One of the most fabulous history projects currently existing is the Basque interpretive sign project that was recently completed in downtown Boise last summer. This project interpreted the significance of buildings and sites important in Idaho Basque history. It created interpretive signs as permanent exhibits at three locations: the former Church of the Good Shepherd (422 West Idaho Street) founded in 1919 and the only Basque Church in the United States; the former Star Rooming House (512 West Idaho) one of the first and best preserved Basque boardinghouses in Idaho; and the Basque Mural (hangs on the west, side wall of the Anduiza Fronton 619 Grove) which depicts key elements of Basque history and culture both in the Basque Country and here in Idaho. These three sites developed and extended a walking tour of historical Basque sites on the Basque Block in Boise.
The projects intended audience is the Treasure Valley community and visitors to the area. The completed project coincided with Jaialdi 2010, an international Basque festival held every five years in Boise which draws 30,000 participants from all over the United States and the world.
The central goal of the project was to create three interpretive signs to educate the public about significant buildings and events that are part of Idaho’s history and incorporate them into a walking tour. The three signs contain a historical narrative of the site’s history and its importance for the Idaho Basque community. Photographs were utilized to interpret the sites history and importance. The project was a continuation of an already existing group of interpretive signs and could be further enlarged to include other sites of historical significance for the Basques.
This local history project serves as a case study of the tension that often surrounds immigrant groups. The Basque ethnic enclave served as a buffer for Basques as they made their way into American culture. The boardinghouse allowed Basques to be together, eat familiar food, sing and dance yet it also was only a temporary home until they settled in more permanent homes in neighborhoods throughout the Treasure Valley. The Church of the Good Shepherd was built with funds and labor of the Basque community yet served as their church for only a brief period. After less than a decade, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Boise closed the church as a Basque chapel and encouraged them to attend services elsewhere. American national church pressures of the period made Catholic prelates emphasize the loyalty of their followers to America and not to their countries of origin and accompanying Roman influence. Finally, the mural depicts key aspects of Basque history and culture that are more commonly subsumed under the Spanish and/or French stories. These signs explain some of the tension that surrounded Basque assimilation into Idaho and may also serve as reminders for the process underway for other current immigrant groups.
This fabulous public history project was the brain child of BSUs own Dr. John Bieter, and he was assisted in the research, grant-writing, and other administrative duties by a graduate student at BSU named Luke Schleif.
http://www.idahohumanities.org/downloads/2010_feb_grants.pdf
This existing project sounds similar to my interest in murals for downtown Boise. I would love to expand a project of this nature to include more of Boise’s history, like the Chinese, early miners, or pioneering skate boarders. If Boise had a several murals then we could create an app for a walking tour of the murals that had additional historical information for those who were interested. I am also always partial to a wagon tour, but I feel this would be harder to incorporate into an iTouch.