On June 5th of 2005, Ellie Bluestein was given an award that was created by an alliance of Fresno area interfaith organizations. The Carl and Esther Robinson Award for the Common Good was named after two community members committed to social justice. Carl Robinson, 87 and Esther, 86, were in attendance to be honored for … Continue reading Award for Common Good →

Ellie Bluestein biography Ellie has devoted much of her adult life to seeking peace and justice on a local, national, and international level. As a new mother, she found herself empathizing with mothers and their babies around the world, in particular with those mothers who did not have food for their children. This concern merged … Continue reading Ellie Bluestein biography →

This honor given by Carol Bequette and the School of Education and Human Development, California State University, Fresno.

The Life and Death of a Polish Shtetl Edited by Feigl Bisberg-Youkelsonand Rubin Youkelson Translated by Gene Bluestein Numerous holocaust memoirs recount the unspeakable horrors that individuals witnessed and endured during the Nazis’ reign. Less well know are the post-World war II yizkors, collective memoirs written by survivors to memorialize a home village purged or … Continue reading Polish Shtetl Rememberance →

Gene BluesteinMay 1, 1928 – August 21, 2002   Gene at Pinewoods Music Camp circa 1973 This is an account of the memorial events so far. Upon Gene’s passing, the Bluesteins presented rememberances in word and song Saturday, September 7, 2002, at the Satellite Student Union, California State University. Since then there have been four … Continue reading Memorial Concerts →

I was very interested in drums. I must’ve been about twelve. I had an uncle, my uncle Jack, who was my mother’s brother. He had been a musician in the old country and he always wanted me to be a musician, so he brought me a musical instrument every week. I tried it for one … Continue reading Drums →

In the meantime (teaching at Michigan State) I was starting to look for a job and I saw an ad for Fresno State. That was a very interesting experience too, because the ad indicated that they wanted a professor with an American Studies or an American literature background and they were going to be at … Continue reading Getting to Fresno State →

What are they and why would I want them?   Do you have songs that you would like to play but you just don’t have the chords on your harp? Maybe a nice Eb to be able to play a tune in the key of Bb, or some diminished chords. You might be able to … Continue reading Magnetic Quick Release Chord Bar Covers →

The Autoharp is a musical stringed instrument having a series of chord bars attached to dampers which, when depressed, mute all the strings other than those that form the desired chord. Despite its name, the autoharp is not a harp at all, but a chorded zither. Autoharp History There is debate over the origin of … Continue reading Autoharp History →

Teachers and administrators are often asked to justify the arts as part of a school’s curriculum. Below are a few examples of research and findings on arts education I find interesting. I am always encouraged when I see documentation showing how important creativity, community building, courtesy, and music and dance skills are, and it seems … Continue reading Justifying Arts In the Curriculum →