ENCINITAS -- Ever wonder what your dad was doing in Del Mar back in the 1970s?

A new history of skateboarding exhibit at the San Dieguito Heritage Museum might reveal he was shredding with the likes of Tony Hawk and Pineapple Saladino at the Del Mar Skate Park.

As part of a class project, about a dozen history graduate students at Cal State San Marcos are erecting a new exhibit for the Encinitas museum about the roots of skateboarding in in the region. Their professor, Jeff Charles, is a museum board member.

The new exhibit, called "Skate and Create," is set to open on May 31 and run for six months. It will include three panels of photographs, posters, video recordings of skateboarding maneuvers and interviews, and a display of vintage skateboards.

The exhibit will also feature activities for the younger set who visit the museum on school field trips or with their families.

"It was Professor Charles' idea to do a history of skateboarding exhibit," said graduate student Alex Moddejonge, 26, who produced a brochure and other promotional items for the exhibit.

"We wanted to have an exhibit that kids can relate to and to use skateboarding as a lens to learn more about local history in the '70s and '80s," Moddejonge said.

Not everyone thinks of the 1970s and '80s as "history," so the exhibit makes an important point, said Matthew Schramm, a first-year student in the master's program.

"History is just the stories of people," he said. "We wanted to take a different perspective and bring more popular appeal by bridging the gap between the historian and the public."

Charles said that in addition to the 40 or 50 hours each semester that graduate students spend in his classroom, they must also learn to put together an appealing museum exhibit.

"It's different than traditional history class, but it is still serious," said Charles. "They learn how to present history in a visually appealing way and get history out of the ivory tower."

As part of the exhibit, two of the area's skateboarding destinations will be highlighted.

"The Del Mar Skate Ranch was one of the first skate parks," said Mike Dolan, one of Charles' students who plans to make a documentary about the making of the exhibit for his master's thesis. " It had pools only, but it was frequented by some big names in its day."

The Del Mark Skate Park, which was built in 1978 and closed in 1987, consisted of five cement bowls designed by a local pool service.

"The Del Mar Skate Park was not one of the best-built skate parks of the era. As a matter of fact, it wasn't even close. But what it lacked in quality of terrain, it made up in atmosphere," wrote commentator Dave Swift on the history section of the park's Web site.

Dolan worked on a feature in the exhibit that highlights another local hot spot, known as the Black Hill, near Alicante Road in Carlsbad.

"A little-known fact about the La Costa streets is that they were built before there were houses," he said. "I think people might not be aware that there was a lag in construction between the time when the streets were paved and when the houses were built. And it was in that little window of time (starting in about 1975) that the asphalt streets were exploited by skaters."

For the interactive portion of the exhibit, Michelle White and Sara Durben have been working on children's activities. They have put together a "build your own skate park" for miniature tech decks complete with half pipes, bowls and ramps. They will also have a coloring section where visitors can design and decorate their own skateboard on paper.

"Some people have asked me, 'Why aren't you studying real history?'" said Durben. "I like this a lot better than writing essays. And to use arts and crafts to show people there's a history of skateboarding is just so much fun."

Contact staff writer Ruth Marvin Webster at (760) 901-4074 or rwebster@nctimes.com.