NOT FOR GOVERNORS ONLY: FIVE VIEWS FROM THE BACK STAIRS

OF CALIFORNIA’S HISTORIC GOVERNOR’S MANSION

A Project

Presented to the faculty of the Department of History

California State University, Sacramento

Submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of

MASTER OF ARTS

in

Public History

by

Diane Marie Barclay

SPRING 2012

© 2012

Diane Marie Barclay

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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NOT FOR GOVERNORS ONLY: FIVE VIEWS FROM THE BACK STAIRS

OF CALIFORNIA’S HISTORIC GOVERNOR’S MANSION

A Project

by

Diane Marie Barclay

Approved by:

______, Committee Chair Lee Simpson, Ph.D.

______, Second Reader Kendra Dillard, Curator III, California State Parks

______Date

iii

Student: Diane Marie Barclay

I certify that this student has met the requirements for format contained in the University format manual, and that this project is suitable for shelving in the Library and credit is to be awarded for the project.

______, Graduate Coordinator ______Patrick Ettinger, Ph.D. Date

Department of History

iv

Abstract

of

NOT FOR GOVERNORS ONLY: FIVE VIEWS FROM THE BACK STAIRS

OF CALIFORNIA’S HISTORIC GOVERNOR’S MANSION

by

Diane Marie Barclay

In the field of public history today, it is generally argued that sites such as historic house museums should interpret the history of “others” (i.e. servants, slaves, workers) as well as that of famous residents, so as to provide visitors with a more complete and accurate history. California’s Governor’s Mansion currently operates as a State Historic Park. Interpretive programming consists of guided tours, outreach programs and holiday events. All programming focuses predominantly on the gubernatorial families who resided in the home, and on the large collection of original artifacts extant within the Mansion. There is at present no regular or comprehensive interpretation of the servants and working culture of the Governor’s Mansion.

This thesis project, through creation of historical profiles of five Governor’s Mansion servants, provides material with which to incorporate servant history into the Mansion’s interpretive programming, thereby providing visitors with a more complete history of the site. Sources used to develop the profiles included the oral history and the secondary and primary document collections of the Governor’s Mansion State Historic Park. Equally important were the resources and collections of the California State Library, the Sacramento County Recorder’s Office, the Sacramento Room of the Sacramento County Public Library, the United States Census Bureau, and the library of California State University Sacramento. Additionally, interviews were conducted with staff at the Governor’s Mansion, historic house museum professionals, members of the greater Sacramento community, and with some of the descendants of the servants being profiled.

, Committee Chair Lee Simpson, Ph.D.

______Date

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Anyone who has faced the challenge of creating and completing a masters thesis knows that such an endeavor would not be possible without the support and encouragement of a great many people. Such is the case with this thesis.

Sincere appreciation goes to my thesis committee: to Professor Lee Simpson for her patience, guidance, and empowering support throughout this process. To Kendra Dillard, curator at the Governor’s Mansion, who first suggested the idea of doing a thesis on the Mansion’s servants, and then generously agreed to serve as second reader for the thesis.

I extend a special debt of gratitude to the descendants of servants Delia Melloy Gallagher, and Mary and Joseph Nevis. The willingness of these two families to share memories, photographs, and artifacts related to their beloved grandparents enriched this project and the Governor’s Mansion collections, beyond expectation.

Appreciation and admiration goes to the guides, docents, gardeners, maintenance crew, and security personnel who keep the Governor’s Mansion “alive” by protecting its resources, and sharing its stories and treasures with the public. A special thank you, too, for making a particularly pesky graduate student always feel welcome whenever she came poking around the Mansion.

Thank you, also, to the dedicated and always friendly staffs in charge of collections at the Bancroft Library, the California State Archives, the California Room of the California State Library, and the Sacramento Room of the Sacramento County Public Library.

Since the focus of this thesis is on families, it seems fitting to thank the “families” of individuals whose faith in this project and in me, means more to me than I can adequately express here.

To my California State Parks family in the Interpretation and Education Division. A more professional, dedicated, wacky and wonderful group of co-workers cannot be found. Thank you to Carol Cullens of the Division for proofreading this manuscript. Any errors or imperfections are mine.

To my family of friends, from California to the East Coast. Without friends with whom to laugh, cry, gripe, and celebrate, the world would be a very dull and empty place indeed.

Finally, to my own family to whom I owe everything, and who is everything to me. I dedicate this work to you.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS Page

Acknowledgments...... vi Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION ...... 1 2. SERVANT HISTORIES IN PUBLIC HISTORY ...... 8 Making a Case...... 8 Challenges and Approaches ...... 14 3. SERVANT HISTORIES AT THE GOVERNOR’S MANSION ...... 19 Interpretive Programming at the Mansion ...... 19 Servant Histories: Challenges ...... 24 The Case for Servant Histories at the Mansion ...... 26 4. CREATING THE SERVANT PROFILES ...... 31 Appendix A. Servant Profiles ...... 37 Chart: Governor’s Mansion Residents ...... 38 Working at the Mansion: An Overview ...... 39 On the Stairs, 1903-1906: Delia Melloy ...... 52 In the Kitchen, 1911-1917: Joey Johnson (Jue Ying) ...... 65 In Her Lady’s Chamber, 1923-1934: Mary Nevis ...... 79 With the Family, 1943-1953: Edgar “Pat” Patterson ...... 89 The Face in the Picture, 1959-1966: Amanda Ferguson...... 103 Appendix B. Photographs ...... 112 Bibliography ...... 122

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Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION

California’s historic Governor’s Mansion stands atop a slight rise of land at 16th and H Streets in Sacramento. Prosperous Sacramento hardware merchant Albert Gallatin, and his wife Clemenza, commissioned construction of the Second Empire Italianate style residence in 1877. The elegant residence served as the Gallatins’ private home and as a manifestation of their standing in Sacramento’s social and business circles. The Mansion was a showcase of elegant detail, from marble fireplaces to inlaid parquet floors, to ornate crown moldings, and finely wrought door hinges and other hardware. Gallatin, his wife and their three children, lived and entertained in the Mansion for ten years before selling it to the equally prominent family of Joseph and Louisa Steffens. For the next fifteen years, the Steffens and their four children continued the Mansion’s tradition as both family home and venue for elegant social entertaining. Finally, in 1903, the State of

California purchased the Gallatin-Steffens Mansion, making it the official residence of

California’s governors.1

Over a span of sixty-four years, the Mansion housed thirteen governors and their families. The Governor’s Mansion served primarily as a family home for the First

Families, but also as the site of official dinners, First Lady Teas, and visits from distinguished guests. When Governor Ronald Reagan, his wife Nancy, and their son Ron,

Jr. moved out of the Mansion in 1967, the residence’s role as a private and executive

1 California State Parks, “Governor’s Mansion General Plan” (Sacramento: California Department of Parks and Recreation, 1989), 20. 2 home ended. The California Department of Parks and Recreation then took over stewardship of the estate, opening the Mansion to the public as a State Historical

Monument in that same year.2

Today, the stately presence of the Governor’s Mansion contrasts sharply with the traffic and city life that passes swiftly and noisily outside its doors. Once part of a neighborhood of elegant homes populated by affluent and socially prominent Sacramento families, the Mansion alone remains, surrounded by modern parking lots, nightclubs, and hotels. Sixteenth Street is the main thoroughfare carrying traffic northeast out of the city; cars, motorcycles, and trucks rumble past the Governor’s Mansion at all hours of the day and night. In spite of its challenging location, hundreds of visitors each year find their way to the doors of the grand house. Inside, visitors tour rooms beautifully appointed with original furnishings and personal artifacts of the many residents. Guides and docents share history and anecdotes related to life in the Mansion, especially the gubernatorial years.

The story of the Governor’s Mansion, however, does not stop with the governors.

Behind every First Family was a “family” of workers. They were housekeepers, maids, gardeners, secretaries, cooks, guards, and carriage masters. For the governors and their families, the Mansion was home, the place where they lived, slept, shared family times and entertained friends. For the workers, even those who lived in, the Mansion was above all a job site and the focus of their efforts and identities as employees of the governors

2 The Mansion was reclassified in 1970 as a State Historic Park. California State Parks, “Governor’s Mansion General Plan,” 21,22.

3 and the State. It was the workers’ responsibility to keep the daily life of the residence– private and public–running smoothly. They were working-class citizens who, in the course of their employment at the Mansion, witnessed the personalities and activities of

California’s political and social elite. Yet the stories of these “backstairs” residents of the

Governor’s Mansion rarely are told. Mansion tours and publications center on the governors, their families, and the many changes and events both the Mansion and its residents experienced through the years. Special interpretive events such as Living

History Days or Mansion Memories often included servants in the cast of characters, but history of actual Mansion servants is not a part of the regular interpretive programming.3

Who were the individuals that worked at the Governor’s Mansion? What were their personal backgrounds and histories? What responsibilities did they assume, and what kind of relationships existed between the workers and the families they served?

Answering such questions is one of the primary goals of this thesis project, and responds to a need made clear to me while touring the Governor’s Mansion in the autumn of 2008 with classmates from California State University Sacramento. As our tour passed through the breakfast room of the Mansion, I found myself intrigued by a historic photograph displayed in the room. The photograph, taken on May 1, 1959, captured a newsworthy moment in the Mansion’s breakfast room: California Governor Edmund

“Pat” Brown seated at the breakfast table with his guest, then-Senator John F. Kennedy,

3 Living History scripts: Gallatin, 1993; Pardee, 1981-1991; Johnson, 1988, 1992; Young, 1987, 1991; Warren, 1985; Brown, 1989. Governor’s Mansion Library Collection, Governor’s Mansion State Historic Park, Sacramento.

4 who was on a campaign tour for the upcoming Presidential election.4 The only other person prominent in the image is a middle-aged African American woman clearly dressed in the uniform of cook or housekeeper, serving breakfast to the two men. By virtue of her job assignment, this working-class member of the household is immortalized in photographic print along with two prominent individuals of United States politics.

However, unlike them, her name and history remained unknown to the many visitors who happened to gaze upon that photograph. As I studied the image, I said aloud, “Wouldn’t you like to know her story?” Kendra Dillard, curator at the Governor’s Mansion, responded, “Yes, we would. We would love to know more about all of the servants.”5

Sometime later, when meeting with Kendra regarding another college assignment, the subject of Governor’s Mansion servants came up again; Kendra suggested that researching the servants would make a good thesis project.6

Over the next several months, my thoughts continued to return to that photograph, and Kendra’s comments. When I later contacted Kendra about taking on research of the

Governor’s Mansion servants as my thesis project, she immediately expressed her support, offering full access to the Mansion’s collections and any assistance needed from her or her staff.7

4 Helen Amick, Governor Brown’s secretary, recorded the date of the historic breakfast in her lists of yearly entertaining complied for each year that the Browns lived in the Governor’s Mansion. “Mansion Entertaining, 1959-1966,” C113: Subject Files-Governor’s Mansion Entertaining, 1959-1966, Papers of Governor Edmund G.Pat Brown (1958-1993), Accessioned 2003-278, California State Archives, Office of the Secretary of State, Sacramento. 5 Kendra Dillard. Discussion with author and CSU Sacramento museum studies class, Governor’s Mansion State Historic Park, September 23, 2008. 6 Meeting between Kendra Dillard and the author, Governor’s Mansion State Historic Park, November 24, 2008. 7 Kendra Dillard, e-mail message to author, May 24, 2009.

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Besides answering the who, when, why, and how of servants’ lives at the

Governor’s Mansion, this thesis project addresses the issue of attracting new visitors and re-engaging those who may have visited in the past. Creating material that highlights backstairs history–in this case, servant profiles–allows for the telling of a more complete story of the Governor’s Mansion. Stories of the Mansion’s workers with their mix of cultural backgrounds and job skills might attract and resonate with a new audience who previously felt little connection to the Mansion and its more famous residents. For people who visited the Mansion before and heard the traditional narrative, opportunities to learn the “whole” story would perhaps draw them back for a new look at familiar territory.

The material created consists of biographical profiles of five of the servants who worked at the Governor’s Mansion between the years 1903 and 1967:

DELIA MELLOY, 1903-1906: Delia’s story offers a glimpse of the immigrant experience: a young Irish woman new to the country, entering into a line of work that provided livelihood for the immediate present, and income to build toward a more independent future. Delia’s work as a domestic servant led to a position as second girl, or top maid, in the Governor’s Mansion during Governor Pardee’s tenure.

JOEY JOHNSON, 1911-1917: Joey (Jue Ying), Chinese cook to Governor Hiram Johnson, worked in a time of provocative contrasts, when Californians experienced a period of progressive advancements even as they legally sanctioned anti-Asian sentiment. Hiram Johnson played a key role in both instances. Joey held a respected position within the Johnson household; still, what did it mean to be Chinese in a household where your time and even your name were wholly subjugated to your employer?

MARY NEVIS, 1923-1934: Mary served as personal maid to three governors’ wives in the years preceding and during the Great Depression. Mary’s experiences, particularly the years serving First Lady Annie Rolph, provide a detailed glimpse of the work demands required of a Mansion servant, and the discretion necessary when witnessing the private lives of California’s public figures.

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EDGAR “PAT” PATTERSON, 1943-1953: Pat Patterson’s service to the Warren family is one of the few times that the employer/employee relationship truly blurred into the realm of friendship. Pat’s friendship with Earl Warren lasted well beyond his years in the Governor’s Mansion, and had far-reaching implications in the nascent days of the Civil Rights era.

AMANDA FERGUSON, 1960-1966: It seemed fitting to conclude with the servant whose photograph inspired this thesis project. As cook for Governor Edmund G.“Pat” Brown and his family, Amanda Ferguson witnessed a steady flow of important guests to the Governor’s Mansion. Amanda’s position as cook required flexibility and diplomacy in addition to culinary skills.

I focused on servants from the gubernatorial years as this covered the greatest span of time lived in the Mansion, and is the era predominantly interpreted by guides and asked about by visitors. Also, the gubernatorial years highlight an interesting difference between the Governor’s Mansion and privately owned manor homes. Whereas a private home belonged to one family who was responsible for hiring all servants, the Governor’s

Mansion belonged to the State of California. The governors and their families only lived in the house for the duration of a governor’s term in office. Both the families and the

State took responsibility for hiring servants, depending on the type of job position to be filled. Often families and servants entered the Mansion together, as newcomers. In other cases, servants remained at the Mansion through several gubernatorial tenures, so that they preceded a family’s occupancy of the residence. What, if any, effects did such circumstances have on the relationship between employer and employee? How did this affect the way servants thought of themselves and their work within the context of life at the Governor’s Mansion? These are some of the questions explored through the servant profiles.

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The servants highlighted in this thesis project worked in positions that brought them most directly and intimately in contact with the First Families. These were the

“others” present in the rooms and on the stairs of the Governor’s Mansion. Including their stories in the interpretive narrative of the Mansion will make the human story behind this historic site that much richer and more complete, and so too, the visitor’s experience.

