Edward Hodges is on an unusual quest. The retired teacher and volunteer San Jose Unified School District historian has put together a display for Anne Darling Elementary School all about its namesake — a glass-ceiling-breaking administrator who served as deputy superintendent for the city’s schools a century ago.
With a 29-year tenure in the office, Darling was so well-respected that a year following her death in 1928 at around age 58, the city decided to name a new school in her honor. The school opened in 1930 on North 33rd Street and McKee Road and in the late 1950s, a shopping center with her name opened across the street. There’s an Ann Darling Drive just a couple blocks away, and the whole neighborhood around the school is officially known as Anne Darling.
Anne Darling Elementary School in San Jose opened in 1930 and was named for a longtime schools administrator who died in 1928. Historian and retired teacher Edward Hodges is looking for a photograph of Darling for a planned exhibit at the school. (Sal Pizarro/Bay Area News Group)
But, alas, while there are many things with Anne Darling’s name on them — there’s nothing with her picture.
Hodges says his display won’t be complete without a photograph of Darling, but he hasn’t been able to turn one up. And he has looked hard — scouring records for the school and the district; archived newspapers that carried news of her career, death and the opening of the school; History San Jose’s files; the California Room at the King Library downtown; the Anne Darling neighborhood association and various historical associations in Santa Clara County.
But he’s hoping that someone out there might have a photograph of Darling in a family album or a box in the attic. The 1920 census showed her living with two younger sisters, Sallie and Mary, in a house that Darling owned at 490 S. Fifth St. By the way, there was an actress named Anne Darling whose picture will pop up if you do an online image search, but she’s not the right one.
If you’ve got a lead, you can pass it on to Hodges at ehodges1@earthlink.net.
PRINTS PLUS: The ninth annual Bay Area Printers’ Fair and Wayzgoose — that’s an old term of vague origin for printers’ party — will bring together paper, ink and all the arts and crafts that use them on Saturday at History Park in San Jose. The centerpiece of the celebration is the Printing Office there, where Jim Gard and other volunteers will show off vintage letterpresses and other tools of the printing trade.
The fair also will have book artists, demonstrations and vendors selling prints, cards, paper, books, ink and other print-related paraphernalia. The event runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and admission is free. Check it out at www.sjprintersguild.com.
MISSION MUSIC: I’ll bet you didn’t know this year marks the 100th anniversary of the death of composer Giacomo Puccini, but Symphony San Jose is commemorating the occasion.
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This Friday, Symphony San Jose and the Symphony San Jose Chorale, directed by the amazing Elena Sharkova, will perform “Serenade to Music” at Mission Santa Clara, with a program of choral and orchestral music featuring work by Puccini, along with Myroslav Skoryk and Gabriel Faure. Tickets to the 7:30 p.m. concert are available at www.symphonysanjose.org.
And next month, the Symphony returns to its regular home at the California Theatre to continue the tribute to the Italian composer with “Passionate Puccini” on May 11-12.
RAINED OUT: Mother Nature’s not quite done messing around with our plans for spring. The April showers expected Saturday has prompted the cancellation of the Blossom Festival in Saratoga. Word is that it’ll be rescheduled for a dry weekend in the future.