California: A Multicultural Documentary History is a primary source reader that focuses on the diverse experiences of all groups included in the histories of California: Filipino Americans, farmworkers, Japanese farmers, African-American civil rights activists, and more. Blending documents from both public and private spheres, this collection not only successfully holds the attention of her students, but also constructs a more complete understanding of the people and events that created and shaped California.

After decades of teaching the history of California using standard textbooks, author Lauren Coodley found that students responded more attentively to a mix of traditional historical documents and stories and images related by everyday people. When she couldn’t find a collection of documents that suited her students’ needs, she set out to make her own. These stories and pictures help students investigate and contemplate how and why events take place, just as if they leafed through a parents’ scrapbook or listened to the oral histories of their grandparents.