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Chapter 2

SERVANT HISTORIES IN PUBLIC HISTORY

Making a Case

That servant stories are not regularly a part of Governor’s Mansion tours is not unique to this site. Historically, house museums came into being as a way to preserve structures believed to have important ties to the nation’s history and cultural identity.

Historian Patrick Butler credits attempts to save the Hoyt House of Deerfield,

Massachusetts, 1847, and the Hasbrough House in New York, 1850, as some of the first formal efforts at historic house preservation.8 However, it is the preservation of George

Washington’s home, Mount Vernon, that most historians feel set in place the standards and philosophy of historic house museums. As Butler explains, the creation of an organization–the Mount Vernon Ladies Association–to oversee the operation of the house as a museum, and the creation of an endowment to help with expenses, set important precedents. So too, did the Association’s efforts to present George Washington’s home in the most historically accurate way possible. “Although knowledge of preservation and restoration reflected standards of the 1850s, the philosophy of delay, research, and study that the original administration of Mount Vernon followed has proven to be a sound precedent….careful research remains at the heart of any good historic house museum.”9

8 Patrick H. Butler III, “Past, Present, and Future: the Place of the House Museum in the Museum Community,” in Interpreting Historic House Museums, ed. Jessica Foy Donnelly (Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press, 2002), 19. 9 Ibid, 23.

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From the time of Mount Vernon’s preservation and for many decades thereafter, historic house preservation and interpretation primarily focused on the houses and lives of famous individuals–most often famous white men. This focus was deliberate, and in large part a reaction to the growing numbers of European immigrants coming into the country. Museum professional Bonnie Hurd Smith notes that many of the organizations behind the preservation of historic houses used such sites in their efforts to

“Americanize” immigrants. Homes of famous Americans became “living testimonials” of upper class, white American values, celebrating domestic life and the proper roles of women and men.10 Such agendas did not concern themselves with presenting a history that included servants, slaves, or other groups associated with historic properties. Prior to the 1970s, most historic house sites practiced what historian Jennifer Pustz calls

“symbolic annihilation,” in which the presence and story of slaves and/or domestic servants was completely left out of tour narratives.11 All of that changed by the later decades of the twentieth century.

Interpretation of servant histories at historic house museums derived impetus from two areas of focus in the history field: the rise of the new social history in the 1970s and

1980s, and the growing expectation of the public that historical institutions such as historic house museums are repositories of accurate, “truthful” history.

10 Bonnie Hurd Smith, “Women’s Voices: Reinterpreting Historic House Museums,” in Her Past Around Us: Interpreting Sites for Women’s History, ed. Polly Welts Kaufman and Katherine Corbett (Malabar, FL: Krieger Publishing Company, 2003), 89. 11 Jennifer Pustz, Voices from the Back Stairs: Interpreting Servants’ Lives at Historic House Museums (DeKalb: Northern Illinois University Press, 2010), 23.

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According to historian Alice Kessler-Harris, the new social history arose at a time when groups of American citizens who had long experienced economic, political, and social marginalization agitated for basic rights, and full participation in mainstream

American society.12 Events such as the Civil Rights movement and the Women’s

Liberation movement spurred demands for social recognition while on college campuses, students pushed for studies of African-Americans, women, Latin Americans, and other groups not typically included in history and cultural courses.13 In short, society’s “others” demanded a voice not only in contemporary times but also within the historical record of the nation. The new social history was a response to and the outcome of such demands.

Kessler-Harris notes that the 1960s, with its movements and revolutions driven by average citizens, “brought into question the assumption that a study of leaders could adequately reflect the political process, and it heightened interest in the agency of ordinary people.”14 Social history took on the study of society’s often-excluded citizenry.

It is a history, Kessler-Harris says, that “searches in the details of ordinary lives for clues to how discrete groups and individuals see themselves as actors on a larger stage,” and defend their place within the landscape of that stage.15

For historic house museums, the new social history meant it no longer was adequate to limit interpretation to stories of their sites’ famous residents. Visitors to museums increasingly represented a variety of ethnic and cultural backgrounds, and

12 Alice Kessler-Harris, “Social History,” in The New American History, ed. Eric Foner (Temple University Press, Philadelphia, 1997), 233. 13 Joyce Appleby, Lynn Hunt, and Margaret Jacob, Telling the Truth about History (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1994), 146-148. 14 Alice Kessler-Harris, “Social History,” in The New American History, 234. 15 Ibid, 249.

11 economic differences from white-collar to blue collar. As museum director Rex Ellis observed, museum visitors living in a diverse present were less willing to accept a history focused solely on famous individuals or a single racial or cultural group.16 Mount Vernon needed to be about more than George and Martha Washington, Monticello about more than Thomas Jefferson, and a stately manor house or southern plantation home about more than the master and mistress.

The push for a more inclusive form of social history sent historic house staffs back into the documents and materials of their collections for a reexamination of the way in which they interpreted their sites. Pustz, Kessler-Harris, and other historians credited

Patricia West, curator at Lindenwald, home of President Martin Van Buren, for spurring the field-wide launch of servant stories at historic sites. In 1986, West researched and wrote a history of the servants of Lindenwald. West’s work provided demonstrable proof that servant histories could and should be gleaned from a historic site’s resources, and included in the site’s interpretive programs. “No one social group (rich or poor) can be correctly interpreted in isolation.” The inclusion of “new history” like that of servants,

West argued, was an essential component of good history.17

Servant histories, besides being among the many outcomes of demands for a more socially inclusive presentation of history, also are a facet of the history field’s response to public expectations that museums are repositories of historical truth. A 2008 study by the

Institute of Museum and Library Services reveals that online information users of all

16 Rex Ellis, “Interpreting the Whole House,” in Interpreting Historic House Museums, ed. Jessica Foy Donnelly (Walnut Creek, Alta Mira Press, 2002), 63. 17 Patricia West, “The New Social History and Historic House Museums: The Lindenwald Example,” The Museum Studies Journal 2 (1986), 22-26.

12 ages, education levels and ethnicities rank museums and libraries higher in trustworthiness than all other information sources.18 Historians Roy Rosenzweig and

David Thelen, show similar results from interviews they conducted a decade earlier with over 1,400 Americans of varying backgrounds. Rosenzweig and Thelen find that the sources people most look to for relevant, “real” history are family, eyewitnesses, primary documents, and museums/historic sites.19 Of those sources, almost 80 percent of interviewees list museums as the most trustworthy source. “Respondents felt that the best of each of the other sources could be found in museums and historic sites. They

[museums] gave a sense of immediacy associated with eyewitnesses; evoked the intimacy of family gatherings; and encouraged interaction with primary sources.”20 The original documents and authentic artifacts found in museums give people a sense of connection

“back to the times when history was being made.”21 As Jennifer Pustz explains, visitors to museums and historic sites seek a presentation of the past “that can encompass the whole truth, warts and all, and the history of all Americans.”22 Historic institutions that broaden their presentations of history to include the stories of “others” improve their chances of maintaining credibility with those visitors.

Jessica Donnelly believes that historic house museums are particularly well disposed to meet the expectations of a diverse public, in part, because of the very nature

18 Jose-Marie Griffiths and Donald W. King, “Inter-Connections: A National Study of Users and Potential Users of Online Information,” Institute of Museum and Library Services, February 8, 2008, http://interconnectionsreport.org. 19 Roy Rosenzweig and David Thelen, The Presence of the Past: Popular Uses of History in American Life (New York: Columbia University Press, 1998) 20, 92, 100. 20 Ibid, 105. 21 Ibid, 12. 22 Jennifer Pustz, Voices from the Back Stairs, 7.

13 of what the historic house represents: a home in which people lived and worked. “A residence is a universally understood place. Every visitor starts with the benefit of understanding this fundamental relationship….It is not a great stretch for visitors to imagine life within it, for they have their own experiences as a base of knowledge within which to understand, compare, and compartmentalize interpreted information.”23 It is for this reason that inclusion of servant histories has value for a historic house and its visitors. Including servant stories in historic house interpretation expands the opportunities for connecting with visitors through what Ellis calls “universal themes,” such as food choices and preparation, the world of work, childcare, family relationships, and social connections.24 Making connections is fundamental to good interpretation, Ellis says, and to building and retaining diverse audiences. “If they [house museums] create spaces and messages in which and through which all who visit can in some way see themselves, they will have responded to what is happening in the field of history and will have truly succeeded in interpreting the whole house, and in a sense, the whole world.”25

Whether or not the inclusion of servant histories can connect visitors interpretively with the whole world, Ellis touches upon aspects of human nature worth understanding when in the business of sharing history with the public. Most visitors are naturally curious about people, and audiences of every background, age, and economic level enjoy a good story. People enjoy stories in which they can see themselves, but also are intrigued by stories that expose them to new ideas and experiences. House museums

23 Jessica Foy Donnelly, Interpreting Historic House Museums, 3. 24 Rex Ellis, “Interpreting the Whole House,” 77. 25 Rex Ellis, “Interpreting the Whole House,” 77, 80.

14 are well-suited to tell both kinds of stories. Historian Nancy Villa Bryk credits this in part to the “immersive nature” of house museums: visitors are inside the historic environment where they can see, smell, and sometimes touch the history around them; making connections is an immediate and personal experience.26 House museums’ staff who understand this and can share the stories of their sites in a way that affords visitors the chance to say, “I know how that feels,” or “I want to know more about…,” are well on the path to achieving the inclusive, whole history championed by Ellis, West, Pustz, and others. Doing so, West believes, transforms historic houses from antiquarian relics to lively “preservers of a democratic material heritage.”27

Challenges and Approaches

Including servant histories in the historic narratives of house museums and other historic sites often proves problematic. The most common reasons cited for not including servant histories in historic house tours are staff size, limited time and money, and a scarcity of resources (artifacts, documents) directly related to servants.28 Equally challenging, as noted by Pustz, is the fact that in many historic houses the spaces once occupied by servants (laundry rooms, bedrooms, halls and stairways) now serve as staff or storage space. Even if a house museum should overcome challenges of lost space or limited time and resources, staff still may face challenges with regard to the accuracy of the history being interpreted. Bonnie Hurd Smith notes that the descendants of the

26 Nancy Villa Bryk. “Emphasizing People in Historic Houses” in Interpreting Historic House Museums, ed. Jessica Foy Donnelly, 146. 27 Patricia West, “The New Social History and Historic House Museums,” 26. 28 Jennifer Pustz, Voices from the Back Stairs, 40, 50, 72.

15 original owners often maintained historic home sites. “These family boards of directors determined what was said about their ancestors, how and to whom.”29 They chose to leave out or ignore the less pleasant truths of history. Indeed, Pustz believes the frequent habit of referring to servant/employer relationships as “like family” may stem from a natural tendency of families to remember only the more pleasant interactions with their hired help.30

In spite of such challenges, the majority of historic houses sites are committed to providing their visitors with a more complete history, one that includes the stories of

“others.” According to Pustz, over 70 percent of sites now include some mention of servants.31 The degree to which staff at historic house sites share servant history with the public varies. Some simply “make a mention” of servants– that they were there and which rooms they worked in or slept in; other sites talk about servants in generic terms with relation to job duties (maid, housekeeper, cook, etc.), while yet others tell the story of actual servants known to have worked at a particular house.32

The method by which servant history is shared also varies. According to Pustz, the majority of interpretation is third person, though a fair number of historic houses share servant stories through a first person, living history format.33 In some cases, servant histories are incorporated into a site’s standard tours and programming, while other sites create tours or events specifically focused on servants. The James J. Hill House in St.

29 Bonnie Hurd Smith, in Her Past Around Us, 88. 30 Jennifer Pustz, Voices from the Back Stairs, 62. 31 Ibid, 46. 32 Jennifer Pustz, Voices from the Back Stairs, 47-48. 33 Ibid, 47.

16

Paul, Minnesota–built in 1896 for the founder of the Great Northern Railroad, and now a

Minnesota Historical Society-run site–shares servant history with visitors, through what

Ron Thomson and Marilyn Harper of the National Park Service call scripted dramatic presentations. “Unlike tours or living history,” Thomson and Harper explain, “a scripted dramatic program can be carefully reviewed in advance and regularly updated….Dramatic performances can be either regularly scheduled or used only occasionally.”34 In the case of the James J. Hill House, the program, “Hill House

Holidays,” as its title suggests, occurs once a year at holiday time, and is a direct response to visitors’ desire for some type of Christmas programming. Craig Johnson, site manager and author of the Hill House Holidays script, explains that staff did not know a lot about the Hill family’s Christmas traditions. “Instead, we did know a lot about the servants….through oral histories, letters, related documents–so we decided to present a program from their point of view.”35 Professional actors, and members of the interpretive staff with theater backgrounds, portray actual servants from Hill House’s past.36 A guide welcomes visitors into the house and provides historical information about the Hill family, the house, and the represented period (1900-1910). Visitors then follow

“servants” through the first floor and basement of the house.37 Rather than situating servants only within rooms commonly associated with backstairs staff–kitchen, laundry, back stairs–servants are present in front rooms as well (parlor, music room, dining room),

34 U.S. Department of the Interior. National Register Bulletin: “Telling the Stories” (Washington, D.C.: National Park Service, 2000), 28. 35 Craig Johnson, e-mail message to author, November 4, 2011. 36 Ibid, November 4, 2011. 37 James J. Hill House, “Hill House Holidays,” script (St Paul: Minnesota Historical Society, 2011), 2-32.

17 much as they were in the past. Servants interact with each other but also with visitors who are addressed as if they are a servant applying for a position in the house. As visitors encounter each servant, dramatic action freezes briefly while a cast member reads from a biography book, providing historical information about the servant.38 Though servants are included as part of Hill House’s regular daily tours, the holiday presentation allows interpretation to focus wholly on Hill House’s working staff, allowing discussions of job tasks, employer/employee relationships, and personal histories.

Campbell House, originally home to mining entrepreneur Amasa B. Campbell and his family, now operates as a historic house museum under the auspices of the Northwest

Museum of Arts & Culture in Spokane, Washington. In 2002, Campbell House revamped its standard tour. The “Changing Times” tour focuses on the years 1894 to 1924 and highlights sixteen of the residence’s past occupants, including a coachman, a cook, an upstairs maid, and a laundress.39 The tour does not focus exclusively on servants, but rather interweaves their stories with those of the more famous residents, thereby providing a single, “whole history” presentation of the site’s past. Campbell House does not use professional actors, but instead uses a creative approach in which docents and visitors interact, bringing to life scenes from the past as they move through the rooms of the house. Character script-sheets provide tour participants with biographical background on their characters, first-person quotes, and historical context. Prompted at various points along the tour by docents acting as narrators, visitors read aloud actual comments made

38 Ibid, 3-32. 39 Marsha Rooney. E-mail correspondence and telephone interview with author, November 18, 2010 and November 19, 2010, respectively.

