The Heritage Collection includes over 100 copies of photographs from Evergreen history including the village, schools, mining, agriculture, families from the 1800s and early 1900s and the contributions from Ohlone Indians, Mexican Americans, and other groups native to our diverse heritage. The collection also contains books, maps, newspaper articles, artwork, and memorabilia.
The collection was developed by Colleen Cortese and Vicki Atherton in the late 1980s with extensive community involvement. It was officially donated to the College in 1991 with support from the San José-Evergreen Community College District Foundation. Find out more about the grand opening of the Heritage Room at EVC Library in 2005 and its historical Evergreen memorabilia collection in an article of the Evergreen Times, Evergreen History Collection Finds a Permanent Home.
The Heritage Collection provides an appropriate, secure place for access to the collection by students, faculty, staff, and community members interested in the diverse heritage of our community. The room provides space for displays featuring various heritage topics and publicizes the continually growing collection.
Read the entire Heritage Room Gift and Donation Policy.
California Room (at the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library): a collection of books, maps, files, and other items on California history with emphasis on the history of San José and Santa Clara County
History San José: Silicon Valley's largest and most comprehensive historical organization, containing more than 500,000 artifacts
Santa Clara City Library Genealogy Collection: extensive collection of historical maps and atlases, and U.S. census on microfilm
Heritage Room Collections:
An article by Colleen Cortese, in Evergreen Times, describing the Ohlone Indian way of life at the time of Spanish colonization.
The Muwekma Ohlone Indian Tribe website provides news, history, and photos as well as links to other Native American websites.
Website of an Ohlone tribe of Greater Monterey Bay provides cultural resources, tribal newsletters, history, council meeting minutes, and administration information.
The website of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band, previously known as the San Juan band, provides information about the history and early laws of the tribe.
Chapter XII on the history of the fruit industry of Santa Clara County in History of Santa Clara County written by Eugene T. Sawyers, published in 1922, from archive.org.
Article on Santa Clara County farming in Overland Monthly and Out West Magazine by John Hayes published in 1873 from sfgenealogy.org.
Article on Evergreen's historic Wehner Mansion, also known as Villa Lomas Azules and the Cribari Mansion, written by Sean T. Kelley and published in Evergreen Times.
An article by Colleen Cortese, in the Evergreen Times, about six generations of the Mirassou family and their contributions to viticulture and winemaking in Evergreen.
This article, in the Evergreen Times by Colleen Cortese, tells of the items brought to Evergreen by the area's early women settlers and their use of herbs for medicinal purposes.
The history of emigration into Alta California by the Spanish and gold seekers, and the settling of Evergreen following California's statehood, written by Colleen Cortese and published in the Evergreen Times.
Chapter XXXIV includes a brief history of Evergreen in
History of Santa Clara County written by Eugene T. Sawyers, published in 1922, from sfgenealogy.org.
Colleen Cortese, in this Evergreen Times article, describes early Evergreen businesses, schools, and activities at the social hall.
Mexican California: The Heyday of the Ranchos Historical and cultural information about California's Ranchos, including an events timeline, from the CSU Northridge website.
An article by Colleen Cortese, in Evergreen Times, presenting Yerba Buena Rancho's history.
A map of Santa Clara County's Spanish and Mexican ranchos, drawn by Ralph Rambo and based on research by Clyde Arbuckle, from the History San Jose Online Collections website.
The Ranchos of Santa Clara County, as listed in Grants of Land in California Made by Spanish or Mexican Authorities from the UC Berkeley Earth Sciences and Maps Library website.
Article written in 1890, published in The Century Magazine, recounts California rancho and mission life is provided by the Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco.
Article about Spanish and Mexican private land claims in California from Grants of Land in California Made by Spanish or Mexican Authorities and link to a list of ranchos by county is provided by the UC Berkeley Earth Sciences and Maps Library website.
Colleen Cortese's article, in the Evergreen Times, presents a history of Mexican and Spanish land grants in Alta California and challenges to their validity in the California courts following statehood.
An article in the Evergreen Times, written by Colleen Cortese, recounts challenges to Antonio Chaboya's title to Ranch Yerba Buena lands by American squatters.
Colleen Cortese's article in the Evergreen Times provides information from the will of Antonio Chaboya, describes the Evergreen land he owned, and recounts a Chaboya family story and tradition.
The story of the colonization of Alta California by Mexicans and the establishment of its first civil community at the Pueblo de San Jose de Guadalupe in what is now the city of San Jose, written by Colleen Cortese, published in the Evergreen Times.
The story of the Chaboya family's arrival in Alta California from Spain and their migration to Pueblo de San Jose, written by Colleen Cortese and published in the Evergreen Times.
An article in the Evergreen Times by Colleen Cortese about the arrival of Bernal family in Alta California from Mexico, their connection to the Chaboya family through marriage, and their significant land holdings in Santa Clara County.
The story of Antonio Chaboya's fight to acquire legal title to the lands of Evergreen during the Mexican Land Grant Period and to fend off subsequent claims following the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, written by Colleen Cortese, published in the Evergreen Times.