HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF THE UPPER MOJAVE DESERT
VOL. 12 NO. 6
June 17, 1997
JUNE PROGRAM
The Historical Society of the Upper Mojave Desert will meet at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 17, in the Sylvia Winslow Gallery of the Maturango Museum. The speaker will be Lone Pine Postmaster Linda Goldsmith, who will talk about "The Post Office-Then and Now."
Topics Goldsmith plans to cover include the Pony Express, postal services in the early days, RFD delivery, special delivery and the way mail was processed in the early days. She will also discuss how the computer revolution affected mail sorting, as well as other changes that have resulted in a radically different approach to postal services today.
Goldsmith was a distribution clerk when she started her postal career in 1969 in Van Nuys. In 1974 she was promoted to Foreman of Mails, progressing up the ladder to become one of the first women supervisors in the Van Nuys Post Office, supervising 300-400 people on the new mechanical letter-sorting machines.
She became postmaster of Mammoth Lakes in 1978 and of Lee Vining in 1981, receiving a promotion to her current position in 1985.
True to her name, Goldsmith is an avid rockhound and jewelry maker. She is very involved in the community, serving as an officer of both the Southern Inyo Artisans Guild and the Southern Inyo Hospital. She is also the arts coordinator for the Lone Pine Film Festival Arts and Crafts Show, set for October.
The HSUMD board selected Goldsmith as the last speaker for the program year specifically to give local history buffs a taste of postal history in preparation for the Historical Society exhibit on post offices of the Upper Mojave Desert that is scheduled to open in the Sylvia Winslow Gallery on July 12.
Liz Babcock
NEW MEMBERS
The Society takes great pleasure in welcoming the following into its membership. Jack & Fran Crawford, John & Martha Faron, Richard & Sandy Hart, Don & Gail Harris, Jr., John Pate and Millie Riggin, and Herb & Ellie Snyder.There are lots of projects afoot and we hope these members will find some of interest to them enough to become involved in the Society's work.
ELECTION OF SOCIETY OFFICERS
The president, vice president, secretary and treasurer were reelected and their duties are the same, but directors' special duties have been changed as follows: Programs, Katy Bell; Hospitality, Fred Weals; Membership, Fred Weals; Newsletter Editor, Chet Creider; Exhibits & Displays, Liz Babcock; Publicity, Liz Babcock: Historical Collections, Dot Gould, and Liaison to the Museum, Charlotte Goodson.
REFLECTIONS ON A GOOD TIME PAST
Is it imagination only which suggests that the Historical Society is a unique and very special group of people? Are there any others that encourage as much a focus of attention upon the past, along with the present and future? The individual and collective memories of early and middle timers open the pages of this particular Valley's story to all those who've more recently arrived. In the "reading" of those pages, our appreciation of what has gone before grows. Those of us who are relative newcomers are enabled to feel more a part of this community and region.
(Hopefully, something of a similar nature takes place in our education efforts with area children.)
The past experiences of the many people whose advents to the Valley nearly span the century are of immense interest and value. It was a special pleasure to see the honor of life memberships bestowed upon some of our earliest timers: Clarence and Ellen Carr, Henry F. "Hank" Schuette, and Lois Ramsey Carr.
Conversations among the ninety-plus members and guests at our recent Annual Dinner reflected interests in all three time periods: past, present, and future. The dinner itself was very much of the moment and, as only in the present it could be, was very much enjoyed! The Farris restaurant once again did good things with food, as well as attentive service, to the great satisfaction of all. We looked forward to the speaker, Jeanette Davis, who well rewarded our anticipation with tales of the adventurous life of Pancho Barnes.
Charlotte Goodson
SEEP - A REVIEW & LIFE IN SAND CANYON - as told by 5th graders
The Historical Society participated in two portions of the Sand Canyon Environmental Education Program (SEEP) for the Valley's fifth graders. On the field trip to the canyon we offered a History Walk with appropriately aged-looking signposts and descriptive brochures of the points of interest. Hank Schuette, Lois Carr and her brother, Bob Ramsey, Litha Crowell Mattis, Eunice Caffee, Lou Pracchia, and Lee Lakin all contributed to the success of our program.