18 by their characters. Interpretive panels, photographs and artifacts in the residence’s carriage house supplement and expand the history learned on the tour.40 Marsha Rooney,

Senior Curator at Northwest Museum, notes that the objective was to create a tour that incorporated the museum’s large amount of archival material about the house and its occupants, while actively involving tour participants in the learning process.41

Whether presenting servant histories as a special program or as part of a house museum’s standard tour, the driving force behind either approach is much the same. As

Rooney explains, “We wanted to humanize the house and history….to open them

[visitors] to new perspectives about the house and occupants, not just standard facts.”42

For Hill House and Campbell House, like a growing number of historic house museums, including servant histories in their interpretive programming is a popular success with visitors. Craig Johnson notes that Hill House Holidays, a part of James J. Hill House programming for over twenty years now, still draws in large numbers of visitors and revenue.43 It goes back to the challenge of making connections. Darren Poupree, curator at the former Vanderbilt estate, Biltmore, sums it up: “Visitors are still intrigued with how the rich and famous lived….but the servants’ long hours and heavy responsibilities– that’s something people can more identify with.”44 As will be seen, California’s historic

Governor’s Mansion is well-suited to make such connections with its visitors.

40 Ibid. 41 Marsha Rooney, November 18, 2010. 42 Marsha Rooney, November 19, 2010. 43 Craig Johnson, e-mail message to author, November 4, 2011. 44 Darren Poupree as quoted in “The Scullery Maid Behind the Brocade at Mansion Museums.” Eve M. Kahn, New York Times, June 12, 2009, C32.

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Chapter 3

SERVANT HISTORIES AT THE GOVERNOR’S MANSION

Interpretive Programming at the Mansion

Recognition of California’s Governor’s Mansion as a site of historic importance and public interest started even before its official classification as a State Historic Park.

In 1949, Kenneth Fulton, secretary to Governor Olson, suggested to incoming Governor

Warren “when the Mansion is no longer used for its present purpose, it be kept as a museum of Californiana.”45 Virginia Knight, wife of Governor Goodwin Knight, echoed similar sentiments in saying, “Someday this beautiful home will become a museum.”46

With the help of her secretary, Betty Henderson, Mrs. Knight started collecting and preserving materials related to the Mansion. She and Governor Knight continued the

Governor’s annual tradition of opening the house to the public on New Year’s Day. They also opened the house to public tours at other times of the year, a tradition that the

Knights’ successors Governor Edmund G. “Pat” Brown and his wife, Bernice Brown, continued.47 After the Reagan family moved out of the Mansion, ending the residence’s active role as home to California’s governors, the Department of Parks and Recreation took over care and operation of the property. The Governor’s Mansion opened to the

45 Memo from Helen MacGregor to Mrs. Warren, April 14, 1949, F3640:1870, Governor’s Mansion (1943-1953), Earl Warren Papers, California State Archives, Office of the Secretary of State, Sacramento. 46 Betty Foot Henderson, Golden Notes: Families in the Mansion (Sacramento: Sacramento County Historical Society, 1973), 29. 47 Ibid; Marvin Brienes. “Governor’s Mansion Interpretive Prospectus,” Office of Interpretive Services (Sacramento: California Department of Parks and Recreation, June 6, 1990), 8.

20 public as a State Historical Monument on September 9, 1967.48 The process then began of interpreting the grand house as a historic house museum.

The “General Plan for the Governor’s Mansion,” published in 1989, includes the statement:

The purpose of the Governor’s Mansion historical unit is to make available to the people, for their enlightenment and enjoyment, the property’s cultural, historical and natural values, by protecting, preserving, and restoring these resources, and by interpreting their significance to the unit’s historic function as the official residence of the Governor of California from 1903 to 1967.49

In the spirit of that broad declaration, it was decided to preserve the house as it looked at the time the Reagans moved out. To the extent possible, original furnishings, artwork, and artifacts remained in place. In that regard, the Governor’s Mansion proved lucky.

Historic houses that formerly belonged to private citizens often have few original furnishings or artifacts. Items are lost over the years or removed when family members move away. Many times, there is little evidence of what was actually in the house.

Replicas or period-appropriate pieces stand in for lost originals. In the case of the

Governor’s Mansion, no one family owned the residence. Instead, governors and their families operated more as tenants than as owners, entrusted with stewardship of the state’s property. As noted in the General Plan, “while the state appropriated funds to allow incoming families to make some superficial alterations to the building and grounds, there was never any intention (or sufficient means provided) to allow the occupants to

48 California State Parks. “Governor’s Mansion General Plan” (Sacramento: California Department of Parks and Recreation, 1989), 22. 49 Ibid, 23.

21 deal with the house precisely as if they owned it.”50 Furnishings and other materials purchased for the Governor’s Mansion with state funds, remained with the Mansion when the families moved out. The fortunate result of this stewardship arrangement is that visitors touring the residence experience the “real thing.” The historically eclectic display of mostly original furnishings, dinnerware, objects, and artwork left behind by the

Mansion’s residents, adds a tangible authenticity to the history shared with visitors. That authenticity is a key aspect of tours and visitor programming at the Mansion.

From opening day in September 1967 onward, State Parks staff and docents– volunteers specially trained to lead tours and interpret a particular site–drew on their store of historical resources to create a variety of programming through which to share

Governor’s Mansion history with visitors.

 Teacher’s Guide. First produced in 1984, and most recently updated in 2007, the guide provides curriculum standards-based lessons about the Governor’s Mansion architectural features, historic context, and the Mansion’s many residents, especially the thirteen governors and their families. The teacher and student versions of the guide serve as pre-visit preparation, and compliment on-site visits.51

 History in a Trunk. The Sacramento chapter of the Assistance League, a community-oriented volunteer organization, took an early interest in the Governor’s Mansion, establishing the Mansion’s docent program in 1973. Started in 1987, the League’s “History in a Trunk” outreach program takes Governor’s Mansion history to local schools. League members share with students a trunk filled with items representative of early Mansion history, and a slide-show program about the Mansion and its residents. Students participate in an annual essay-writing contest, sharing what they learned from the program. The winners receive their awards at a ceremony held at the Governor’s Mansion. The program

50 California State Parks. “Governor’s Mansion General Plan” (Sacramento: California Department of Parks and Recreation, 1989), 52. 51 California State Parks, Governor’s Mansion Teacher’s Guide (Sacramento: Governor’s Mansion State Historic Park & Sacramento Historic Sites Association, 2007)

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continues to be successful with approximately twenty docents and over a dozen schools participating each year.52

 Living History Days. Started in the 1980s, each Living History Day focused on one gubernatorial family. Families spotlighted included Pardee, Johnson, Young, Warren, and Brown. Visitors touring through the house encountered staff and docents dressed in period clothing and performing a scripted story about the featured family. Former Mansion residents often attended the events, interacting with visitors. However, low visitor turnout, and staff and budget shortages, eventually brought a halt to the program.53

 Mansion Memories. The Governor’s Mansion Docents developed this outreach program approximately in 2001. Docents in period dress perform short vignettes, portraying individuals associated with the Governor’s Mansion. Usually they portray members of the fifteen families that lived in the Mansion, though docents also on occasion portray servants. Docents present the program approximately three to four times per year (depending on the number of requests) at senior centers, churches, and for other community groups. The fee charged for each program supports the California State Historic Governor’s Mansion Foundation.54

 Christmas; Halloween. These two annual events provide a chance for staff and docents to specially decorate the Mansion, and dress in costumes and period clothing appropriate to each event. Though the atmosphere is more festive, docents still share Mansion history with visitors touring through the house.55

The special programming outlined above falls outside the parameters of regular programming, and in most cases, requires the efforts and resources of individuals and organizations beyond that of the Mansion’s main staff. To the Mansion’s staff falls responsibility for what has been the core of Mansion programming past and present, the guided tour.

52 Information provided by Jae Stradley, Docent Chairman, Governor’s Mansion History, Sacramento Chapter of the Assistance League, in telephone conversation with the author, January 4, 2012. 53 Governor’s Mansion State Historic Park, Living History Day scripts, 1981-1992; Joe Wolfenden, in-person conversation with author, Sacramento, November 12, 2011. 54 Information provided by Al Howenstein, Chairman of the Board of the California State Historic Governor’s Mansion Foundation. Telephone conversation with the author, January 13, 2012. 55 Joe Wolfenden, November 12, 2011; Eva Forney, “Governor’s Mansion State Historic Park: Volunteer Program 2010 Annual Report,” January 18, 2011.

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Guided Tour. Tours operate on an hourly basis every day that the Mansion is open.56

Depending on the group size and interest, tours range in length from forty to fifty minutes, with an average time of forty-five minutes. State Park guides conduct the majority of tours, with docents providing back-up support as needed. Who leads the tour, and the number and type of visitors participating in a particular tour, influences the narrative content. For school groups the focus is most often on family life in the Mansion.

General audiences receive a range of narratives, from the Mansion’s place in Sacramento history, to the political background of the governors, to the changes each resident family made to the Mansion. With so much of original architectural details, furnishings, and artifacts still present, such features figure prominently in most tour narratives, interspersed with stories of the families associated with particular rooms and objects.57

While objects and house history constitute a good portion of all narratives, guides agree that it is the human story of the Governor’s Mansion that resonates most with visitors. Joe Wolfenden, Governor’s Mansion Guide for over twenty years, says he tries to “make people see this as a family home.”58 Though Wolfenden primarily focuses on the political legacies of the Mansion’s residents, he also includes anecdotes about the governors’ children and family life. Telling such stories he believes, “makes the

Governor’s Mansion residents seem so ‘real.’” Guides Liz Deuso and Jolene Kitchens agree. As politically important as some of the Mansion’s residents may have been,

56 Prior to July 2011, the Mansion operated 362 days per year. Recent budget cuts have reduced open hours to five days per week. 57 Tour content information based on author’s on-site observation of tours, and interviews with Governor’s Mansion guides, November 2010 – January 2011. 58 Joe Wolfenden. Interviewed by the author, January 14, 2011.

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Kitchens notes, “this was their family home, where they lived not where big political events took place.”59 Family life and managing a household are concepts to which visitors can relate. Echoing many of the arguments of Ellis, Pustz, and others, Deuso says telling the human stories “helps people connect to the house” in ways that a focus on the

Mansion’s artifacts or political history alone might not.60

Servant Histories: Challenges

The idea of including servant histories at the Governor’s Mansion seemed to come and go within the thinking of those initially seeking to interpret the history of the residence. The General Plan for the Governor’s Mansion called for interpretation predominantly centered on the gubernatorial years, emphasizing the lives of the governors and their families, the ways in which they adapted and used the mansion, and the artifacts associated with each family.61 Absent from the General Plan was any recommendation for interpreting servant rooms and lives within the Mansion.62

A recommendation regarding servants did appear in the document, “Extensive

Comments on the Draft of General Plan,” prepared by Frank Lortie of California State

Parks, in 1989. In the document, Lortie recommended opening up the basement area, believing that “this area will enhance the interpretation of the role that servants, maintenance staff and other ‘hired people’ played in the domestic life of the governors

59 Jolene Kitchens. Interviewed by the author, November 11, 2010 (Sacramento). 60 Liz Deuso. Interviewed by the author, November 11, 2010 (Sacramento). 61 “Governor’s Mansion General Plan,” 50. 62 There is brief mention of representing the Chinese servants’ rooms in the basement of the Mansion. However, this was concerning dioramas for a proposed future visitor center, not in the Mansion itself. Governor’s Mansion General Plan, 58.

25 and their families.”63 That recommendation, unfortunately, did not seem to gain traction.

It was echoed somewhat in the “Governor’s Mansion Interpretive Prospectus” of 1990, where the recommendation was to restore the laundry area of the basement to “provide some additional opportunity to interpret the functioning of the house during the Gallatin and Steffens periods.”64 Interestingly, there was never any direct mention of servants in the proposed use of the basement, and servants’ lives and work were not included in any of the interpretive themes discussed in the prospectus. Overall, the recommended interpretive focus remained on the governors and their families, and the material collections of the Mansion. Through the years, interpretation at the Governor’s Mansion followed such recommendations. Inclusion of servant histories in tours and special programming at the Mansion was, and is, infrequent.

The absence of servant histories in tour dialogues, however, does not equate to a lack of interest in the subject on the part of staff at the Governor’s Mansion. When discussing the subject of this thesis project with guides and docents, they expressed a genuine desire and interest to know more about the Mansion’s servants with the idea of incorporating such information into material shared with the public. As Guide Liz Deuso noted, “adding to the story we tell keeps it fresh for us and gives us one more way to pique people’s interest.”65

63 Frank Lortie. “Extensive Comments on the Draft of General Plan,” April 19, 1989. OIS Files 2003-62: “Governor’s Mansion Planning” (Sacramento: California Department of Parks and Recreation Archives). 5. 64 Martin Brienes, “Governor’s Mansion Interpretive Prospectus,” 32. 65 Liz Deuso. Interviewed by author, November 11, 2010.

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Besides the absence of servant history in the formal interpretive plans for the

Governor’s Mansion, interpreting servant history at the Mansion faces some of the same challenges encountered at other historic house sites. Budget shortages in recent years resulted in staffing cuts; currently one full-time and two part-time guides oversee tours and visitor center operations, with the aid of docents. Time and opportunity for research and program development related to servants is limited. As with other historic houses, some of the spaces related to servants are unavailable within the Mansion. The basement now houses staff offices and the Mansion library, and servant rooms on the second floor currently serve as storage space.

Real as all of these challenges are, they are not insurmountable. The value of including servant histories makes it worth the effort to overcome any perceived obstacles.

The Case for Servant Histories at the Governor’s Mansion

There are sound reasons for including servant histories in the programming at the

Governor’s Mansion, not the least of which is having assets available for doing so. A reexamination and expanded interpretation of existing resources makes it possible to bring backstairs history richly to life.

Research into the collections of the Governor’s Mansion uncovered a substantial amount of information regarding servants. The collections include a number of oral histories of former servants, and some written material directly related to servants.

Information about servants also shows up in the writings and oral histories of the families for whom the servants worked. Such documentary resources provide background material

27 with which to add servant stories and perspectives into the existing historical narratives of the Governor’s Mansion. Servant profiles (such as those included in this project) can be the genesis for creating servant-inclusive tours in styles similar to those of the James J.

Hill or Campbell Houses, but tailored to the operational realities of the Governor’s

Mansion. In particular, a tour styled after that of the Campbell House might best answer the challenges of limited budget and staffing now facing the Mansion. Character script sheets could be produced relatively inexpensively (Marsha Rooney notes that they use basic photocopier paper for their scripts).66 Existing servant-related objects and photographs displayed in servant spaces in the Mansion, or as an exhibit in the visitor center portion of the Carriage House, would further enhance the tour.

