and improve “Grandpa Allen Learning Garden” at the Richmond College Prep School, located at 1014 Florida Avenue in Richmond. The garden is named for Allen Trachtenberg, a long-time supporter and literacy volunteer at the charter school. When he passed away, his family established the learning garden in his name.
The projects planned for the garden include installing a Native American herb garden, creating a dry creek bed, building a chicken coop and planting a WWII-type victory garden.
“This will be a great day incorporating many people from the Richmond community and friends of the school to build an urban garden that will bring history, nature, and fresh produce to the families and community of Richmond,” said garden director and parent coordinator, Tana Monteiro.
Urban Adamah, an educational farm and community center in Berkeley, will help to install an irrigation system. Common Vision will also plant an orchard of fruit trees, thanks to a generous grant from Nutiva. Nutiva’s support will bring trees to all Richmond schools, as well as provide funds for maintenance for 8 years. Richmond College Prep families, the Trachtenberg family, and students from Richmond and Kennedy High Schools will roll up their sleeves and dig in as well.
Numerous community groups have already been hard at work at the garden this summer, including two teen youth groups from the National Park Service, the Rosie’s Girls, and Hometown Richmond. Rosie’s Girls is a summer trades exploration day camp for middle school girls, and Hometown Richmond teens build and maintain community gardens throughout the city.
Richmond College Prep’s lower grades are located in the historic Maritime Center building, built in 1943 as the Maritime Child Development Center, a federally funded childcare center to serve the families of WWII shipyard workers. Today it is one of more than a dozen sites that make up Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National Historical Park, and the building is owned by the Rosie the Riveter Trust. The National Park Service’s exhibit of a wartime preschool classroom will be open throughout the July 20th event for self-guided tours.
Contact: Lucien Sonder, 510-232-5050 x. 6622, lucien_sonder@nps.gov