The Sourisseau Academy’s Thomas Layton (Professor Emeritus, Anthropology) writes of the Academy’s December 2015 studies of the Santa Clara Valley:

There was a time, not so long ago, when a white-uniformed service station attendant would come to your window and ask, “Regular or Extra?” before raising your hood, checking your oil and washing your windshield. For our December photo album, we trace the progress of the gasoline-purchasing experience, from the courtly hospitality of yesteryear to the self-service ordeal of today. Take that century-long journey.

Our December “Sourisseau News” video, supported by Linda L. Lester, traces the photographic career of Andrew Putnam Hill. A.P. Hill earned his first fame as an artist and photographer, but his perseverance and magnificent photographs earned him a second, more lasting fame, as “the man who saved the redwoods.” View the video to follow the career of a man who took photographs with the eye of an artist, and whose photographs—not paintings—were instrumental in saving those magnificent trees.