Servant histories would also fit well into existing programming such as the

Teacher’s Guide and the “History in a Trunk” program, and can provide docents involved with Mansion Memories opportunities to portray actual servants from the Mansion’s past.

Rooms in the Governor’s Mansion offer tangible means of introducing servant history. The kitchen is one of the more obvious spaces for interpretation, but the second floor servant’s room also holds value. Reclaimed, the second floor room would provide an opportunity to discuss the way in which servants and employers shared living space within the Mansion even as their lives operated in separate spheres.

The Governor’s Mansion basement is currently unavailable to share with visitors, but the stairs between kitchen and basement still can serve as a way to highlight the

Mansion’s backstairs history. As Jennifer Pustz notes, just looking up and down servant

66 Marsha Rooney, telephone conversation with the author, November 19, 2010.

28 stairs “tends to make a profound impression on visitors and their ability to consider….servant working conditions.”67 At the Governor’s Mansion, where visitors can see and actually climb some of the four flights of stairs servants had to navigate daily, such impressions would be especially strong. Also worth noting is that when the current uses of basement space were put into place in 2006-2007, all changes were designed to be reversible, and basement objects, such as laundry appliances, were retained in storage.

Restoring the basement back to its historical identity as a space used by servants, would invaluably enhance interpretation of backstairs history.68

As mentioned previously, servant-related objects and artifacts offer another tangible means of sharing servant history. One such artifact is the trunk in which Delia

Melloy, maid to Governor Pardee, transported belongings from Ireland to Sacramento and the Governor’s Mansion.69 Placing the trunk in Delia’s former second floor bedroom not only would provide an opportunity to learn about Delia’s life, but could foster discussion about the immigrant experience, and what it meant to have no home but the room and board tied to the position of servant. In similar fashion, photographs of former servants, placed appropriately throughout the Mansion, could offer points along the guided tour for telling the story of a specific servant and highlighting the types of workers and work tasks required to keep an executive home operating.

67 Jennifer Pustz, Voices from the Back Stairs, 58. 68 The 2007-2008 conversion of the Carriage House into a visitor center and gift shop also is reversible. 69 In February 2011, Delia Melloy Gallagher’s grandchildren generously donated her trunk to the Governor’s Mansion, along with her 1906 autograph book, which contains the signatures of Governor Pardee’s daughters.

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Just as stairs, rooms, and artifacts directly related to servants provide opportunities for interpreting servant history, so too can the many artifacts and rooms usually associated with the Mansion’s families. Furnishings and objects personalized the home for the families and expressed the residence’s elegance. Parlors, bedrooms, dining rooms and breakfast rooms are intimate family spaces when presented from the family viewpoint. From the servant perspective, those same objects, fine furnishings, and rooms represent hard work and exacting efforts to maintain the quality of such items. Seeing the rooms and material features of the house through the “eyes” of servants helps visitors to appreciate that the Governor’s Mansion operated as both home and workplace. Placing servants within the physical context of the Mansion provides a richer understanding of the human presence and activity that existed within the very halls, stairs, and rooms through which visitors now tour.

Finally, including servants in the historic narrative of the Governor’s Mansion, most importantly, answers the call to share with the public a more complete and accurate history. Servant histories offer visitors a broader view of the Mansion’s residents, including how they maintained life in the executive home, and how front room and backstairs occupants interacted with each other. Sharing a fuller picture of the Mansion’s working life allows visitors to appreciate the variety of interactions and possible hierarchies that existed in the executive home. For instance, some servants had greater access to the governors and their families. Some servants lived in, and others lived out.

Still others worked exclusively in the Mansion while others were limited to the grounds

30 or Carriage House. How did such arrangements affect interactions between servants, and between servants and their employers?

Visitors coming through the doors of the Mansion are not all of one economic class, one culture, or one life experience; neither were the occupants of the Governor’s

Mansion. Servants at the Governor’s Mansion, including the five profiled in this project, represented a diversity of cultural, national, and ethnic backgrounds. Beyond the ways that such diversity influenced life within the Mansion, their stories also provide a context through which to recognize the diversity and historical evolutions of the community outside the Mansion’s doors.

Just as Mt. Vernon now represents more than the story of George and Martha

Washington, narratives about California’s Governor’s Mansion should encompass more than the history of governors and elite citizens. Telling the intertwined stories of servants and first families allows visitors to gain an appreciation for the diversity of life and relationships within the Governor’s Mansion. It allows them to connect personally with that history, and even, to some degree, appreciate the diversity and ever-evolving character of the Sacramento community outside the Mansion’s gates.

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Chapter 4

CREATING THE SERVANT PROFILES

A number of considerations went into the decision regarding which servants to profile. Foremost was to document a backstairs history of the Governor’s Mansion that had relevancy and value for the Mansion’s staff and visitors. With that in mind, consideration was given to:

 Servants whose job positions brought them into frequent, close contact with the First Families, and hopefully would reveal something of the nature of relationships between employer/employee;  Job positions that highlighted some of the key backstairs responsibilities and duties expected of servants at the Governor’s Mansion;  Availability of information and material about a particular servant; and  Quality of an individual servant’s life story and work experience with regard to its ability to engage and connect with modern-day visitors.

It was decided to profile five servants only, in order to keep the research demands and scope of the project manageable. The next decision was to choose the five servants from across the span of sixty-four years that governors resided in the Mansion; this allowed the opportunity to look at four different governors and their families, and the prevailing attitudes toward hired help.

The search for resources related to the five profile subjects started with the on-site collections of the Governor’s Mansion. Staff rooms in the Mansion basement, including a research library, contain a variety of historic documents, binders, photographs, oral histories, and other materials. For clarity in terms of research note taking and for purposes of citation, sources were identified as part of the Betty Foote Henderson

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Collection (BFH), the Governor’s Mansion Library Collection (GML), or the Governor’s

Mansion Oral History Project (OHP).

The BFH collection resides in dozens of serially numbered archival boxes that fill the shelves of two floor-to-ceiling closets in the basement. Betty Foote Henderson served as personal secretary to both Mrs. Warren and Mrs. Knight during their years in the

Governor’s Mansion. Henderson conducted one of the first in-depth studies of the

Mansion’s history, particularly the gubernatorial years.70 Over the decade and a half that she worked at the Governor’s Mansion, and for equally that many years after, Betty

Henderson collected documents, correspondence, photographs, and various ephemera related to the Mansion’s residents. She conducted interviews with members of the

Mansion’s families and workers, and was an interview subject herself as part of the

Governor’s Mansion Oral History Project. In 1973, Henderson published Families in the

Mansion, a collection of brief biographical sketches of the fifteen families who called the

Governor’s Mansion home.71 Henderson’s book provides a good starting point for getting an overview of the Mansion’s residents, and some of its servants. Additionally,

Henderson’s collection of cards and letters exchanged between former servants and residents provides insight into the duties of servants, the attitudes of those they served, and the close bonds that often existed between employer and employee.

70 Rodi Lee, Interpreter II with California State Parks, researched and compiled a comprehensive, detailed history of the Gallatin and Steffens families, the Mansion’s first two residents. The Rodi Lee collection also is housed in the Governor’s Mansion basement. 71 Betty Foot Henderson, Golden Notes: Families in the Mansion, (Sacramento: Sacramento County Historical Society, 1973).

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The GML collection includes materials stored on the library’s shelves and in nearby file cabinets. Files exist for each family that resided in the Mansion. Topics covered include “Family,” “Social Life,” “Special Events,” and “Politics,” and include newspaper clippings, photographs, and primary and secondary documents. The amount of resources available in each file varies, depending on how much time and opportunity staff and others had to collect materials. The library shelves include primary and secondary resources organized by the name of each of the Mansion’s families, publications related to California history, and binders containing general information about the Governor’s

Mansion, and about special events at the Mansion (i.e. Living History Days, Mansion

Memories, Holidays, etc). A study of GML materials provided additional background information on the various families that occupied the Governor’s Mansion. The special events and general information files document the style and content of historical interpretation conducted at the Mansion throughout its time as a state historic park.

The OHP collection is an ongoing attempt to record as many oral histories as possible of individuals connected to the Governor’s Mansion. Interviews include descendants of the Gallatin and Steffens families, members of the governors’ families, former servants, governor’s office staff, and California State Parks staff. The majority of interviews occurred from the late 1980s through the 1990s, though interviews have continued, less frequently, up to the present time.72 Many of the interviews provide valuable insight into the duties performed by various staff, and their relationships with

72 Governor’s Mansion Oral History Collection Inventory: CD & Tapes, compiled by Diane M. Barclay, September 12, 2010, and Carol Milloway, August 29, 2007. The majority of interviews are on audio tape, with some later transferred to compact discs. Due to budget constraints, very few written transcripts of interviews exist.

34 the governors’ families. The Mansion staff, in 1990, interviewed Edgar “Pat” Patterson along with Betty Henderson and Jean Bever, secretaries for Governor Earl Warren and

Mrs. Nina Warren at the time that Patterson served as Warren’s driver and security officer, 1943-1953. Patterson and the two secretaries provide details of the close relationship Patterson had with the Warren family, and his interactions with other

Mansion staff. Interviews with Governor George Pardee’s daughter, Helen, prove similarly valuable when researching Delia Melloy, who served as maid to the Pardee family, 1903-1906. Helen’s comments provide insight into the Pardees’ attitudes toward servants overall, and specific memories of Delia and her importance to the Pardee family.

My interview with Delia Melloy’s descendants, helped bring to light some of the details of Delia’s life prior to and following her time at the Governor’s Mansion. Mary Nevis, maid at the Mansion in the 1920s and 1930s, describes in her oral history some of the daily tasks and conduct expected of Mansion servants.

Researching the Governor’s Mansion resources helped to identify those servants for whom there was a substantial quality and quantity of material with which to create profiles. As the process of filling in the details of each servant’s history continued, research expanded beyond the Governor’s Mansion. United States Census records, and the birth, death, marriage and property records of the Sacramento County Recorder’s

Office, helped confirm basic information such as a servant’s age, origin of birth, job title, or marital status. Such information proved particularly helpful in situations such as occurred with Delia Melloy, where there existed conflicting information regarding her

35 correct age and date of birth.73

Research also included visits to the California State Archives, the California State

Library, and to The Bancroft Library. The microfilmed newspaper collections in the

California Room of the State Library helped gain an awareness of the people, events and character of the times in which the five servants lived. The State Archives’ collections of materials related to individual governors and to the Governor’s Mansion (i.e. daily calendars, correspondence, finance records) provided details about daily life within the

Mansion. The Bancroft Library’s Oral History Project, like that of the Governor’s

Mansion, proved valuable in detailing the lives and work of Mansion servants. The

Bancroft’s Hiram Johnson Collection was especially helpful in the case of Joey Johnson,

Mansion cook during Governor Hiram Johnson and Mrs. Minnie Johnson’s tenure, 1911-

1917. Many of the letters that Hiram Johnson exchanged with his wife and sons mention

Joey. The letters provide insight into the role and importance Joey held within the

Johnson household, and the nature of his personality. Finally, a study of secondary sources on subjects such as Irish immigration, Chinese in Sacramento, governors, and the role of domestic servants in American society, helped to place each of the profiled servants within their historic context.

The following servant profiles are a first step in giving voice again to one part of the whole history of the Governor’s Mansion; it is a voice that at times remained mute within the many boxes, shelves, and file cabinets of the Mansion’s historical collections.

73 Delia’s actual birth date was January 24, 1872. Certificate of Death, Delia Gallagher, January 31, 1974, Sacramento County Recorder’s Office, Sacramento; Register of Birth, Bridget Melloy, January 24, 1872, Aghamon Parish, Diocese of Tuam, County Mayo, Ireland.

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The individuals profiled served against a backdrop of ever-changing human history within the Mansion, and broader historical contexts without. The hope is that guides, docents, and others will find within these profiles material with which to promote new discussions regarding the life and times of the Governor’s Mansion.

Note: The Servant Profiles section of this thesis likely will hold the most interest for the guides and docents of the Governor’s Mansion. For that reason, I wrote the Profiles section to serve as a stand-alone document; material in the Overview chapter of the

Profiles, therefore, may reiterate some concepts and topics discussed earlier in the thesis.

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APPENDIX A

SERVANT PROFILES

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FAMILIES IN THE GOVERNOR’S MANSION

Private Families: Gallatin 1877-1887 Steffens 1887-1903

The State of California purchased the Mansion on July 8, 1903, and the first Governor moved in on November 7, 1903.

Governors’ Families in the Mansion: (The five profiled servants, the families they worked for, and the years in which they worked, are indicated below in bold print)

Pardee (Delia Melloy) 1903-1907 Gillett 1907-1911 Johnson (Joey Johnson) 1911-1917 Stephens 1917-1923 Richardson 1923-1927 Young (Mary Nevis) 1927-1931 Rolph 1931-1934 Merriam 1934-1939 Olson 1939-1943 Warren (Edgar “Pat” Patterson) 1943-1953 Knight 1953-1959 Brown (Amanda Ferguson) 1959-1967 Reagan 1967 (3 months)

On September 9, 1967, the Mansion opened to the public as a California State Historical Monument (later reclassified as a State Historic Park in 1970).

This chart is adapted from an original chart included in Betty Foot Henderson, Golden Notes: Families in the Mansion (Sacramento: Sacramento County Historical Society, 1973), courtesy of the Sacramento County Historical Society, 2012.

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WORKING AT THE MANSION: AN OVERVIEW

“How many servants worked here?” is a question asked by visitors to the

Governor’s Mansion. The wholly unscientific answer is, a lot! In the ninety years that the grand residence served as home to private and gubernatorial families, the backstairs world of the Mansion was no less populated with busy individuals than that of the front rooms. Servants were critical to keeping Governor’s Mansion affairs running smoothly to help keep the busy lives of the Mansion’s families on track. Cooks had to make sure that meals, especially official dinners, stayed schedule from start to finish with no “hitches.”

Maids, housekeepers, and secretaries ensured the house was always in tip-top shape so that guests–both personal and official–could be received at a moment’s notice. Gardeners and other groundsmen made sure the Mansion’s exterior was always presentable, while handymen kept everything in working order. In short, the front room families put their trust in the backstairs “family” of workers to worry about and tend to the fine details of

Mansion life so that the Mansion’s residents did not have to. Between family members and workers, then, the grounds outside the Mansion, and the many rooms within, rarely were devoid of human activity. The type of activity taking place determined to some degree the number of servants present at any one time.

