Charlotte Crabtree, a longtime Pacific Palisades resident, passed quietly away April 15, on Holy Saturday between Good Friday and Easter, with her loving family beside her. She was 78. ”Born in Los Angeles on August 14, 1927, she moved at age 2 with her father, John Crabtree, her mother, Lydia Weinholz, and her younger sister, Esther, to the old Weinholz family homestead in North Dakota. After four delightful growing years on the farm, the family moved to St. Louis, Missouri, John Crabtree’s hometown, where a brother, David, was born in 1934. In 1941 the Crabtrees returned to Los Angeles. ”Charlotte graduated with honors from Los Angeles Catholic Girls’ High School in 1944, and from UCLA in 1948 with a major in history. She began her lifelong career as an educator teaching third grade at Washington School in Santa Monica, then became a demonstration teacher at the University Elementary School on the UCLA campus, where she made U.S. history come to vivid life in her fifth grade classroom. She earned her doctorate in education at Stanford. ”From 1962 to 1993 Charlotte taught curriculum studies at UCLA, where she chaired the Division of Administrative, Curriculum, and Teaching Studies in the Graduate School of Education. She was founding director of the National Center for History in the Schools, which established national standards for the teaching of history in the public schools. Awarded a $1.6-million grant, Charlotte organized a national effort to upgrade the teaching of history. She served on the National Assessment Governing Board, the 1994 National Assessment of Educational Progress in U.S. History, and the California Curriculum Commission, where she co?authored California’s landmark framework for history and social studies. Among her publications is ‘History on Trial: Culture Wars and the Teaching of the Past,’ co-authored with Palisadian Gary Nash, professor of history at UCLA, and Ross E. Dunn, professor of history at San Diego State University. ”She is survived by her sister, Esther Lindop (husband Edmund) of Pacific Palisades; her brother David Crabtree of Santa Barbara; and her niece, Laurie Lindop, a published author who teaches English at Boston College in Massachusetts. ”Charlotte loved her beautiful home in the Palisades and spent many happy hours working in her garden with its spectacular roses and camellias. She was very active in the Palisades Lutheran Church, where she had many friends. In May, the church will have a special memorial service celebrating her outstanding life. ”Extremely dedicated and hard- working, Charlotte was a woman who made a positive difference in her community and in the world.
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