By Nick Sestanovich
The Benicia Historical Museum, with the help of the Benicia Historical Society and UC Berkeley’s Archeological Research Facility, will be inviting kids of all ages to get their Indiana Jones on as they uncover Benicia’s past for the new event “I Dig Benicia.”
In honor of October being California Archaeology Month, the three organizations are putting together an event that allows kids to learn about Benicia and California’s past through hands-on archeological activities. This is the first year that Benicia Historical Museum has hosted this event, and it received a lot of support from David Hyde, a graduate student in UC Berkeley’s archaeology department and member of the Benicia Historical Society.
“Berkeley, being a public university institution, really provides itself on having public outreach to local communities,” he said. “There’s sort of an interdepartmental organization called the Archaeological Research Facility which connects archaeologists in all sorts of departments across Berkeley. Through that we do educational outreach opportunities. It typically involves going to local schools, usually in Alameda County because of the convenience and the locale.”As a member of the Historical Society and a Benicia High School graduate, Hyde thought it would be a good idea to bring that kind of outreach to Benicia. BHM Executive Director Elizabeth D’Huart was thrilled about the opportunity, and “I Dig Benicia!” was born.