The Gallatins, who built the Mansion in 1877 for themselves and their three children, required a full complement of servants to maintain a home of upper-class standing. The 1880 United States Census for the Gallatin home included a listing of live- in servants: tutor, domestic servant, table waiter, coachman, gardener, housekeeper, and

40 cook.74 This does not include any laundry workers, cook or gardener assistants, or other servants who may have been present on a daily basis but did not make it into the census count. The Steffens family, who purchased the house from the Gallatins, undoubtedly maintained a similar level of staff during their years of residency. Both families were prominent and active in the social life of Sacramento; Gallatin especially earned a reputation for hosting grand parties in his home. During such formal occasions extra maids, wait staff, cooks, cook’s assistants, and carriage men would have been called upon to assist. This also was true during the years the Mansion served as home to California’s governors and their families.

For the daily operations of life in the Governor’s Mansion, the majority of First

Families depended on a basic corps of workers, which typically included:

 One to two maids (and for some families, two upstairs and two downstairs maids)  Housekeeper  Cook and cook’s assistant (in some cases, maids assisted)  Gardener and one or more assistants  Carriage master/chauffeur/driver  Security guards (worked in shifts)75

How much of this corps was in operation at any one time depended on the individual needs of each family, and families often made additions to their staff beyond the basic

74 United States Bureau of the Census. Tenth Census of the United States, 1880 (Washington, D. C.: National Archives) http://www.ancestry.com (accessed 8/6/2009). 75 Information was compiled from material within the Betty Foot Henderson (BFH) and Governor’s Mansion Library (GML) Collections, Governor’s Mansion State Historic Park; and the oral histories of Mary Nevis, Alta Hitchcock, and Lucy and Barbara Young, Governor’s Mansion Oral History Project, Governor’s Mansion State Historic Park; Helen Pardee, Conversations with Helen Pardee, 1978, 1979, 1980, an oral history conducted in 1978-1980, Oakland Museum, Oakland, 1982; Memo, Helen Amick to Mrs. Bernice Brown, “List of Mansion Personnel,” March 22, 1965, C113: Subject files– Governor’s Mansion Correspondence & Notes, 1962-1965, Accessioned 2003-278, California State Archives, Office of the Secretary of State, Sacramento.

41 corps. The family of Governor Edmund G. “Pat” Brown had two cooks who traded off in shifts.76 Governor Pardee and his family had one cook at a time but went through a number of them before settling with satisfaction on their cook, Leona.77 The role of carriage master changed to chauffeur with the advent of automobiles; State Police, in turn, replaced chauffeurs as official drivers, beginning with the Warren governorship in the 1940s.78 Governor Olson’s staff included a nanny for his young grandchildren who, with their parents, lived with the Governor at the Mansion. The Olsons also had two nurses residing on the third floor to aid Governor and Mrs. Olson, both of whom suffered with ill health.79 Nina Warren and Virginia Knight had personal secretaries who worked at the Mansion to assist with official and social duties. During parties, dinners, and other official functions, the number of staff increased, from security guards, to dining staff, to maids, depending upon the size of the function. Betty Henderson, personal secretary to

Mrs. Knight, recalled an evening event at the Mansion in 1958, when eleven extra “girls” handled activities in various rooms.80 By the 1920s and beyond, the number of live-in servants decreased as more Mansion servants chose to work by day, returning to their own homes in the evening. Typically, just cooks, and on occasion housekeepers, lived in the Mansion with the families.

76 Bernice Layne Brown, Life in the Governor’s Mansion, an oral history, 15-16. 77 Helen Pardee, Conversations with Helen Pardee, 1978, 1979, 1980, an oral history. 78 Edgar James Patterson, Governor’s Mansion Aide to Prison Counselor, an oral history conducted in 1970 and 1972, BANC MSS 76/62, Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 1975, iii. 79 Alta Hitchcock, an oral history conducted October 4, 1984, Governor’s Mansion Oral History Project, Governor’s Mansion State Historic Park, Sacramento. 80 Memo, from Betty Foot Henderson to Mrs. Bernice Brown, November 3, 1958, BFH Collection, I/2/16 Box 3, OGM 8-5-377, Governor’s Mansion State Historic Park, Sacramento.

42

Who were the individuals who made up the Mansion’s working “family?” The servants of the Governor’s Mansion represented a remarkable amount of diversity. For each resident family the corps of workers at any time comprised an eclectic mix of cultural and racial backgrounds, including Chinese, African American, Scot, Swedish,

Hispanic, Irish, German, Canadian, Danish, Finnish, and English.81 Some servants, like

Delia Melloy, were new to the country, while others came out of the local populace. In some cases, friends of the family took on positions of service: Ellen Seagren, long-time friend of Virginia Knight, agreed to be cook at the Mansion during the Knight family’s tenure in the 1950s. Etta Penniman, sister of Mrs. Pardee, moved into the Mansion to help with daily management of household affairs.82 Other servants, like Joey Johnson, cook to Governor Johnson, or Olaf Anderson, gardener for the Pardees, worked for the families previously and moved with them to the Governor’s Mansion.83

While diversity within the servant ranks was not unique to the Governor’s

Mansion, other aspects of the Mansion’s working culture did set it apart from other manor homes. Typically, one family owned and occupied a manor house, often for several generations, and that family hired all working staff. Servants were newcomers entering into an environment firmly under the control of their employer. The Governor’s

Mansion, on the other hand, as the official home of California’s chief executive, belonged

81 Information compiled from GML Collection: Binder 1315: Factbook Corrections, 1981, and United States Census records. 82 Betty Foot Henderson, Golden Notes: Families in the Mansion (Sacramento: Sacramento Historical Society, 1973), 29; Helen Pardee, Conversations with Helen Pardee, 1978, 1979, 1980, an oral history. 83 Betty Foot Henderson, Golden Notes: Families in the Mansion, 8, 12; Helen Pardee, Conversations with Helen Pardee, 1978, 1979, 1980, an oral history

43 to the State. No one family owned the Mansion; governors and their families were temporary tenants. Servants at the Mansion had two employers; the governors and their families hired some servants while other servants were employees of the State assigned to work at the Mansion.

While civil service servants obviously answered to and followed directions of the family in residence, they were in fact, in service to the Mansion more than to any particular family. Servants often remained at the Mansion through more than one gubernatorial administration. Betty Henderson served as personal secretary for Mrs.

Warren and Mrs. Knight; maids Alberta Taylor and Zelma Sims remained at the Mansion through the Knight and Brown administrations; and Marius Simonsen served as head gardener for four administrations from Rolph to Warren.84 Pat Patterson, after serving as driver and bodyguard to Earl Warren, continued in that capacity for Governor Knight.

Mary Nevis served as maid to First Ladies Augusta Richardson, Lyla Young, and

Ann Rolph; and Frieda Scheidegger oversaw catering of special events at the Mansion for the Warrens, Knights, and Browns.85

Because of the dual employer situation, a governor and his family often arrived as newcomers to the Mansion to find a working staff already in place. At other times, staff and families arrived at the Mansion together. What effects did such realities have on interactions between families and servants and between individual servants?

84 BFH Collection, II/2/12-23 Box 11, OGM 8-13-377; “Betty Henderson Notes and Memos.” BFH Collection, I/3/27 Box 6, OGM 8-8-377, Governor’s Mansion State Historic Park, Sacramento; “Gardener for Four Governors Plans to Retire in February.” Sacramento Bee, August 11, 1950. 85 Mary Nevis, an oral history conducted January 23, 1983, Governor’s Mansion Oral History Project, Governor’s Mansion State Historic Park, Sacramento; Frieda Scheidegger Collection, Documents 27-38, Governor’s Mansion Library Collection, Governor’s Mansion State Historic Park, Sacramento.

44

The backstairs–front room worlds of the Governor’s Mansion contained an interesting blend of employer and employee relationships. During the Warren and Knight tenures, a sense of unity developed between family members and staff.86 Under other governors, servant and employer interactions remained more formal and traditional. Mary

Nevis recalls Annie Rolph as a fair but “exacting” employer with standards regarding all aspects of a servant’s work performance. Helen Pardee, while appreciative of Delia

Melloy, nevertheless expected conventions of servant and mistress relationships to be upheld.87 Overall, backstairs–front room interactions were work based, yet, within the

Governor’s Mansion there also developed more personal, interdependent relationships between some families and workers.

For the governors and their families, moving into the Mansion meant moving into a new way of being and doing. There were new protocols to learn and carry out with regard to official functions, dinners, and First Lady Teas held at the Mansion. Most of the gubernatorial families arrived in Sacramento from other locations in the state and had to learn about the many practices and individual members of Sacramento society. Thus, for many of the families a degree of vulnerability underpinned the start of their lives in the

Governor’s Mansion. In such cases, families tended to look for support and guidance from those servants with whom they worked most closely. When Governor Goodwin

Knight unexpectedly succeeded Earl Warren in the middle of his third term (Warren was

86 Edgar “Pat” Patterson, Betty Henderson, and Jean Bever, Interview with Pat Patterson, Betty Henderson and Jean Bever, an oral history conducted January 19, 1990, Governor’s Mansion Oral History Project, Governor’s Mansion State Historic Park, Sacramento. 87 Mary Nevis, an oral history, 1983; Helen Pardee, Conversations with Helen Pardee, 1978, 1979, 1980, an oral history.

45 named Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court in 1953), Pat Patterson recalled that Knight frequently asked Pat how Warren managed things. “He used to come and ask me ‘How did Warren do this?’ and ‘How did Warren do that?”88 The Pardee daughters, new to Sacramento, found a source of companionship and comfort in the company of

Delia Melloy. Virginia Knight, in choosing Ellen Seagren as her cook at the Mansion, said, “I need to have a friend in the Mansion as well as a cook.”89

While the majority of servants were not on the level of friend, those who most closely shared work and living space with California's gubernatorial families seemed to earn a greater share of awareness in the minds of their employers, and in some cases a degree of affection as well. These were the servants who would “have the backs” of the families. The families in return made a point of knowing about the servants’ personal lives and interests. They recognized servants’ birthdays, asked after their spouses, and often gave gifts to servants’ children.90 Families made efforts to assure a positive job experience for servants, honoring days off and providing a good work environment.

Governor Warren had an air cooler installed in cook Louise Broberg’s room, and Mrs.

Warren paid personally for Louise to fly home to visit family in Oregon.91 On a night when secretaries had to work late at the Mansion, Governor Knight brought dinner to

88 Edgar James Patterson, Governor’s Mansion Aide to Prison Counselor, an oral history, 20. 89 Betty Henderson, “Notes from Betty Henderson, October 24, 1981, Binder A: Mansion History and Artifact Information, Governor’s Mansion Library Collection, Governor’s Mansion State Historic Park, Sacramento. 90 Memo, Betty Henderson to Virginia Knight: “Mansion Personnel – birthdays and addresses.” BFH Collection, I/3/27 Box 6, OGM 8-8-377, Governor’s Mansion State Historic Park, Sacramento; Mary Nevis, an oral history, 1983; Frieda Scheidegger Collection, Documents 17-20, Governor’s Manson Library Collection, Governor’s Mansion State Historic Park, Sacramento. 91 “Memo, Fred W. Links to Governor’s Office, August 1, 1946”, “Memo from Helen MacGregor to Appointment Files, June 29,1949,” F3640:1870 Governor’s Mansion (1943-1953), Governor’s Office Administration, E. Warren, California State Archives, Office of the Secretary of State, Sacramento.

46 them from the kitchen, and then stayed to help finish the work. If Governor Knight was fitted for a new suit, he often instructed the tailor make a suit for Pat Patterson as well.92

Servants, for their part, took an interest in the families that at times extended beyond their stated duties or hours. Alta Hitchcock, when not busy with her duties as a nanny, took extra time to play card games with ailing First Lady, Kate Olson, whom Alta

“loved dearly.”93 Delia Melloy spent time talking and engaging in playful pastimes with the Pardee daughters. Of her own accord, maid Artra Mae Cuba worked overtime on weekends to help Mrs. Warren prepare for out-of-state trips, earning Mrs. Warren’s praise, “Never have I known a better worker” (Mrs. Warren also ensured Artra received overtime wages for all of her hours).94 Vincent Kennedy, personal secretary to Governor

Young and his family, sent flowers every Christmas to Mrs. Young following the death of Governor Young; and Pat Patterson’s interactions with the Warrens extended many times beyond basic employer/employee relations.95 The families and the servants who worked closely with them seemed to develop a sense that they were on the same “team.”

They shared not only experiences, but also a common intent to make the time in the

Governor’s Mansion, and the governorship itself, a success.

92 Edgar “Pat” Patterson, Betty Henderson, and Jean Bever, Interview with Pat Patterson, Betty Henderson and Jean Bever, an oral history, 1990. 93 Alta Hitchcock, an oral history conducted October 4, 1984, Governor’s Mansion Oral History Project, Governor’s Mansion State Historic Park, Sacramento. 94 Memo, Helen MacGregor to James S. Dean, September 16, 1948, F3640:1870, Governor’s Mansion (1943-9153), Governor’s Office Administration, E. Warren, California State Archives, Office of the Secretary of State, Sacramento. 95 Lucy and Barbara Young, an oral history conducted February 17, 1982, Governor’s Mansion Oral History Project, Governor’s Mansion State Historic Park, Sacramento; Edgar “Pat” Patterson, Interview with Pat Patterson, Betty Henderson and Jean Bever, an oral history, 1990.

47

What of the servants who did not have this close access to the families? It is conceivable that differences within the working culture of the Governor’s Mansion created hierarchies: there were “front-line” servants who worked directly with the families and received some level of personal trust and affection from their employers.

There were “second-line” workers who had less frequent contact with the families and who, while appreciated for the work they did, received that appreciation more remotely and without the layer of affectionate familiarity. Differences also appear to have existed with regard to job classification. Some servants had access to the second floor, while others only worked the first floor; chauffeurs, security guards, and gardeners, in most cases, remained outside or were restricted to the kitchen when in the Mansion.96 In the early decades of the Mansion’s occupancy–as a private residence and then as home to the first of its gubernatorial families–front-line servants such as housekeepers, cooks, and head maids had rooms on the second or third floors; other servants, such as laundry workers or groundsmen, were relegated to rooms in the basement.97 Some of these arrangements were logistical; there were only so many rooms available for servants on the upper floors. In later decades, when the majority of servants lived out, those who lived in had rooms on the second floor (in the case of the Warrens, the cook was moved to the third floor to accommodate the large Warren family on the second floor). What, if any, effect did these differences have on interactions between servants? Did those

96 Mary Nevis, an oral history conducted January 23, 1983, Governor’s Mansion Oral History Project, Governor’s Mansion State Historic Park, Sacramento; Edgar “Pat” Patterson, Interview with Pat Patterson, Betty Henderson and Jean Bever, an oral history, 1990. 97 Helen Pardee, Conversations with Helen Pardee, 1978, 1979, 1980, an oral history; “Governor Richardson,” in Binder 1315; Fact Book Corrections, Governor’s Mansion Library Collection, Governor’s Mansion State Historic Park, Sacramento.

