Tales from the Vault #1

Picture yourself being put in charge of some of Kern County’s most valued treasures. You're nervous because, while you do know a little about Kern’s rich local history, the focus of your history degree was in Nineteenth Century French Antisemitism. You don’t fear handling the material, however, you need to understand it so that you can make it available to the public. That was me just six short months ago.

In December 2008, I was put in charge of the Beale Memorial Library’s Special Collections which includes the Jack Maguire Local History Room. Since this time I have been immersing myself in the collection and the history that surrounds it. The room was named for the major benefactor Jack Maguire (1913-1985) and houses “over 20,000 books, pamphlets, periodicals, newsletters, vault materials, and vertical files on over 900 subjects.”¹ Some of the room’s most renowned holdings include Bakersfield City Directories dating from 1899, Kern County telephone books dating from 1940, and various area school yearbooks. Some of the items date as far back at the early 1800s.

In order to organize a special collection you must first get acquainted with it. I began with the Vault.

My first task was to organized the space more efficiently. This really meant shifting boxes and files to different shelves. One day while moving a box of photos to a new location a large ledger type of book caught my eye. As I picked it up to examine it I noticed that it was the District Attorney's Register of Action, 1872-1888. This is a record of the criminal and civil action by the Kern County D.A.

This source gives the names of defendants and claimants, criminal charges, disposition of the case and final sentence. Register columns include: Title of cause ; When and in what court instituted (District, County, and Justice's Court) ; Character of cause (civil, criminal) ; Mode of prosecution and nature of demand or crime ; Stage of proceedings, and nature and amount of judgment (date of conviction or acquittal, date of sentence, amount of fine or time of imprisonment in County Jail, time of imprisonment in State Prison) ; Title of court and memorandum of final judgment on appeal.

Here are a few entries to whet your curiosity:

Santos Francisco, April 8, 1874, Assault with a Deadly Weapon, Held

John Doe Tarran, April 25, 1874, Selling Liquor to Indians, Dismissed

W. Cross, 1873, Murder, Charge Dismissed

William H. Johnson, 1878, Murder, Convicted March 30, 1878, Sentenced June 3, 1878 Ten Years Manslaughter

Joseph Fitzgerald, 1878, Assault to Commit Murder, Indictment November 12, 1878, Convicted November 20, 1878, Fine $150, Committed until fine paid.

Come on down to the Jack Maguire Local History Room; you never know what you will discover!

1 www.kerncountylibrary.org/HTML/about/bea/spcol/lh.html

A Look Back: The Beale Memorial Library Local Author Fair

On May 23, 2009 the Kern County Library hosted its Inaugural Local Authors' Fair in the Beale Memorial Library Auditorium. The purpose of the event was to get as many local authors together as possible for the opportunity to meet with their fans, talk about their experiences, and network.

In attendance were Nick Belardes, Lords Part I, Sara Burns, Daughters of Juno, George Thomas Clark, Hitler Here, Joe Gottlieb, Come Down from the Pole Joey, Arlene Harman, Baptism by Fire, Jim Magwood, Sanction, Kevin Morrison, Frank is a Chihuahua, Loren John Presley, The Anastassia Project, Jack Schuetz, The Adventures of Charlee Rae and Billy True, Rick Van Horne, Friday Night Heroes, and Pastor Donald Wesson, A Date With Grace. Carola Enriquez, Director of the Kern County Museum stood in place of Jeff Nickell who was unable to attend.

Click here to see pictures of the event.

Planning is already underway for the next Fair. If you would like to participate in the planning please contact me.