During the classroom post-sessions the children learned more about Litha's school experiences with her teacher, Mrs. "Tiny" Standard; viewed the Museum Docents' slide program on the IWV History; and shared some of the History Alive! stories in which they pretended they lived in Sand Canyon in the 1930's or 40's. Along with Mark Pahuta, several of us are continuing with the preparation of the Sand Canyon history video
Following are just a few of those stories just as they were written.(spelling and all! Ed,) .
From Ryan Walker of Pierce Elementary:
My father comands the patrol team for the aquaduct here in Sand Canyon. For fun here I like tocatch lizards and some snakes. But the chores here are difficult. I need to help with my dad and do chores around the house with my mother. It is hot here in Sand Canyon. But it is also a really pretty place.
From Becca of Pierce Elementary;
When I lived in Sand Canyon my chore was sweeping and dusting. I raised pigs and chickens. What I did for fun was climb on rocks and hills. Are falmily had plenty of water because my father was potrlman to gard the aquduct.
From Marie Kooima of Immanuel Christian School:
Hi. My name is Marie and I live in Sand Canyon. It's the 1940's and I'm the daughter of the Head patrolman. I have to wash the dishes, help my mother with the laundry and clean our swiming pool. We have a 37 beawig (Buick, Ed.) and we all have bycicles. I have homespun clothes and a concrete house.
From Matt James of Immanuel Christian School:
If I lived in the 40's and in Sand Canyon, I would like to try to catch lizards and stufflike that. After that I would sit by the stream and take a nap.
From Wendy Cordeiro of Pierce School:
Some of the things that I might do for fun are maybe go exploring and look for neat fossils or rocks. My chores would probably be sweeping or help cook dinner. Anouther fun thing that I would of done is do baking with my mom. My clothes would be diffrent. I would probably wear along skirt with a blouse.
From Monika Lee of Immanuel Christian School:
I would like to live in Sand Canyon. I would go for adventures and do experiments. My chores would be hard because they had no "high tech" conveniences we have today. I would probably only have five sets of clothing, for it was harder to wash clothes and make clothes. My house would be way different, because there was no air conditioning, or building equipment. Of corse my car would be different, but not too different.
POSTAL EXHIBIT OPENS JULY 12
We are pleased to announce the opening of our summer exhibit,"High Desert U.S. Post Offices, 1869 to 1997," in the Sylvia Winslow Gallery of the Maturango Museum on Saturday, July 12. The exhibit will run through the rest of the summer, closing on September 3.
A very special event is planned for opening day, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. For that day only, the Postal Service will authorize a special commemorative cancellation, which will be performed right in the museum. The cancellation activity will take the place of the traditional preview reception.
The canceled envelopes, which are first-day covers, will be available for $1.50 each and promise to be collectors' items. The special envelope design created by HSUMD President Lou Pracchia includes a desert scene and the legend, "Commemorating High Desert U.S. Post Offices, 1869 to 1997." A triangular stamp bearing the picture of a stagecoach will also carry out the theme of the Old West.
Although the best way to obtain one of the cancellations is to attend the exhibit on opening day, a limited number of these colorful mementos will also be on sale in the Maturango Museum Gift Shop during the remainder of the exhibit.
Among the displays featured in this summer's exhibit will be Al and Norma Christman's Chris Cards, postcards that were sold all along the Eastern Sierra in 1954-74. Some of the items from Billie Stone's extensive postmark collection will be on display, as will a complete set of postcards bearing every postal rate from the 1-cent rate effective in 1873 to today's 20-cent rate effective in 1995. These cards were collected by Jenny Miller and Ruth Berger.