48 working closest to the families have a sense of greater authority and influence than second-line workers? Did second-line workers agree with that perception? Did they resent it; did it cause any tensions between the different classifications of workers?

Evidence about possible areas of tension within the working world of the

Governor’s Mansion is hard to find among the available resources regarding Mansion servants. Mary Nevis in her oral history does recall a time she felt unsupported by her fellow servants; she also recalled Mrs. Rolph’s preference for some servants over others.

Hiram Johnson noted some points of possible discord among servants in his personal correspondence. The majority of servants, however, seem to have remembered their time at the Mansion as positive. It appears that the governors and their families were, overall, fair-minded employers, and the Governor’s Mansion was an interesting environment in which to work. However, as historian Jennifer Pustz notes, most former servants and employers preferred to remember happier interactions rather than the negative. “Like furnishings and objects within a historic house, the stories that survive are the finest and most treasured.” 98

The positive rapport that seemed to exist between servants and gubernatorial families also may have reflected dynamics of the dual employer situation. Servants hired by the state rather than the families may not have seen themselves–or been perceived by the families–as employees in the conventional sense. Instead, there may have been recognition of each other as co-participants in the adventure of life in the Governor’s

98 Jennifer Pustz, Voices from the Back Stairs: Interpreting Servants’ Lives at Historic House Museums (DeKalb: Northern Illinois University Press, 2010), 62.

49

Mansion. Freedom from the sense of obligation traditional in employer-employee relations may have fostered the friend-like interactions between some servants and families. While there may not be conclusive proof of tensions or differences in treatment within the working life of the Governor’s Mansion, such questions can provide a source of consideration and discussion for visitors exploring Mansion history.

Whatever the interactions between Governor’s Mansion servants and employers, or servants and other servants, it was, above all, a relationship of service and hard work.

A servant’s time was not his or her own; the final word always rested with the employer.

Mansion families appreciated the service of their staff, but they also called upon that service as they saw fit. Pat Patterson recalled Governor Knight as “a real nice guy, real nice.”99 Yet Pat also noted that Governor Knight expected Pat to be available whenever needed. “He didn’t figure I should leave the Mansion. Eight hours didn’t mean anything to him.” Pat recalled the Governor even called him after hours, when Pat was at home, to discuss Mansion business.100

Maids such as Delia Melloy, Alberta Taylor, and Mary Nevis, while appreciated by their employers were also expected to shoulder whatever work demands were asked of them. Mansion cooks, such as Amanda Ferguson or Joey Johnson frequently were responsible for more than one official luncheon or dinner party per week, and sometimes with only the briefest notice. A servant’s day started early in the morning, and lasted well into the evening hours, especially if an official dinner or other evening event

99 Edgar “Pat” Patterson, Interview with Pat Patterson, Betty Henderson and Jean Bever, an oral history, 1990. 100 Ibid.

50 occurred, and even if such events occurred on weekends. Bernice Brown at one point notified the State that she needed Alberta Taylor and Zelda Sims to work weekends and holidays. Mrs. Brown made sure the two women received overtime pay; still, one wonders if servants had the option to decline when extra duties or hours were asked of them?101

From oral histories and written documents, of their own and their employers, it is clear that Governor’s Mansion servants, in most cases, performed whatever service was asked of them. A note of pride comes through when servants talk of their work in the

Governor’s Mansion.102 They believed in the importance of the work they did for

California’s governors. Mansion servants respected themselves, believing they were more than their job descriptions. Many former servants did not remain in service but moved on to other occupations. With the end of Governor Olson’s term in 1943, Alta Hitchcock resigned her position as the family’s nanny. “I was getting pretty attached to the baby and that was something I didn’t want to deal with.” She returned to Los Angeles to study voice and later, business.103 Following his service to Governor Young, Vincent Kennedy went on to a career in business and by 1947, was Managing Director of the California

Retailers Association.104 Some servants, like Delia Melloy, left to start families of their

101 Note to Mrs. Bernice Brown, November 15, 1959, “Betty Henderson Notes and Memos,” BFH Collection, I/3/27 Box 6, OGM 8-8-377 102 Betty Foot Henderson, “First Floor Once More,” BFH Collection, II/1/7, Box 9, OGM 8-11- 377, undated, Governor’s Mansion State Historic Park, Sacramento, 48; Mary Nevis, an oral history, 1983; Alta Hitchcock, an oral history, 1984; Edgar “Pat” Patterson, Betty Henderson, and Jean Bever, Interview with Pat Patterson, Betty Henderson and Jean Bever, an oral history, 1990; Bernice Layne Brown, Life in the Governor’s Mansion, an oral history, 16-17. 103 Alta Hitchcock, an oral history, 1984. 104 Lucy and Barbara Young, an oral history, 1982, Governor’s Mansion State Historic Park, Sacramento; The Argonaut, Volume CXXVI (September 19, 1947): 19.

51 own. Still other servants such as Marius Simonsen, Mary Nevis, Alberta Taylor, and others, remained in service, and looked back with pride at the work they performed.

In the years following their time at the Governor’s Mansion, former servants and the families they served remembered each other fondly. They exchanged letters and cards, remembered anniversaries, and sent gifts to each other. They visited in each other’s homes, and remained in touch often to the ends of their lives. Letters and cards from the gubernatorial families frequently addressed former servants as “dear friend,” or “old friend.”105 They expressed appreciation for past service and kindnesses on the part of servants, and most especially for their loyalty to the families. That loyalty was central to the relationship between the families and those servants closest to them. Just as their lives had been intertwined while living at the Governor’s Mansion, so too were the memories of those years. Servants and families recognized in each other co-witnesses, participants, and keepers of all that was lived within the executive home at the corner of 16th and H

Streets. Front rooms, backstairs–they are parts of the whole of that shared experience, each with a voice and a story worth hearing.

105 BFH Collection, I/2/15 Box 3, OGM 8-5-377, and II/3/27-31 Box 13, OGM 8-15-377, Governor’s Mansion State Historic Park, Sacramento.

52

ON THE STAIRS 1903-1906: DELIA MELLOY

“You are mistress of no time of your own … Sunday is anything but a day of rest to the domestic, for on that day there are usually guests to dinner or tea or both, which means extra work.”106

Working as a maid in the Governor’s Mansion was not for the faint-hearted. With three main floors, a basement, and no elevator, maids spent a great deal of their time moving up and down the Mansion’s stairways. Daily tasks such as cleaning rooms, dusting woodwork, or delivering fresh linens to the family bedrooms required trips up and down at least one staircase and possibly two or three if the destination was on the upper floors. Even when not on the stairs, the maid was on her feet for the better part of every day, helping in the kitchen, doing laundry in the basement, serving tea to guests in the front parlor. The position of maid called for efficient thinking and a good supply of stamina, something for which Delia Melloy was well suited.

Born in Ireland, January 24, 1872 and christened with the first name of Bridget,

“Delia” Melloy immigrated to the United States in 1892, the year she turned twenty years old.107 The journey from Ireland to America was one made by hundreds of Irish women and men in the latter part of the 19th century. America represented the chance for a better life socially and economically. Irish women, especially, believed life in the new country would allow them greater control over their lives, choosing where and at what they

106 David M. Katzman, Seven Days A Week: Women and Domestic Service in Industrializing America (New York: Oxford University Press, 1978), 7. 107 Gallagher Family, Interview with the Descendants of Delia Melloy Gallagher, an oral history conducted February 4, 2011, Governor’s Mansion Oral History Project, Governor’s Mansion State Historic Park, Sacramento, 16.

53 worked, and when and whom they married.108 Historian Hasia Diner notes that the Irish tended to journey “one family member at a time,” and usually the daughters went first.

“Women traveled along what might be seen as female chains….they helped finance one another, and met and greeted one another. Although they certainly assisted male kin as well….the primary emphasis focused on their sisters and other female relatives.”109 Such was the case for Delia, who joined her sister Catherine, already living in Sacramento and married to local merchant, John Cossich.

From the start, Delia showed herself to be a woman of spirited character, determined to chart her own path in the new land. Upon arrival in the United States, she changed her name from Bridget to Delia. Bridget sounded too much like a scullery maid to her and, in America, was the name used derogatorily when referring to Irish working- class women.110 For the 1900 United States Census, Delia also changed her birth date to several years later than the actual date, perhaps as a way to keep herself competitive in a market of younger domestic workers.111 Within a few years of her arrival, Delia was earning income of her own, working as a live-in domestic servant for Sacramento

108Hasia Diner, Erin’s Daughters in America: Irish Immigrant Women in the Nineteenth Century (New York: John Hopkins University Press, 1983), 4. 109 Ibid, 36,38. 110 Telephone conversation between the author and Pat Setzer, granddaughter of Delia Melloy, December 12, 2010; The U.S. Census for 1900 listed Delia’s name as “Adelia.” However, in all other records and family history, the name simply is stated as Delia; I have chosen to do the same for this project. 111 United States Bureau of the Census. Twelfth Census of the United States, 1900 (Washington, D. C.: National Archives and Records Administration); Delia’s grandchildren note that for years Delia told them she was born on Valentine’s Day. “You wouldn’t forget her birthday then!” It was not until the last years of Delia’s life that her family learned of her actual birthdate, January 24, 1872. Gallagher Family, Interview with the Descendants of Delia Melloy Gallagher, an oral history, 16.

54 families.112 In this, too, she reflected the conventional pattern of Irish women immigrants, the majority of whom entered into the service industry. According to historian David

Katzman, in 1900, 54 percent of Irish-born women immigrants earned their living as servants.113 Domestic service, while exhausting and with few rewards, did provide the working woman with shelter and income until she could move on, preferably into a marriage and home of her own.114 For new immigrants like Delia, domestic work also provided first-hand exposure to the conventions of American family life and household routines. In Delia’s case, that exposure took a decidedly illustrious turn.

By 1903, Delia worked in the home of the Wetherbee family at 1314 H Street.

That same year George Pardee, along with his wife Helen, and their four daughters, arrived in Sacramento to take up duties as California’s newly elected governor. At the time, California provided no home for its governors’ families. For the Pardees, a family home was imperative. Governor Pardee succeeded in galvanizing the Legislature, at last, to purchase a residence. For the six months it took to complete the purchase of the

Gallatin-Steffens mansion and prepare it for occupancy, a temporary home needed to be secured. The Wetherbees, supporters and acquaintances of Governor Pardee, made available to the Pardees one of the two homes situated on the Wetherbees’ H Street

112 United States Bureau of the Census. Twelfth Census of the United States, 1900; Sacramento Public Library, Sacramento Room. Sacramento City Directories, 1896, 1898, 1899, 1900, 1901, 1902, 1903 (Sacramento Directory Company Publishers: Sacramento). 113 David Katzman, Seven Days A Week, 67. 114 Katzman notes that most Irish domestic workers once married quit domestic work forever, and did not encourage their daughters to enter the profession, contributing by the mid-twentieth century to a decline in the number of white women working as domestics. Katzman, 70, 81.

55 property.115 The Wetherbee home proved ideal for the gubernatorial family, located as it was, just a few blocks from the Gallatin mansion and within walking distance of the

Capitol. Moreover, as Governor Pardee’s daughter, Madeline, recalled years later, it was at the Wetherbees “where we found Delia.”116 The Wetherbees loaned Delia’s services to the Governor’s family.

The Pardees, especially the four daughters Florence, 15, Madeline, 14, Carol, 12, and Helen, 8, found themselves drawn to Delia’s upbeat, adventurous character. Helen

Pardee described Delia as “very Irish,” and remembered her as “always laughing.”117

Mrs. Pardee no doubt appreciated Delia’s experience and proficiency at domestic work.

Delia quickly earned the trust and approval of the family; when the Pardees finally moved into the Governor’s Mansion, Delia Melloy went along.

At the Governor’s Mansion, the Pardees lived an active family life with a menagerie of pets, an ever-widening circle of friends, and a busy schedule of social events. Delia’s fun-loving nature fit right in. She delighted the Pardee daughters by sliding down the main stairway’s polished wood banister, and along with the girls, learned to roller-skate, practicing on the new concrete floor of the Mansion’s basement.118 Delia and the Pardee daughters enjoyed exploring the many rooms and

115 Helen Pardee, Handwritten notes on proof-copy of Betty Henderson manuscript, “The Pardees in the Executive Mansion,” March 30, 1971, BFH Collection, II/3/29 Box 13, OGM 8-15-377, Governor’s Mansion Oral History Project, Governor’s Mansion State Historic Park, Sacramento. 116 Betty Henderson, “Notes from Interview with Madeline Pardee,” undated, BFH collection, II/1/7 Box 9, OGM 8-11-377, Governor’s Mansion Oral History Project, Governor’s Mansion State Historic Park, Sacramento. 117Helen Pardee, Conversations with Helen Pardee, 1978, 1979, 1980, an oral history conducted in 1978-1980, Oakland Museum, Oakland, 1982. 118 Gallagher Family, Interview with the Descendants of Delia Melloy Gallagher, an oral history, 8; Helen Pardee, Conversations with Helen Pardee, 1978, 1979, 1980, an oral history, 5.

56 features of their new home. Delia recalled that they all admired the bronze sculpture of a woman that stood atop the newel post of the Mansion’s main stairway (long since removed). The woman held a “bouquet” of lights in one hand; “we thought she was beautiful!”119 The Pardee daughters also enjoyed visiting with Delia in her second floor bedroom. A large picture of the Pope and his Cardinals hung on the wall of Delia’s room.

Years later Helen and Madeline Pardee remembered the picture, exclaiming, “Such beautiful colors….we loved that picture!” Throughout her time with the Pardees, Delia held fast to her Catholic faith, attending Mass regularly. Often on an early Sunday morning, one or more of the Pardee daughters accompanied Delia to church.120 The

Pardee daughters appreciated the “friend” they found in the person of their warm-natured

Irish maid, and Delia clearly was fond of the girls. Still, as a woman beholden to her employers for her livelihood and that second floor bedroom, did Delia ever feel free to deny the Pardees entry into her personal space.

Friendly though she may have been with the Pardee daughters, Delia’s first responsibility was to fulfill her part in keeping the presentation and operation of the house in perfect order. Her days started early in the morning and often continued late into the night. Delia’s position was that of “second girl,” referring to a maid often assigned responsibilities beyond standard housecleaning, such as assisting with childcare, kitchen

119 Notes of conversation between Delia Melloy and Betty Henderson, Betty Foot Henderson, “First Floor Once More,” BFH Collection, II/1/7, Box 9, OGM 8-11-377, undated. 47, Governor’s Mansion State Historic Park, Sacramento. 120 Letter, Betty Foot Henderson to Edward Gallagher [Delia’s son], February 4, 1974, Governor’s Mansion Library Collection, Governor’s Mansion State Historic Park, Sacramento.

