Member Meredith.Eliassen

My library is eclectic, ranging from picture books of folklore for children, to books for identifying wildflowers, rocks and birds, to books that help me to understand the history of ideas. When I taught seminars on the history of children's literature, I compiled the bulk of my library, and when I stopped teaching that course I gave the vast majority of these books (the ones that children today would enjoy) to the Children's Book Project (http://www.childrensbookproject.org) a non-profit group in San Francisco that supplies children's books to homes that do not have books - I love these folks - to me this promotes literacy education at the most grassroots level... in the home.

Works with special collections at the J. Paul Leonard Library at San Francisco State University and is interested in the history of family life in the United States. Has written about the history of San Francisco State University, semantics and cultural change, California gold rush era, the San Francisco 1906 earthquake and fire, children's literature, American folklore, illustrators, and graphic artists, local broadcasting history, and the effects of legislation and politics on families.

I am a curator, historical research consultant, writer, and artist. I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, where every neighborhood has a story and every alleyway contains its own hue and value within a dynamic landscape. I do history everyday in my work... sometimes I do the academic footnotes, mostly I do it for recreation. But always, grassroot local history for me is an expression of love for the communities that inspire me.