Bibliography of Sources for California Missions
This page contains an annotated bibliography of books and videos currently used by fourth grade teachers. They were reviewed by Group 1 of the Honors ES 210 Mission Project.
1. Anderson, John B. and Benjamin M. Watson. California's Missions. Arroyo Grande: Hubert A. Lowman, 1978
This book provides in depth descriptions of each of the 21 missions. Readers may be interested in the description about the San Luis Obispo mission and how the Indians attacked the missions three different times, but ended as friends with the Spanish.
2. Banks, James A., et. al. California Adventures in Time and Place. New York: McGraw-Hall Publications, 2000.
McGraw-Hill published this text, which is one of three current textbooks used statewide in fourth grade classrooms. It contains several chapters covering the founding of the mission system, life at the missions, and the dynamics of the Indian-Padre relationship and discusses the role of the Indians in building and working at the missions.
3. Bauer, Hellen. California Mission Days. Sacramento, CA: California State Department of Education, 1957.
Bauer chronicles the progression of the missions from Spanish exlporers seeking a California harbor to how the missions began. This book aimed at children's level of understanding includes an overview of all 21 missions in California and describes how and when each were founded.
4. Bellerophon Books. California Missions: The Earliest Series of Views Made in 1856. Santa Barbara: Bellerophon Books, 1995.
This book is a collection of journal entries made by an artist named Henry Miller in 1856. His trip down the mission trail dealt mostly with murders and other ancient foul deeds, but some of this text was trimmed down in favor of having more pictures in the book that show the missions as they were just prior to their near-complete decay.
5. Chapin, June, et. al. California: People of Region. New York: McGraw-Hill Publishing Co., 1984.
This text was used to teach fourth graders about the missions in the 1980s and early 1990s. The scope of coverage includes how the missions were founded and built and layout of each mission, including priests' habitations and the uses of each building. This juvenile text covers the privileges of the Indians who chose to be part of the mission and describes their average workday and diet.
6. Faber, Gail and Michele Lasagna. Whispers Along the Mission Trail. Alamo, CA: Magpie Publication, 1986
This teacher's text guides teachers how to instruct on the history of California, starting with motivations of European explorers. The text describes the process by which explores arrived by seas and how they planned to settle. It covers the arrival of the padres, who established the missions and delves into mission life, including craps and livestock, as well as music. The subject of pueblos and pobladores (the people who established the pueblos) is also a subject discussed.
7. Flower, Enola. A History of California. Sacramento, CA: California State Department of Education, 1949
This book provides information about life at missions and compares and contracts them. The history of California is chronicled in a way that a child would understand. The section concerning the missions covers information concerning topography, immigration, and Father Junipero Serra's settlement of the first mission. A chapter dedicated to describing life on California missions is also included.
8. Foster, Lee. The Beauty of the California Missions. Portland, Or: LTA Publishing Co., 1990.
This Photo-laden book describes the history and factual information of each of the 21 missions. The history of the missions from their founding to present day conditions is shown and described.
9. Larsen, Nancy A. The Story of California. Pasadena, CA: American Heritage Publishing Co., 1970.
This is a teacher's edition of a textbook from the 1970's that covers the history of California. Themes of each unit include: 1) The Indians were the first people to make homes in our rich and varied land; 2) People form Spain became the first Europeans to discover and settle in California; 3) American interest in California grew during the time of Mexico's rule; 4) The discovery of gold brings great excitement and many changes to California; 5) Irrigation, raising new crops, and the discovery of oil made California prosperous; 6) Rapid changes and a growing population meant problems as well as progress for our state; and 7) The Golden State facoes new challenges in a time of spectacular growth.
10. Life In A California Mission in 1790. Had You Lived Then Series. AIMS Media, 1976.
This video portrays how the missions built by the Spanish priests and friars were much more churches. THey were neatly self-sufficient communities, operating like a feudal system. It is used to demonstrate the role of the mission friars in the settlement of California. The life of Spanish missionaries and of the Indians they controlled in the California missions in the late 18th Century is shown through scenes and objects photographed in an authentic mission.
11. Nelson, Libby and Kari A. Cornell. California Mission Projects and Layouts. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications Company, 1998.
This book gives instructions for building a model of California missions building. It also includes a brief history of the missions and their building techniques.
12. The Missions. Hollywood Select Video, 1987.
This video is told in a form of a diary, exploring the daily life in the old California missions. The procedures used to make the missions possible are described, from making bricks, candles and leather through tilling the soil, feeding the mission families and reaching the close of the day.
13. The Sunset Editors, et. al. The California Missions: A Pictorial History. Menlo Park, CA: Sunset Publication Corporation, 1979.
This pictorial history and visitor's guide to the California missions that discuss their significance to California's hitory and the expansion of the Spanish empire. The text discusses the roles of the padres, Russians fur traders, and the Native Americans. A discussion of the mission system's contributions and deficits to California history and of discussion of the mission system's contributions and deficits to California history and of the regimented life of the mission Indians is also included.
14. Toucan Valley Publications. California Missions: Fact Cards. Toucan Valley Publications, 1992.
This binder is a compilation of fact cards that concisely summarizes geographical facts and chronological history and describes each of the 21 missions. It suggests ideas for teachers to assign to their students in constructing a model of a mission.
15. Five Years: An Ethnic Historic Site Survey for California. Sacramento, CA: State of California Department of Parks and Recreations, 1988.
Reference guide for people interested in the history of ethnic people in California, including American Indians, Black Americans, Chinese Americans, Japanese Americans and Mexican Americans. Readers interested in the history of the Indians may want to refer to chapters that discuss mission history with Indians, both violent and non-violent resistane, decrease in population due to susceptibilty to disease, and land issues between settlers and Indians
16. Womach, Randy L. The Best Ever Book about California Missions. Redding: Golden Education Center, 2000.
The first section of the book has background information with maps, questions and research activities. It reviews each mission in detail and provides individual maps of all the missions.