57 needs, and extra requests of the mistress of the house.121 Helen Pardee recalled that

Delia’s duties included polishing the silverware, folding and putting away clean linens, and restocking pantry shelves with groceries purchased by the cook.122 Under the direction of Mrs. Pardee and Mrs. Pardee’s sister, Etta Penniman, who assisted in managing household affairs, Delia undoubtedly took on a full roster of responsibilities.

The Pardees maintained an upper class home and sensibility. A family friend recalled

Mrs. Pardee once declaring that her daughters “had been raised to be ladies,” not expected to make their own beds or cook their own food.123 Delia’s tasks, then, likely included bed making. Also included was bringing laundry up from the basement (the dumbwaiter situated near the second floor linen closet possibly provided help with this).124

Collections and fine furnishings reflected the well-appointed life of California’s gubernatorial family. Mrs. Pardee purchased brass bedsteads for the Mansion’s main bedrooms, and brass fixtures for the bathrooms. The Pardees added a Steinway grand piano to the first floor library (thereafter known as the music room) for the daughters’ music lessons. On the second floor hallway, Mrs. Pardee displayed her collection of

121 Helen Pardee, Conversations with Helen Pardee, 1978, 1979, 1980, an oral history, 15; Delia’s grandchildren remember being told Delia was “governess” at the Mansion. Helen Pardee in her interviews stated that Delia was not the governess, but instead was “second girl.” Notes in the BFH collection mention her as second girl or as housekeeper. Since the position of second girl often encompassed duties of all the other job titles, and Delia seemed to have a variety of duties in her position at the Mansion, I chose to adopt the “second girl” designation. 122 Helen Pardee, Handwritten notes on proof-copy of Betty Henderson manuscript, “The Pardees in the Executive Mansion,” March 30, 1971. 123 Mrs. Nielson, adjunct oral history interview in Helen Pardee, Conversations with Helen Pardee, 1978, 1979, 1980, an oral history, 67. 124Betty Foot Henderson, “First Floor Once More,” BFH Collection, II/1/7, Box 9, OGM 8-11- 377, undated. 50.

58 objects from around the world, while in the first floor hall stood an elegant music box, much cherished by the Pardee daughters.125 As fine as all such items were, they represented yet more cleaning responsibilities for Delia and the other Mansion servants.

The Pardees entertained frequently in the Governor’s Mansion. Mrs. Pardee’s weekly teas for Senators’ wives required Delia to don a fresh apron in which to greet and serve the guests. The Pardees made use of the Mansion’s first floor and basement for large parties. Governor Pardee often telephoned from his office at the Capitol, to say he was bringing a group of people home to lunch. On one occasion, Governor Pardee hosted the entire glee club of his alma mater, UC Berkeley, arranging for them to sleep in the

Mansion’s ballroom.126 Such activities meant busy hours for Delia and the rest of the

Governor’s Mansion staff.

Delia was a keen observer of Mansion life, noticing the way in which guests were welcomed and feted, meals prepared and served, and rooms designed and used.

Delia’s domestic role in the Mansion allowed her to witness a level of social life beyond her own life experience, an opportunity she seemed to appreciate in spite of the hard work. Years later, recalling the whirl of social activity at the Governor’s Mansion, Delia said, “we would all rush around getting things ready, and we would all have such a good

125 Betty Foot Henderson, “First Floor Once More,” 52; “Scenes about the Governor’s Mansion,” Sunday morning, Sacramento Union, September 24, 1905; Betty Henderson. Notes from interviews with Pardees and Delia Melloy, undated. BFH Collection, II/1/7 Box 9, OGM 8-11-377, Governor’s Mansion State Historic Park, Sacramento. 126 Betty Foot Henderson, “First Floor Once More,” 48, 54; Helen Pardee, Handwritten notes on proof-copy of Betty Henderson manuscript, “The Pardees in the Executive Mansion,” March 30, 1971; Betty Henderson, Notes from interviews with Pardees and Delia Melloy, undated. BFH Collection, II/1/7 Box 9, OGM 8-11-377, Governor’s Mansion State Historic Park, Sacramento.

59 time!”127 As will be seen later, some of what Delia experienced at the Governor’s

Mansion carried over into the later years of her life.

The combination of enthusiasm and hard work Delia demonstrated in her position at the Mansion made her one of the more relied upon members of the household, as illustrated by Mrs. Pardee’s response to the news that Delia was leaving their employ.

Helen Pardee recalled that Delia “got married about three months before we left [the

Governor’s Mansion.] Mother was wild!”128 In fact, Delia’s wedding was on December

18, 1906, the same month the Pardees moved from the Mansion. It is likely, however, that she quit sometime before that to prepare for her marriage; if so, that might account for Helen Pardee’s memory of Delia being absent during the Pardees’ final weeks in the

Mansion. Mrs. Pardee’s reaction, then, most likely reflected her realization that her

“second girl” was leaving just when they needed help most for the move out of the

Mansion. Her reaction also may reflect the differing perceptions employers and domestic servants had with regard to the occupation of “servant.” Historian Faye Dudden notes that, unlike smaller or rural households where the hired help worked alongside family members, domestic workers in larger or more prosperous settings shouldered the working side of life so the family did not have to. “The fact that domestics did not help, but instead carried the main burden of the housework alone made it hard to do without them for even a few hours.”129 Employers often developed a sense of proprietorship over the whole personhood of the servant; they believed they were hiring “the time of the

127 Betty Foot Henderson, “First Floor Once More,”48. 128 Helen Pardee, Conversations with Helen Pardee, 1978, 1979, 1980, an oral history, 18. 129 Faye E. Dudden, Serving Women: Household Service in Nineteenth-Century America (Middletown: Wesleyan University Press, 1983), 180.

60 domestic rather than certain tasks.”130 That hired time, employers believed, required a servant to be available whenever needed, and should be uppermost within a servant’s life and priorities.

Whether or not Mrs. Pardee subscribed to this view, Delia Melloy, like many of her working contemporaries, most definitely did not. For Delia, her work as second girl at the Governor’s Mansion was just one part rather than the whole of her existence. Though work at the Mansion consumed the majority of her hours and days, Delia managed to carve out a life and identity for herself separate from her role as servant.

At the time that Delia lived and worked in Sacramento, the Irish were an active and integral part of the community’s citizenry, and had been since the time of the Gold

Rush. Historian Steven Avella notes that Irish Sacramentans tended to support assimilation, adopting the conventions and values of American culture, and participating in building up the commercial and social life of the city.131 Irish citizens operated many of the city’s commercial businesses. They built hospitals and schools, and helped establish some of Sacramento’s leading Catholic churches including the Cathedral of the

Blessed Sacrament.132 While incidences of anti-Irish sentiment arose at times in the city,

Avella notes that most Sacramentans resisted such attitudes.133 By the start of the twentieth century, Irish citizens were long recognized as productive, contributing members of Sacramento society.

130 Ibid, 180. 131 Steven Avella, Sacramento and the Catholic Church: Shaping a Capital City (Reno: University of Nevada Press, 2008), 113. 132 Steven Avella, Sacramento and the Catholic Church, 71-78. 133 Ibid, 108.

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Delia, in her role of domestic servant, was one of those hard-working Irish citizens. However, it was through her Catholic faith, rather than her job, that Delia connected with Sacramento’s Irish community. The Cathedral, located at 11th and K

Streets, was within walking distance of the Governor’s Mansion. Delia attended services there and served on the Altar League.134 She later joined the membership of St. Francis

Church (remaining so up to her death), serving on church organizations such as the

Ladies Relief Society and the Third Order of St. Francis.135 In the hours she had free from the demands of Mansion life, Delia established her place in the greater Sacramento community. She maintained friendships and relationships, including a courtship with

Peter Gallagher whom she married. For Delia, her position at the Governor’s Mansion did not define her; it was, simply, a job, keeping her solvent as she moved toward the lasting focus of her life, a home and family of her own.

Marriage to Peter Gallagher ended Delia’s work at the Governor’s Mansion and her identity as domestic servant.136 Delia and Peter remained in Sacramento, raising three children who in turn produced numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Peter, like Delia, immigrated to the United States from Ireland. For most of his working life,

Peter worked as a boilermaker for the Southern Pacific Railroad in Sacramento.137 In the

134 According to family members, Delia remained an Altar League member for close to fifty years. Gallagher Family, Interview with the Descendants of Delia Melloy Gallagher, an oral history, 20. 135 “Delia Gallagher Turns 100,” Sacramento Bee, local edition, January 24, 1972. 136 When filling out the official certificate of marriage, Delia listed her age as “27” when in fact she was 34, three years older than Peter. A nod to social conventions, or vanity? At the very least, it was another demonstration of Delia’s determination to control and shape the details of her life. Certificate of Marriage, Delia Melloy – Peter Gallagher, December 18, 1906, Sacramento County Recorder’s Office, Sacramento. 137 Gallagher Family, Interview with the Descendants of Delia Melloy Gallagher, an oral history, 12.

62 aftermath of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake, he and other railroad workers from

Sacramento traveled down to San Francisco to assist in recovery work.138 Peter worked hard to build an economically solid life in America, putting behind him the years growing up in Ireland as part of an impoverished farm family. Neither Delia nor Peter ever returned to Ireland. Peter once remarked, “If it was so great, I never would have left.” As one of Delia and Peter’s granddaughters later observed, “There was no false sentimentality about the good old days.”139 However, neither Delia nor Peter forgot family left behind in Ireland. Like many Irish émigrés, they sent money home to their families. It is possible, as well, that they sponsored the immigration of Delia’s brother,

Thomas Melloy, who by 1910 had arrived in Sacramento, living for a time with Delia and

Peter.140

Though the time at the Governor’s Mansion constituted a brief chapter in her life overall, Delia’s experiences there carried over into her family life. She and Peter built a

Craftsman-style home that included an aboveground basement and a separate pantry/scullery area between the kitchen and dining room, design features inspired by what Delia observed at the Governor’s Mansion.141 Delia’s granddaughter, Mary, recalls

Delia setting up tea parties for Mary and her dolls, saying, “I’m going to teach you how

138 Ibid, 12. 139 Both Peter Gallagher quote and granddaughter quote: Gallagher Family, Interview with the Descendants of Delia Melloy Gallagher, an oral history, 35. 140 United States Bureau of the Census. Thirteenth Census of the United States, 1910 (Washington, D. C.: National Archives and Record Administration); Gallagher Family, Interview with the Descendants of Delia Melloy Gallagher, an oral history. 141 Gallagher Family, Interview with the Descendants of Delia Melloy Gallagher, an oral history, 6, 36.

63 to behave properly like they did at the Mansion for tea.” 142 When guests came for meals at Delia’s home, “everything had to be elegant.” Family members fondly recall, however, that Delia’s time at the Governor’s Mansion did not enhance her culinary skills. Delia once served an elegant shrimp cocktail dinner to the fiancé of one of her granddaughters, during which Delia failed to devein the shrimp; the brave fellow gamely choked down two of the cocktails.143 Delia took pleasure in the upwardly mobile paths of her children and grandchildren. As Delia’s granddaughter, Pat, notes, “They were all educated. She was very proud of that–coming from that poor environment, to college graduates…very, very proud of that.”144 Delia often introduced members of her family, citing occupation as well as name: “Tim, the engineer.” It was a source of personal satisfaction that from her “backstairs” reality, Delia raised a family that would never be denied its place on the front stairs.

Delia’s ties to the people of the Governor’s Mansion continued throughout her life. Helen and Madeline Pardee remained in contact with Delia, exchanging letters and cards yearly at Christmas and on birthdays. When Delia and Peter celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary, the Pardees sent the couple a gold tray and crystal glassware.145

Helen and Madeline Pardee reunited with Delia in 1953, when Mrs. Warren, then first lady of the Governor’s Mansion, invited all three ladies to a formal tea. Delia and the

Pardees were delighted to be back in the Mansion. Helen recalled that Delia “was the hit

142 Ibid, 6. 143 Ibid, 24. 144 Ibid, 29. 145 Conversation with Pat Setzer, granddaughter of Delia Melloy, by phone with the author, December 12, 2010.

64 of the party. She remembered people’s names and all kinds of things….She remembered everything, more than I remembered.”146 Delia’s spirited nature was as alive as ever. As her granddaughter observed, “Grandma managed to endear herself to so many people and they all wanted to do something for her.” This included receiving designation as a Native

Daughter of the Golden West, with a camellia bush planted in her honor in the Capitol

Gardens–no small feat for a native of Ireland and a former servant of one of California’s governors!147

Delia Melloy Gallagher lived to be 102 years old, exceeding by two years her dream of living to one hundred. By the time of her death in 1974, the Governor’s

Mansion was a State Historic Park, and tourists, rather than servants, climbed the

Mansion’s stairs.

146 Helen Pardee, Conversations with Helen Pardee, 1978, 1979, 1980, an oral history, 18, 61. 147 Gallagher Family, Interview with the Descendants of Delia Melloy Gallagher, an oral history, 23-24.

65

IN THE KITCHEN 1911-1917: JOEY JOHNSON (JUE YING)

The kitchen and all that transpired there was central to life in the Governor’s

Mansion. Servants typically entered and left the Mansion through the kitchen. Servants’ stairs to the basement and to the upper floors were accessed from the kitchen area as well.

By the 1940s, guards regularly checked in here when making their security patrols of the

Mansion grounds; they, along with chauffeurs and grounds staff, stopped in the kitchen for a cup of coffee or a meal. Meals were, of course, the primary focus of the kitchen and its staff. Cooks prepared family meals daily, with the dietary likes and dislikes of each family member taken into account.

Cooking for the governors and their families took up the largest share of each cook’s responsibilities, but the official and social side of Mansion life also received the cook’s attention. Governors hosted dinners at the Mansion for legislators and visiting dignitaries, some of whom stayed overnight. Governors’ wives hosted regular teas and luncheons for friends, wives of legislators, and other guests.148 Whether it was simple meals for the family, receptions for legislators, or formal dinners for illustrious guests, the preparation, production, and presentation of food and drink were critical, and so too, the choice of cook.

Families moving into the Governor’s Mansion did not leave to chance the selection of the person who would be cooking for them. The governors’ wives most often

148 Betty Foot Henderson, Golden Notes, 8, 18, 24; “Bernice Brown’s Calendars, 1959-1966,” C113: Bernice Layne Brown Papers, Photographs and Memorabilia (1924-c.1984), Accessioned 2003-257, California State Archives, Office of the Secretary of State, Sacramento; oral histories of Helen Pardee, Lucy and Barbara Young, Mary Nevis, and Constance Carlson.

