Media Advisory: Marian Wagstaff Memorial
Saturday, June 27, 2009, 11 a.m.; Music Hall, Cal State L.A.
Legendary educator integrated Willowbrook faculty in ’49,
guided future teachers for 25 years at Cal State L.A.;
junior-high students from 50 years ago to honor her Saturday
Note to editors and news directors: They were in junior high together roughly six decades ago. Now, this group of 10 former schoolmates has organized a memorial service for the woman who was their principal way back when. Marian Wagstaff—a tough but gracious trail-blazing educator who died recently at age 97—was ahead of the times. On Saturday at 11 a.m., former students, colleagues and friends will gather for a memorial service honoring her at California State University, Los Angeles. Wagstaff taught at Cal State L.A. from 1952 to 1976. Prior to that, she was principal at Willowbrook Middle School in Compton, where in 1949 she began integrating the faculty to reflect the racial and ethnic diversity of the students. As Victor Pierce, one of the former students organizing the service, said, “She REALLY made a difference.”
This link goes to her obituary in the Los Angeles Times: http://tinyurl.com/Wagstaff-obit
Journalists are welcome to cover the memorial. During the service, photography and filming should be from the back or sides of the hall, not obstructing nor disrupting the views of the attendees. The following are among those who will be available to comment Saturday on Dr. Wagstaff’s legacy:
Organizer and former Willowbrook student Victor Pierce:
(310) 650-3038 or [email protected]
Mary Falvey, dean of the University’s Charter College of Education:
(323) 343-4300 or [email protected]
WHAT: Marian Wagstaff memorial service..
WHEN: 11 a.m., Saturday, June 27, 2009.
WHERE: Music Hall, California State University, Los Angeles.
The University is near the junction of the 10 and 710 freeways. (Map and directions: /univ/maps/cslamap.php )
WHO: Friends, former colleagues, former students, and others looking to honor the life and contributions of Dr. Marian Wagstaff.
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Working for California since 1947: The 175-acre hilltop campus of California State University, Los Angeles is at the heart of a major metropolitan city, just five miles from Los Angeles’ civic and cultural center. More than 20,000 students and 210,000 alumni—with a wide variety of interests, ages and backgrounds—reflect the city’s dynamic mix of populations. Six Colleges offer nationally recognized science, arts, business, criminal justice, engineering, nursing, education and humanities programs, among others, led by an award-winning faculty. Cal State L.A. is home to the critically-acclaimed Luckman Jazz Orchestra and to a unique university center for gifted students as young as 12. Programs that provide exciting enrichment opportunities to students and community include an NEH- and Rockefeller-supported humanities center; a NASA-funded center for space research; and a growing forensic science program, housed in the Hertzberg-Davis Forensic Science Center. www.calstatela.edu