-
A photo of Essie Martin Green and her six daughters: Patsy, Essie, Zoie. Backrow Erma, Opal, Lorena, Annette and her oldest son Daniel.
-
David Blackburn discusses his upbringing in the small Valley Truck Farms community in San Bernardino. He describes the collaborative spirit of the community and how it fostered creative, ambitious, and caring individuals. He recalls stories of growing up and the ways he and his friends would play after school, with the rural Valley landscape as their playground, where they would make tunnels and underground clubhouses. He shares his experiences with segregation and stereotyping in school and later in working for the Sheriff’s Department. He also explores how the Valley Truck Farms changed in the 1980s as it was zoned for industry, expressing that he might not recognize the area at all today if he went back. While recalling stories of the good old days with his family, David Blackburn stresses the importance of keeping stories and memories alive.
-
The Saville sisters and Robert Bland describe growing up in the Valley Truck Farms community in the 1930s and 40s. The Saville sisters describe their parents' 5 acre property filled with fruit trees and gardens, and the rural landscape of the Valley where they could collect watercress from the creeks and where Robert Bland remembers swimming in the irrigation canals. They tell stories of going to Mill School before Dorothy Inghram taught there, and share memories of neighborhood businesses. Robert Bland describes his time growing up between Kansas and San Bernardino, and how Barbara Saville met and married Robert Bland after WWII. They describe how Norton Air Base changed the community, Barbara Bland’s work at the base, and how the area changed over time.
-
Robert Wilcots describes moving with his wife and two sons to the Valley on Norman Road. He explains living on his grandparent’s property where they would garden frequently and attend Saint Mark’s Church routinely. Additionally, he adds stories about his grandparents who gave him life lessons about power and profit. Robert also outlines working for Alfred M. Lewis which was bought by Price Club and later turned into Stater Brothers. He mentions his sons’ educations and professions in Los Angeles. He explains that he lived in the Valley for one year before moving to Rialto, where he currently resides. He describes how the Valley changed as Mill School closed and job opportunities disappeared. Lastly, Robert illustrates what his big family reunions were like in his grandparent’s home, filled with love and closeness.
-
Irma Jackson Forward describes her grandfather’s migration from Alabama to Valley Truck Farms where he operated Bradley’s store in the 1930s and 1940s. She describes how her mother met her father when he was in the Civilian Conservation Corps, and what it was like to grow up in the Valley where her grandfather grew a big garden, raised animals, and had a small orchard of fruit trees in the backyard. She describes fond memories of growing up in the Valley, her path to a career in psychology and becoming a New Thought Minister. She describes how, growing up, the community group called the Excel-All Women's Club and women’s efforts to get people to vote in the neighborhood. Irma Forward discusses going to Miss Luper’s school and Mill School where Dorothy Ingram insisted on excellence. Irma Forward graduated from Pacific High School where she faced a lot of racism and limited job opportunities for Black women.
-
Barclay Gonzalez, Myrna Overstreet Spear's niece, on a horse located on Norman Road in Valley Truck Farm.
-
A photo of Norman Road looking towards Waterman
-
A photo of the Green family in the Valley with a description of the people in the photo on the back.
-
Dennis Green recounts his life in Valley Truck Farms from the 1950s to the early 1980s. Green delves into his experiences, notably his 14-year employment at Kaiser Steel Mill. Despite obtaining a creditable position at just 17 years old, he had to persistently challenge systematic barriers faced by Black men in the hiring process. He talks about his foresight in recognizing that Kaiser would soon close, and his transition to work at Caltrans. He avoided layoffs that affected many people he knew. He also describes his experiences of discriminatory treatment he encountered at Pacific High School in the 1960s. Green explains that when the 215 freeway was built through San Bernardino, the exits diverted people away from West San Bernardino, where people of color lived; he said this was due to ideas about racial containment in the case of uprisings. Throughout his interview, Dennis Green provides a firsthand account of navigating societal barriers and systemic challenges during a pivotal period in Southern California.
-
Dennis Green describes his experiences growing up in the Valley Truck Farms, where his father and grandfather owned property and lived. He talks about changes to the community that came from rezoning properties as commercial industrial. Planning officials began this transformation by granting approvals for a truck waste transfer business with very little community input. It started to change the nature of properties around it, which were considered “blighted” and ineligible for new building permits. He describes the construction of big box warehouses in his community, which destroyed schools, homes, and small businesses. He explains how Dorothy Inghram warned his mother about a girl that Dennis had been hanging around with at age 11, who he later married; she passed away in 2020. He also describes the Duffy Street incident, when a train derailed, and plowed into 7 houses. Two weeks later, a gas pipeline broke and caused a huge explosion and more death and damage. Dennis Green worked at Kaiser Steel Mill until 1982, when he began at the California Department of Transportation. He moved through many jobs within CalTrans, from working as a flagman to cleaning rest stops. He was eventually put into a position as a public affairs officer, which he has continued to do as a consultant.
-
A photo of the Green family in a backyard in the Valley. Back row Danny, Lonnie, Roy, Oliver, and David Lewis. Front row, Patsy, Opan, Rena, Annette, Zoie, Erma & Floresa.
-
75th Anniversary Banquet at St.Marks celebrating Essie Green, Alfred Gilmore, and Gladys Garcia.
-
A photo of Essie and David Green in backyard on Pioneer, with the description "Momma and Daddy Green".
-
A photo of David and Essie Green's 50th wedding anniversary at St. Mark's with grandchildren Farrah & Yomi.
-
A photo of Sadie and Dawson Obera on a couch. They grew up in the Valley on Central Ave, children of one of the 3 African American/Filipino families that lived on the corner of Central and Valley View.
-
A photo of William and Annie Laura Overstreet, parents of Sydney Overstreet. Annie Laura was also the aunt of Imogene McMurray.
-
A group of women showing of their grandchildren in the Valley. Myrtle Overstreet, second from left, holds Oscar Overstreet Jr, and on the right Ms Fair with grandson. The other women and children are not yet identified.
-
A photo of the Saville Family located in Valley Truck Farm with George & Eula Saville in the center, kids around and standing from left to right Fred, Betty and Barbara, Lucille, and others.
-
A photo of Mill School class of 1947 with Ms Inghram in middle.
-
Essie Green speaking at the St. Mark's Missionary Baptist Church for old fashion day with Freeman Williams to her left. Essie Green would dress up in her bustle dress, set up bales of hay, pumpkins, and throw a old fashion day party in the fall at the church.
-
A photo of Harrison Crump, the pianist from St. Marks, and Pastor Llewelyn in backroom of St. Marks.
-
A black and white portrait photo of Essie and David Green in their later years. Perhaps taken for their 60th wedding anniversary.
-
A photo of the Church of the Living God with the full congregation. Myrtle Overstreet helped found this church in Valley View, North of Santa Fe and South of Mill. In the right front is Nancy Pugh (white dress) with Rosalyn Overstreet. Most of congregation is not yet identified.
-
A photo of David and Essie Greens family at their new home which David built in San Bernardino after moving from Pasadena. All eleven children present; Left to R from back Annette, David Lewis, Irma Jean, Essie, Tallest Oliver, David (dad), Patsy, Opal, Zoie. In front (L-R) Daniel, Lorena, Alonzo, standing Roy.
-
A photo of the garden Grannie Myrtle Overstreet would plant on her Norman Road property which included greens, ocra, and avocado trees.
