Four local high school students successfully completed the Research Internship program at the Lanterman House during the summer of 2023.
The student interns were Kiera Horne, Addison Lee and Irene Lee of La Cañada High School, and Sophia Hovhannisyan of Crescenta Valley High School. The group used the Lanterman House Archives to study the history and impact of the city’s local newspaper on the community.
As part of their research, the interns interviewed local historian and columnist Mike Lawler; content coordinator of Neighbors magazine, Jane Napier Neely; and the publisher of the Outlook Valley Sun, Charlie Plowman. These interviews will be preserved in the Lanterman Archives and in the California State Library database, California Revealed.
The interns also created an online exhibition about the history of the Valley Sun newspaper, which was founded in 1946. The exhibition can be viewed on the Lanterman House website at lantermanhouse.org. Additionally, each intern chose a topic from the old newspapers to further research and write an article for the monthly historical column published in La Cañada Flintridge Neighbors magazine.
“The Lanterman Summer Internship program met in person this summer for the first time since it started in 2020. What a delight to work with four talented area high school students and guide them in the exploration of the Lanterman House’s archive of the Valley Sun newspaper,” said Mary Lou Langedyke, program adviser and board president of the Lanterman Historical Museum Foundation. “Students were able to experience the vital role this paper played in strengthening community bonds, providing an outlet for civic expression, and documenting our community’s history. Each student honed their research, writing and interview skills as they prepared our new online exhibit and learned about their community and its history.”
First published in the September 14 print issue of the Outlook Valley Sun.
