Edith Kent Conway was born into Little River’s pioneering Kent family on August 5, 1901. She kept a diary, which is part of the Kelley House Museum collection, from January to October of 1938. In reading her brief diary entries, one gets the sense that her life was occupied almost entirely by work. She must have been an amazing cook, turning out cakes and pies, roasting [...]
by Sarah Nathe At the opening of the new exhibit on Mendocino photographers at the Kelley House, “Framing History: Worth a Thousand Words,” a couple visitors wondered why people did not smile in those old photos. Was it because they had bad teeth? Or because it was easier to hold a stone face during the long exposure times required by early cameras? Perhaps it was because [...]
Freelance writer, editor and consultant Vicki Hessel Werkley returns to Mendocino on Sunday, June 11th, as the featured speaker at the Kelley House Museum’s “A Sunday Afternoon With. . .” The topic of that afternoon will be “Taking the Redwoods,” a discussion centered on the life of a fictional woman photographer of 1885 Mendocino, mentored by real life photographer, Ira C. Perry. The book fits in [...]
by Tonia Hurst On June 19, 1911, Jack London, the notorious bad boy of literature, rumbled into Mendocino City driving a four-in-hand stagecoach. A regular visitor to Greenwood (Elk), and to the Vichy Hot Springs near Ukiah, London had canvassed Mendocino County on horseback after the 1906 earthquake. At the height of his prolific career, he was hired by the North of Bay Counties Association to [...]
by Tonia Hurst Every year since 1973, the Kelley House Museum, formerly Mendocino Historical Research, has published a Historical Review dealing with one facet or another of the history of the Mendocino Coast. The most recent release, From Maidens to Mavericks: Mendocino's Women, is in the mail to museum members this week. The next volume in the series, From Byways to Highways, will cover the development [...]
by Anne Cooper, Curator As time machines go, the camera is a good one. Early photographers on the Mendocino Coast, as was true of the men and women engaged in photography everywhere, documented the world around them and the people in it. Their images and the lives they led as photographers -- along with A. O. Carpenter’s equipment as examples of the tools of the trade [...]
by Tonia Hurst, Kelley House Museum volunteer “Only four things are necessary in the treatment of this disease: sunlight, fresh air, good food, and rest,” according to Dr. Thomas Darlington, Commissioner of Health, speaking at a conference on Consumption in New York in 1904. In reality, consumption—better known as tuberculosis—remained incurable until the mid 1940s. Before then, 50% of people who contracted the disease eventually would [...]
by Tonia Hurst, Kelley House volunteer About eleven miles from Mendocino, along the Comptche-Ukiah Road, you can spot the remains of what was once Albion Lumber Company’s Camp 10. How would you know you were in the right place? By the presence of the non-native eucalyptus trees. Eucalyptus was not the only distant transplant to arrive here in those years. In the late 19th century, at [...]
by Anne Cooper, Curator As we all know, there are seasons to life. We cycle through times of feast and famine. In many ways, the life and experiences of a single person mirror those of a community. Beginning in the mid-1970s and continuing until fairly recently, the Kelley House Museum experienced a bounty of volunteers. What is difficult to know is the underlying cause of these [...]
by Tonia Hurst, Kelley House Museum volunteer A typical way to date unmarked photos is by studying the people or objects in an image. Hairstyles, hats and even clothing are all accurate markers of period and time. The Kelley House archives abound with examples of austere families, their children trussed up in their Sunday best, their expressions suggesting that life was ever a dull moment. Given [...]