A PEEK INTO OUR ARCHIVES
October is American Archives month, a “nationwide effort to highlight the importance of archives, archivists, and the countless stories preserved in our collections.” We asked our volunteers and staff to share a favorite item in our collection in the hopes they might pique your own curiosity.
“My favorite collection in the archives is our photographic collection. A picture is worth a thousand words and each photograph that we have tells stories that are often long forgotten. For many of the working people who came to Mendocino, especially the immigrants, there may be only one or two photographs that document their life. A wedding photograph, a family with their children, a group of schoolchildren, an image of millworkers or lumbermen may be the only documentation of those people having existed in this place. To me, those images are invaluable and irreplaceable, preserving the past for the future.”
-Carolyn Zeitler, Archivist Emerita
Allie, Blanche and Russell Anderson, children of Nels Peter and Katrina “Anna” Anderson of Mendocino, c. 1895.
“My favorite item is a collection of five photos of my home taken in 1931: four showing interior views of the living room and dining room, and one of the back of the house. I love seeing what has changed over the years and what has remained the same!”
-Carol Dominy, Volunteer
Susie Walbridge House interior, 1931.
“Definitely the box of clay pipes. When I was working on the Kelley House Museum web site some years ago, I noticed our site got a lot of interest in an article called “Who Was Smoking These Pipes?” Intrigued, I soon discovered our vast collection of clay pipes, most of which were excavated from the Kelley House pond. One of the best tidbits from the article: “Pipes were used by women and even children in the earliest decades of their introduction. The smell of tobacco would have disguised the stench of the streets of large cities such as London or Paris.”
-Anne Semans, Director
Clay Pipes in the Vault. Photographer: Nik Zvolensky.
“I think my favorite thing in the archives are the 6 editions of the Sanborn Maps. They hold so much information about what was built here in Mendocino from 1883 until 1929.”
-Karen McGrath, Volunteer
Sanborn Fire Insurance Map, 1890.
“The incredible German music box built in the late 1800’s that we crank up to hear beautiful melodies. One British man told me that he had seen the same music box in one of the museums in southern Great Britain. People love it and are surprised that the sound is so true still after all these years. I love to see the look of awe on the faces of the people who hear it for the first time. I am awed by it too.”
-Juliet Way, Volunteer Tour Guide
Juliet with the Schultzmarke polyphone disk music box. Photographer: Nik Zvolensky
“I love our clothing collection. Clothing is a very personal, human item to preserve. I love seeing imperfections in clothing that show its wear, like small stitches or stains, because it gives insight into the person and the history of the garment. My favorite item of clothing is Jennie Blair’s ivory silk gown from 1887, which Jennie wore when she was presented to the Court of Saint James’s in England. The gown was made by Jeanne Hallee in Paris, and if Jennie ever re-wore it to a party in Mendocino, she was surely the belle of the ball.”
-Averee McNear, Curator
Jennie Blair’s Ivory Silk Gown, 1887. Gift of Gwenlian MacCallum Yonce.
“A map of the timberlands to be logged to the east of Mendocino. We don’t know who made it, or when, but it’s the timberlands to be logged east of the town with math symbols/measurements we can’t interpret.”
-Katy Tahja, Museum Docent
Maps in the Vault.
To learn more about the Kelley House Museum Archives, contact our curator: [email protected]