The Many Meanings of Mums
The chrysanthemum is a beautiful flower with so much meaning behind it. ‘Mums’ are often associated with the arrival of fall as they bloom during this season and are very… Read More »
Sherman Library’s Mini Art Makeover
The interior of Sherman Library has had a mini makeover! If you have not visited recently, it is a good time to reacquaint yourself with the library’s art collection. Sherman Library is home to a charming collection of Early California Impressionism and plein-air painting, styles that originated in France, and later were adopted by Laguna’s art colony painters such as William Wendt, Edgar Payne, Frank Cuprien, Anna Hills, and others. While the core of the collection was purchased by Arnold Haskell in the 1970s, over the past 10 years more artwork has been generously donated to expand Sherman Library’s holdings.
Carnivorous Plants
Carnivorous plants have long fascinated plant enthusiasts, well before Charles Darwin published the first truly popular and widespread book ‘Insectivorous Plants’ discussing the known carnivorous species and their adaptations to… Read More »
Japanese American Farming in California: A Personal History
To mark Asian American and Pacific Islander Month, our Education Coordinator, Kiyoko Nakatsui, shares her family history and their multi-generational association with agriculture.
By the time I was born the farm was just a memory. Like many other Japanese American families mine started their American dream tilling the land. All of my grandparents’ families were farmers at some point. Prior to World War II Japanese Americans farmed up and down the west coast and some eventually returned to the land. On my mom’s side my grandma’s family farmed in Montana and my grandpa’s family in Orange County. On my dad’s side my grandma’s family farmed in Arcadia and my grandpa’s family in Stockton. Since my maternal grandmother’s family didn’t live on the coast they were able to stay on their farm even during the war. However, everyone else was forced to abandon their farms to be placed in internment camps.
The Broms
Bromeliads are one of the most spectacular groups in the new world tropics, occupying many of the harshest habitats across the Americas. With around 3,500 species currently accepted, the Bromeliaceae… Read More »
Pancho Barnes “Fastest Woman on Earth”
A selection from Sherman Library will inspire this month’s exciting read. In honor of Women’s History Month, we recommend Lauren Kessler’s The Happy Bottom Riding Club: The Life and Times of Pancho Barnes (New York: Random House, 2000).
Florence “Pancho” Barnes (1901-1975) remains one of the greatest 20th century American female characters. She was a California heiress, yet she forged her own path to become one of the first licensed female pilots. She used her aviation talent as a renowned stunt pilot for both silent and sound films. With this success, she formed one of the first unions in Hollywood,