Sketching History

San Jose has a rich history, a good bit of which is tied to immigrant stories. I joined Recovery Cafe’s members on a short guided tour of Japantown by historian Tom Izu. There were once over 40 Japantowns in the state at one time. The awful Immigration Act of 1924 changed all that, leaving only three standing today.

This second sketch is of two homes in History Park, San Jose. Like all the structures in this park, they were moved here from their original location.

Knowing the story of a building truly makes a difference.
If I knew nothing, I might have just picked one building to sketch this afternoon. But these two homes are (on the left) Hill House, home of local photographer artist and savior of what is now Big Basin State Park, Andrew Hill, and (on the right) Markham House, home of poet Edwin Markham. When the homes were moved to History Park, they were placed side by side because the two men were friends.
Knowing that, I had to sketch them both, sitting quietly side by side, like old friends who don’t feel the need to keep up a polite stream of conversation.