Shermn R. Frederick
Marinscope
After 50 years of presenting a First Friday Forenoon history lesson, the Moya Library-Ross Historical Society found a way to make history themselves. For the first time, the event itself was done via Zoom to comply with the COVID-19 health rules.
Marin native Lori Deible had the honors for the first-time format. She walked attendees through the remarkable history of the world-renowned Branson School in Ross.
Deible, accompanied by many pictures of the school and its students, focussed on the first 50 years of the school’s 100 year history.
The school’s roots began as the San Rafael School for Girls in downtown San Rafael. At the time, San Rafael was growing fast and residents felt they needed a private school for girls.
In 1920 trustees, who had earlier recruited Katherine Branson to lead the school, moved out of San Rafael and a bucolic estate in Ross owned by John Martin, the founder of PG&E.
It grew from 25 students (three in residence) to a school today of world reputation.
Branson retired from the school in 1950 and died in 1985 at 98.
The school’s 100-year history is archived and is now available at Branson.org.
Next month the Moya Library-Ross Historical Society invites you to raise a glass of your favorite beverage and join us for our next program entitled “The Prohibition Years In Marin: No Need To Speak Easy.” It will take place on Friday, Oct. 2 at 11 a.m. This is a free program and will also be live streamed on Zoom.
Local historian and educator John Freeman, will commemorate the centennial of The Volstead Act and Prohibition in Marin and the Bay Area. The thirteen Prohibition years, from 1920 – 1933, have been sensationalized for gang violence, dramatic enforcement against contraband or homemade liquor, and the ingenious ways people used to conceal illicit alcoholic beverages. But in the counties around the Bay: San Francisco, Marin, Alameda and San Mateo, the attitude toward all forms of alcohol was much more tolerant.
To watch this program live, please register in advance on our website (www.moya-rhs.org). After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
If you missed the Branson program, you can go to this link and use the password R2s@Lc1=
(Send us your Marin story ideas and tips. You can reach Sherman R. Frederick at shermfrederick@gmail.com.)
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