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In July 1989, Mayor Karp signed a proclamation marking Dec. 4-10 Senior <br />Citizens Week in San Leandro. <br /> <br />Estudillo Room (Main Library) <br />José Joaquin Estudillo was the first Spanish settler to reside in San Leandro and <br />thus considered the founder of San Leandro. He was born May 5, 1800 at the <br />Presidio of Monterey. His father, Lt. José Maria Estudillo, had been stationed at <br />Monterey in 1799. As a teenager, José Joaquin entered into military service at <br />the Monterey Presidio. Estudillo applied for a grant to Governor Nicholas <br />Guiterrez for the old El Rodeo de Arroyo de San Leandro. Anticipating the <br />receipt of this grant for his 17 years of military service, Estudillo moved his wife <br />and family to the property and built an adobe home near the south bank of San <br />Leandro Creek. It was near the present junction of Brookside and Donovan <br />Drives. Estudillo filed another request for approximately 7,000 acres and included <br />all the land between San Leandro Creek and San Lorenzo Creek from the hills to <br />the Bay, except the lands occupied and cultivated by the Ohlones. He called it <br />Rancho de Arroyo de San Leandro, popularly known as “Rancho San Leandro.” <br /> <br />José Joaquin Estudillo built a “fine framework house” for his family at 1291 <br />Carpentier Street (off W. Estudillo). It was a two-story house and included 14 <br />bedrooms, a wine cellar and servants’ quarters. It had a balcony on two sides. <br />St. Leander’s Church acquired the home in 1894. Recognizing the historic value <br />of the home, Leslie J. Freeman, who was a member of San Leandro’s Chamber <br />of Commerce, sought to have it registered as a historical landmark. This was <br />done on January 8, 1938 when the Estudillo home was designated as California <br />Historical Landmark No. 279. <br /> <br />Mary Brown Room (Main Library) <br />Mary Brown was the first librarian of San Leandro. The Library Board of Trustees <br />appointed Miss Mary Brown as the first official librarian for the City of San <br />Leandro on January 31, 1906. According to one source, her starting salary was <br />$12.50 per month. She completed one course of study for library science at UC <br />Berkeley. <br /> <br />In May of 1909, the City’s new Carnegie Library was dedicated and opened to <br />the public. Miss Brown lived only a short distance from the library at 425 Estudillo <br />Avenue. She was highly respected by the entire community and was known to be <br />very well informed and knew her job well. She served as the city’s librarian until <br />she retired in November of 1938. <br /> <br />Fred T. Korematsu Campus (SLUSD) <br />Fred Korematsu was awarded the Medal of Freedom for fighting against the <br />injustice of Japanese-American internment during WW II. Refusing to comply with <br />an order for all Japanese Americans to be interned, Mr. Korematsu was arrested <br />and jailed in San Leandro in 1942. He was then sent to the Topaz Internment Camp <br />in Utah. He then spent 40 years appealing this violation of his constitutional rights.