Hayward is Home is the culmination of a Fall 2022 digital historical methods course (HIST403) taught by Dr. Bridget Ford, current chair of the History Department at California State University, East Bay. Drawing inspiration from other digital humanities projects, a diverse group of undergraduates, graduate students, and lifelong learners came together to mine the archives at the Hayward Area Historical Society with no idea where our research would take us. We identified three central themes throughout the materials: Meanings of Home, Understandings, and Belonging. From a home-grown radical newspaper printed in the 1970s, to a hidden Japanese garden oasis that changed the course of two highways, to the endangered–and adorable–salt marsh harvest mouse that calls the Hayward Shoreline home—Hayward’s history offers something for everyone.
Thanks to a Quick Grant from California Humanities, as well as support from the CSUEB Department of History and the Hayward Public Library, we were able to take our findings off-campus to share with the local community through a series of well-attended public panels held at the library during the Fall of 2023. We were also able to share our experience with a broader academic audience at the 2024 American Historical Association Annual Meeting and the 2024 Wanda Washington History Conference. This website—which was the original intended product—thus brings the project full circle. We hope that others will be inspired to take a second look at their local history—you might be surprised at what you find.
