Homestead Museum

Holiday Humor from “Life” Magazine, 8 December 1887

by Paul R. Spitzzeri As mentioned in a recent post from the Christmas 1897 number of Life magazine, the periodical began life fourteen years earlier largely predicated on humor.  Sure enough, tonight’ highlighted object from the museum’s holdings is the 8 December 1887 issue of the magazine, where humor is predominant and much of it... Continue Reading →

Getting Schooled at an Institution of Higher Yearning: Surviving Scandal at Lordsburg College (University of La Verne,) 1891-1910

by Paul R. Spitzzeri As America’s population and economic power grew by leaps and bounds in the late 19th century, so did its educational systems, including colleges and universities.  In Los Angeles, St. Vincent’s College opened in 1865, though it served male students from grammar school upwards. During the first significant period of growth in... Continue Reading →

“The Successful Maintenance of Our Belligerent Rights”: The Mexican-American War in Los Angeles from a Report of the Secretary of the Navy, 6 December 1847

by Paul R. Spitzzeri Today’s meeting of the Homestead’s Fiction Book Club included a discussion of Winston Groom’s Kearny’s March: The Epic Creation of the American West, 1846-1847 detailing the remarkable march of Brigadier General Stephen Watts Kearny with his Army of the West in June 1846 from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, after receiving orders from Washington... Continue Reading →

“For Your Own Family Pride”: A Letter from J. Perry Worden to Walter P. Temple, 5 December 1922

by Paul R. Spitzzeri As has been noted in a couple of previous posts in this blog, James Perry Worden (1866-1945) was hired by Walter P. Temple to write a history of the Workman and Temple families, but the project dragged on for years and went unfinished.  Worden’s papers were acquired after his death from... Continue Reading →