Others contributing colorful and educational mementos of local postal history to the exhibit include Bart Parker, Lou Pracchia,Victoria Peterson, Vivian Van Devender, Mary Ann Henry, Ilene Huss from the Randsburg Post Office, Ridgecrest Postmaster Gil Barker, and Floyd and Bethany Jones, daughter and son-in-law of early Ridgecrest Postmaster Eunice Fowler.
The Historical Office of the U.S. Postal Service has contributed a number of photos showing mail delivery in the early days and has agreed to lend several items of historical significance (such as hand-cancelers and mail bags) to the display. In addition, the postal historians have supported Lou Pracchia in a special part of the exhibit he has put together, dealing with Missile Mail, a little-known but fascinating experiment in delivering the mail by missile.
The exhibit is being coordinated by Liz Babcock and Bruce Wertenberger of the HSUMD board. Others helping in this endeavor are Carroll Evans, Edna Laytart, Jenny Miller, Lou Pracchia, and George Silberberg. Sponsors are Charlon Auto Co., Desert Motors, Classic Towing, and High Desert Home Center.
The Maturango Museum, 100 E. Las Flores Avenue, Ridgecrest, is open Wednesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission to the museum is $2 for adults and $1 for children 6 through 17 years of age. There is no fee for members and children ages 5 and younger.
We hope to see you early and often at our postal exhibit!
Liz Babcock
THIS AND THAT
Your attendance at the annual dinner was great. From the remarks that I have received, you enjoyed both the food and our guest speaker, Jeanette Davis, relating all those wonderful anecdotes about Pancho Barnes.
For those of you who could not attend, the whole event (about 30 minutes of meeting and 1 hour 10 minutes of Jeanette's talk) was videotaped and is now available for loan in VHS format. Elsewhere in this newsletter you will read of seven new members of which six joined at the meeting. This brings us to 175 on the rolls. It's nice to look towards the time when we can have over 200.
Talking about members, you may have seen the photo caption in the News Review where we provided life memberships and a list of those who have received this award. Well, I provided the list of names for the article and just plain overlooked that the Jim Simmons Family is also a life member recipient. Jim donated the video camera which, by the way, also made the annual dinner recording and was used at other previous meetings. Sorry about that, Jim.
Charlotte Goodson, Mary Ann Henry, Hank Schuette and I attended a SEEP planning meeting at BLM on Thursday June 5. I believe that those of you having access to the Internet will soon find our local BLM has a home page featuring SEEP. They also provide connections to the Society's and the Museum's home pages. The BLM says to look for it after the 15th of June.
As a result of the membership vote at the annual dinner, your Board of Directors remains the same as last year. However, we have made some changes in who is to do what. Rather than elaborate on this subject, please review the line-up at the end of this newsletter for those changes in title.
Once again, I urge those of you with e-mail addresses to send them to me. An intended use would be to advise you of things that Janet Westbrook has not had time to put on our home page.
Getting the doors installed on the cabinets at the museum has been delayed due to various causes. The most recent of which has been that the tempered glass provider in Los Angeles made a size other than what was ordered. This was not discovered until assembly was attempted here in Ridgecrest. Hopefully, when you receive this word all will have been corrected and a display is in place.
Lou Pracchia
THANKS
The Board wishes to express its appreciation to Janet Westbrook for her excellent job she's doing with its Home Page and in keeping it up to date. The Board also wishes to thank George Pomeroy for his work in designing the Society's two exhibit cabinets in the Museum's vestibule.They are both efficient as display cabinets and attractive to the eye.
The Board is exploring the possibility of sending the Society's monthly newsletter via E-Mail to those of you who are tied into e-mail. If you would like to get your news this way and save the society some postage (apparently we're in for a 2-cent increase in First Class postage rates) please let us have your e-mail address and so indicate that this would be agreeable to you. You can advise any Board member. Thank you!
THE SUMMER
In keeping with our established tradition, there will be no general meetings in July and August Have a good and a safe summer and we'll look forward to seeing you all at the general meeting in September 1997.