Did you know that during World War II, when Japanese-Americans were forced into internment camps, the Bracero Program was created, bringing Mexican laborers into Stanislaus County to fill the immediate shortage of farm and field workers.
This is one historical fact featured in the 60-page “StaniStory: Change and Continuity in Stanislaus County” by Keith Highiet and David Seymour. The textbook was released online last December but now is available in physical form.
It is based on the original 1941 work by Joseph Burton Vasché and is the first update in more than 40 years to a countywide history curriculum.
The McHenry Museum was able to have the physical copies printed with the help of a donation from the Mary Stuart Rogers Foundation. Seymour’s and Highiet’s goal is to have copies for dozens of schools in the county.
“Mary Stuart Rogers Foundation found out about the book and they liked the idea,” said Seymour. “So they helped pay for sample copies at the schools but now we’re trying to raise money to get full sets for some of the classrooms. Some people have already stepped up and paid for certain sets of books for certain classes and certain schools, and we’re trying to get more of that done.”