Photographs, diaries, diary transcripts, and correspondence related to Ms. Gaydon Moore Brundridge and her experience as a teacher at Carrizo Plain (Carrisa Plains) in 1918.

Gaydon Moore Brundridge (b. 12 October 1897 d. 23 April 1974) was born in Texas and raised in the Los Angeles, California area. She attended the Los Angeles State Normal School (now University of California Los Angeles) where she studied teaching. She was a member of the Rooter’s Club and the Push and Pull Club, and was Senior Class Treasurer. Moore arrived at the Garcia family cattle ranch on the Carrizo Plain (Carrisa Plains) near Pozo in February 1918. She lived with the Garcia family and taught children ages 4 to 16 until June 1918. School classes were held in various ranch buildings adapted for school use. Her students included 9 children from the Garcia family and several children from the Van Meter (Van Matre) and other neighboring families. The diaries reflect her experiences as a teacher living on the plain and include descriptions of social activities with local mining and ranching families in the sparsely populated rural area. In June of 1918 Gaydon Moore returned to Los Angeles. She married Field Richard Brundidge in 1924. Carrizo Plain is located within the territory of the Chumash people who have occupied the lands for generations. Painted Rock and other cultural sites attest to the presence of indigenous people from approximately 11,000 BCE to the present. The Salinian from the north and the Yokuts from eastern inland areas also visited and traded in the area. Evidence of European expeditions date to the late 1700s and settlement ranchers claimed homesteads on the Carrizo Plain beginning in the mid-19th century with the influx of mining and railroad construction. Historically the plain has been referred to as Carrisa Plains by local ranchers and settlers. The original name, carrizo, was given by Spanish explorers who named the area for a wild grass that may have been prominent on the plain at the time. The name was Anglicised over time in written records and via verbal transmission, gradually becoming known as Carrisa Plains. In 2001 the plain was recognized a national preserve and received the title of Carrizo Plain National Monument.

2.25 LF, 2 boxes

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