Haggard, Haslam to reflect on town
EVENT: Haggard to answer questions
| Saturday, Oct 31 2009 03:16 PM
Last Updated Saturday, Oct 31 2009 03:16 PM
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Oildale and Beyond Conference
When: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday
Where: Cal State Bakersfield, 9001 Stockdale Highway
Admission: $30, adults; $25, seniors; $20, students
Information: 654-3079
What better way to commemorate Oildale's centennial than by inviting two of her favorite sons to share their experiences? Music legend Merle Haggard and esteemed writer Gerald Haslam will do just that Saturday at a Cal State event jam-packed with the fascinating history of our stretch of the valley.
If you want a capsule summary of what Oildale was like during his growing-up years, just ask Haslam.
"It was a convivial place," he says. "Everyone in the neighborhood was on a first-name basis -- and might give you a swat if you misbehaved. I really felt as though our neighbors were extended family."
From those beginnings, Haslam, 72, went on to write dozens of books and academic papers along with serving a 30-year tenure as an English professor at Cal State Sonoma. On Saturday he will be the keynote speaker for Cal State Bakersfield's Oildale and Beyond Conference.
The author said he's pleased that "folks are finally catching on" that Oildale is a proper subject for scholarly study.
"Oildale is an exemplar of a working-class town on the one hand, and a region-wide, historical, de facto segregation on another," he wrote in an e-mail. "Add its connections to the oil business and the Dust Bowl migration and there's much to be learned from studying it. I commend the folks at CSUB. I also take pride in being feisty and independent."
The conference's subtitle is "Interpreting the region through words, images and music." Although Oildale is the major focus, a number of other aspects of local history will be explored. About 25 papers will be presented on a range of topics, said Miriam Raub Vivian, a history professor who is coordinating the event. Among the topics are the 1918 Spanish flu epidemic in Bakersfield, the Ku Klux Klan activity in Taft in the 1920s, and African-American soldiers at Minter Field during World War II.
Of course no study of Oildale would be complete without a salute to the Bakersfield Sound, and Haggard will be the chief representative of that topic. The Californian's Robert Price is chairing that three-hour session.
"Merle Haggard is coming," said Vivian. "He won't be bringing his band but he will sing a few songs and do an interview with Bob Price."
Among the topics to be presented are the development of country music in our area by Jared Bradford, a CSUB undergraduate; "My Friend Buck," by Kathryn Burke, who earned her master's degree at the university when she was in her 80s; and "Hard Drivin' Country: The Honky Tonks, Musicians and Legends of the Bakersfield Sound," by Jeff Nickell, director of the Kern County Museum. For the final segment of the conference, Haggard will join Haslam and Oildale businessman James L. Wattenbarger for a 30-minute question-and-answer session conducted by Douglas Dodd of the history department. The conference is being held in conjunction with the Oildale centennial celebration. It also launches CSUB's new Public History Institute, which was suggested by Ed Sasacki, of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences.
An exhibit of books, documents, photos, and other materials related to Oildale and Kern County history will be on display in the Dezember Reading Room of the university's Walter Stiern Library. To avoid confusion at the check-in, which begins at 8 a.m. Saturday in the library, Vivian urged people to register in advance. This can be done by calling the history department office at 654-3079 or by going to csub.edu/history. A parking permit is not required.