66 took responsibility for choosing and hiring cooks. In some cases, they asked family friends to fill the position. At other times, they depended on recommendations from friends or colleagues. In yet other cases, the cook already worked for the family and moved with them to the Governor’s Mansion.149 However they achieved the position, cooks and the families they worked for developed close working relationships. This was the person who kept the family well fed each day, and ensured that official teas, luncheons, and dinners went off successfully. In return, he or she received full authority over the kitchen, and, in some instances, earned a lasting place within the life of the family. Such was the case with Joey Johnson, Chinese American cook to Governor

Hiram Johnson, and his wife Minnie, during Johnson’s governorship, 1911–1917.

Joey’s Chinese name as listed on census records was Jue Ying (alternately spelled

Yue Ying on earlier census records); “Joey” conceivably may have represented a phonetically Anglicized version of his name.150 Early history for Jue Ying remains tantalizingly elusive within the existing historical records. It is often difficult to locate the personal records of Chinese immigrants. For much of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the majority of white society in America did not value Chinese lives and experiences. The Chinese were among those “others” whose voices and documentation mainstream history often neglected. Chinese individuals and families themselves did not

149 Betty Henderson, Golden Notes: Families in the Mansion, 12, 29; Bernice Layne Brown, Life in the Governor’s Mansion, an oral history conducted in 1979, BANC MSS 83/123, Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 1997, 16; Helen Pardee, Conversations with Helen Pardee, 1978, 1979, 1980, an oral history, 19. 150 United States Bureau of the Census. Thirteenth Census of the United States, 1910; Fifteenth Census of the United States, 1930 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration)1910, 1930, http://www.ancestry.com (accessed July 2011).

67 always keep a paper trail regarding their lives in America. Brenda Fong, President of the

Chinese Council of Sacramento, recalls the difficulty when documenting the history of her own great-grandparents. “No one in those days kept written records and I only know what my Grandma use to tell us kids.”151 However, tracing the records of Chinese lives, while challenging, is not impossible.

For Jue Ying, the records that do exist place his birth in California, in approximately 1884.152 His parents’ names are not recorded, but census records identify their place of origin as either China or the Channel Islands off the coast of California.153

In centuries past, Chinese fishermen hunted for abalone in the Islands’ waters.154 When the Federal Exclusion Act of 1882 banned Chinese immigration to the United States, the

Islands served as a location through which to smuggle Chinese into California, illegally.155 Were Jue Ying’s parents among those smuggled into the country by way of the Islands, or were they or their parents before them involved in the abalone trade?

Whatever the truth was of his parents’ nationality or early connections to California, Jue

Ying was by birth a native Californian and United States citizen. By his mid-twenties, he lived and worked in northern California, serving as cook to the Johnson family, and answering to the name, “Joey Johnson.” Since Joey was the name under which Jue Ying operated throughout his time at the Governor’s Mansion, it is the name used in this profile.

151 Brenda Fong, e-mail message to author, August 6, 2011. 152 United States Bureau of the Census. Thirteenth Census of the United States, 1910. 153 Ibid. 154 National Park Service, “Channel Islands,” http://www.nps.gov/chis/ (accessed 1/10/2012). 155 Ibid.

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Joey worked for the Johnsons during a time of striking contrasts. Governor Hiram

Johnson proved to be one of California’s more progressive governors. Johnson strengthened the regulatory powers of the Railroad Commission, thereby ending the excessive influence Southern Pacific Railroad wielded over California politics and commerce. Other accomplishments included Workmen’s Compensation law, voting rights for women, consumer protection laws, creation of the Public Utilities Commission, and the initiative, referendum, and recall processes in California politics.156

Yet for all the progressivism of Johnson’s tenure, these were also years of legally sanctioned prejudice against California’s minority populations. For the Chinese, the discrimination and hostility reached back to the Gold Rush era. Chinese miners, along with other minority groups, were subjected to the Foreign Miners Tax, and to frequent violent attacks on their communities. A California Supreme Court ruling in 1854 denied

Chinese, Blacks, and Indians from testifying against whites.157 The 1879 California

Constitution included among its articles one that prohibited any city, county, state or other public work administration from hiring Chinese.158 The Federal Exclusion Act of

1882 was further extended by a second Act passed in 1892. The law remained in place until 1943.159

156 Richard B. Rice, William A. Bullough, and Richard J. Orsi, The Elusive Eden: A New History of California (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1996), 357-360. 157 Ibid, 216. 158 Phillip Choy, Canton Footprints (Sacramento: Chinese American Council, 2007), 51. 159 The exclusion laws were only partially repealed in 1943; total repeal did not happen until 1965. National Archives and Records Administration, “Chinese Immigration and the Chinese in the United States,” NARA Pacific Region/San Francisco. http://www.archives.gov/research/chinese- americans/guide.html (accessed 10/8/2011).

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Hiram Johnson, progressive in so much of his thinking and actions, did not extend those attitudes toward California’s minority citizens. In 1913, Johnson argued for and signed the Alien Land Law, prohibiting “aliens ineligible to citizenship” from owning California land.160 While the law specifically targeted the Japanese, Chinese also fell victim to the law’s restrictions. Ironically, at the time Johnson signed the law,

Chinese servants worked for him at the Governor’s Mansion (he continued to employ

Chinese and Japanese workers in his homes throughout his life). While publicly supporting discriminatory attitudes toward California’s Asian population, Johnson apparently had no hesitation entrusting the running of his private residence to Asian servants. In this Johnson seemed to mirror white California’s long-standing attitudes toward the state’s minority citizens. The authors of The Elusive Eden: A New History of

California, in discussing the Chinese experience, note, “the real source of antagonism was competition. When Chinese performed domestic service or other undesirable work they were tolerated.”161 If Chinese or other minority groups succeeded at mainstream occupations, however (i.e. farmer, merchant, mine owner), tolerance turned to hostility.

How, if at all, did the prevailing attitudes about the Chinese affect Joey’s life in

Sacramento? What kind of relationship existed between Joey, Hiram Johnson and the

Johnson family? Was the name, “Joey Johnson,” one that Jue Ying chose for himself or was it given to him by his employers? Regrettably, Joey did not leave behind any diaries, journals, or other personal writings, which might have provided his own answers to such

160 Richard B. Rice, William A. Bullough, and Richard J. Orsi, The Elusive Eden, 370. 161 Richard B. Rice, William A. Bullough, and Richard J. Orsi, The Elusive Eden: A New History of California (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1996), 216.

70 questions. However, letters written by the Johnsons, an interview with Hiram Johnson’s secretary, archival collections of the Governor’s Mansion, and secondary sources about other Chinese in similar situations, make it possible to piece together a picture of Joey’s life within the Johnson household, and to gain answers to some of the questions about that life.

Joey was twenty-six years old at the time he and the Johnsons moved into the

Governor’s Mansion in 1911.162 Already, at that young age, Joey had the full trust of his employers, and controlled all that went on in the kitchen. At the Mansion, he oversaw the selection and purchase of a new stove, and the installation of open shelves that allowed easy access to items needed for his cooking operations. He consulted directly with

Minnie Johnson, taking charge of all meals for family and guests.163 Joey was demonstrably attached to the family. Hiram Johnson’s secretary, Harriet French, recalled that when the Johnsons’ son, Archibald enlisted in the Army during World War I, Joey prepared to enlist as well, declaring “Arch can’t eat Army food and I have to cook for him!”164 There is nothing in the Johnson family record to suggest that Joey succeeded in his plan to accompany Archibald into war. However, it is interesting to note that by the time Hiram and Minnie Johnson moved to Washington, D. C. in 1917, Joey was not with them. He did not reappear until late November 1918, taking up work in the San Francisco

162 United States Bureau of the Census. Thirteenth Census of the United States, 1910. 163 “Governor Johnson,” in Binder 1315: Fact Book Corrections, Governor’s Mansion Library Collection, Governor’s Mansion State Historic Park, Sacramento; Betty Foot Henderson, Golden Notes, 12- 13. 164 Notes from Betty Foot Henderson interview with Harriet O. French, secretary to Senator Johnson, June 3, 1959, Betty Henderson Collection, II/2/8 Box 10, OGM 8-12-377, Governor’s Mansion State Historic Park, Sacramento.

71 home of the Johnsons’ son, Jack. Hiram and Minnie, hearing of Joey’s return, wrote to

Jack “We were overjoyed when you said that Joe had returned.”165 From where was Joey returning? Did he in fact accompany Archibald into military service, or did Joey enlist on his own? Philip Chin, writing for AsianWeek: The Voice of Asian America, notes that hundreds of Chinese Americans served in World War I, though their stories remain largely undocumented. “Chinese males were mostly used in logistics, moving the tons of supplies needed for the war, or performing duties such as cooks.”166

Whether or not military service was the reason for Joey’s absence, his former ties to the Johnson family drew him back, to again take up his role as family cook. Archibald

Johnson’s return to civilian life proved more difficult. In 1933, distressed perhaps by lingering psychological effects of his time in the war, by the economic troubles of the

Great Depression, and by the scandalous end of his marriage, Archibald committed suicide.167 It was a devastating time for the family as expressed in the personal letters of

Hiram Johnson. Hiram, who at other times in his letter writing mentioned Joey, failed in this instance to record Joey’s reaction. It is not hard to imagine, though, that the

Johnson’s loyal cook felt the loss of “Arch” every bit as deeply as did the family.

Joey’s loyalty to the family grew out of a well-established association, one that very possibly began when he was a young boy. If so, that and other aspects of Joey’s

165 Letter, November 23, 1918, Hiram Johnson to Jack Johnson, BANC MSS C-B 581, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley. 166 Philip Chin, “A Short History about Chinese American Military Veterans,” AsianWeek, October 17, 2011, http://www.asianweek.com/2011/10/17/a-short-history-about-chinese-american-military- veterans/ (accessed 1/25/2012) 167 From family letters dated February 8, 1919, April 1, 1933, June 9 & 18, 1933, Hiram Johnson Papers, BANC MSS C-B 581, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley; “Sen. Johnson’s Son Suicides,” San Jose Evening News, August 1, 1933, pg. 1.

72 situation were not unlike those experienced by other Chinese cooks in white households.

Historian Sucheng Chan, in her study of the Chinese in California agriculture, found that in the Sacramento Valley in the late 1800s and early 1900s, hundreds of Chinese worked as cooks in the homes of white farmers and townspeople. “Some of these cooks began their careers as teenage boys, and there are records of a number who adopted the last names of the white families they worked for.” Chinese cooks “interacted with the white community as individuals and were often treated as intimate members of their employers’ households.”168

While the Johnsons generally did not consider servants intimate members of the household, Joey indeed may have been the exception. Joey was by all indications confident of the respect and importance he held within the Johnson family and household.

The Johnsons may not have gone so far as to consider Joey “like family,” but he did appear to occupy a position of esteem and privilege greater than that of other servants.

Joey requested and received a room on the third floor of the Governor’s Mansion, the same floor on which important guests such as Teddy Roosevelt also had rooms.169

Roosevelt, political and personal friend of Hiram Johnson (Johnson was Roosevelt’s running mate on the Progressive “Bull Moose” Party ticket of 1912), apparently enjoyed visiting with Joey in the Mansion’s kitchen, where Joey expressed opinions on politics as freely as he did on kitchen matters.170 Mention of Joey appears frequently within the personal correspondence of the Johnsons. Hiram Johnson (who alternately referred to

168 Sucheng Chan. This Bitter-Sweet Soil: The Chinese in California Agriculture, 1860-1910 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1986), 361. 169 Notes from Betty Foot Henderson interview with Harriet O. French, June 3, 1959. 170 Ibid.

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Joey as “Joe”) ended one message to his sons saying, “Joe and Fong [another servant] send love & kisses.”171 In other letters, he recounts Joey helping him break up a fight between the family dogs, and on another occasion, when an automobile struck one of the dogs, “Joe, with wheelbarrow brought him home.” Hiram wrote of missing a late night phone call from one of his sons because Joey took the call, believing “he was doing us a kindness to let us sleep…” In yet another letter, written as a birthday greeting to his son,

Jack, Johnson says, “Wednesday night at 11 o’clock, Mother, Joe and I drank to our eldest son.”172 Joey’s relationship with the Johnsons clearly extended beyond his position and work in the kitchen.

What of Joey’s relationships with other servants at the Governor’s Mansion?

Sucheng Chan notes that in some households, Chinese cooks “assumed a role much like that of the English butler, managing the entire household.”173 While Joey did not officially run the entire household, belief in the importance of his own position, and his close working relationship with Minnie Johnson, may have contributed to less than pleasant interactions between Joey and other servants. Hiram Johnson provided some evidence of this in a letter to his sons, written after Johnson and Minnie moved to

Washington D.C. In the letter, Johnson laments the loss of the family butler. “I get back at Mother and Joey by talking about Mori, and seriously the fact is, we never have had

171 Telegram, December 24, 1939, Hiram W. Johnson to his sons, Archibald and Jack, Hiram Johnson Papers, BANC MSS C-B 581, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley. 172 Letters, November 14, 1919, July 9, 1921, August 12, 1921, and February 6, 1928, Hiram W. Johnson to his sons Archibald and Jack, Hiram Johnson Papers 1895-1945, BANC MSS C-B 581, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley. 173 Sucheng Chan. This Bitter-Sweet Soil, 362.

74 our household running well since Mori left.”174 The implication seems to be that Minnie and Joey had a part in ousting the butler. Johnson goes on to say “the fact is, neither

Mother nor Joey can get along with servants, and so we’ll continue, doubtless, having all sorts of individuals on probation.” While Johnson’s letter is discussing the household after they moved to Washington D. C., it is probable that the relationship between Joey,

Minnie Johnson, and other servants was much the same while living at the Governor’s

Mansion. Joey, with his strong ideas of how the Mansion kitchen should operate, and equally strong opinions on likely every aspect of household life, undoubtedly made his presence felt among the rest of the servants at the Mansion.

For all the trouble Joey may have caused with his adversarial relationship to other servants, the Johnsons chose to keep him on as part of their household. The Johnsons’ loyalty sprang in part from the practical reality of holding on to a good cook, as was illustrated shortly after their departure from Sacramento and the Governor’s Mansion. In

1917, Hiram and Minnie Johnson (minus Joey) moved to Washington D. C. following

Hiram’s election to the United States Senate. Within a matter of months, the Johnsons found themselves embroiled in servant troubles as recounted by Hiram in a letter to his son, Jack.

174 Letter, June 10, 1922, Hiram W. Johnson to his sons Archibald and Jack Johnson, Hiram Johnson Papers 1895-1945, BANC MSS C-B 581, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley. Note: Johnson’s grandson, Hiram III, in an oral history interview in 1986, claimed that Mori the butler was removed from the Johnson house by the FBI in 1941 for being a spy for the Japanese Navy. This letter, written by Johnson in 1922, has Mori’s departure occurring long before the events of 1941, which calls into question the veracity of Hiram III’s story. Hiram Johnson III, an oral history conducted November 18, 1986, Governor’s Mansion Oral History Project, Governor’s Mansion State Historic Park, Sacramento.

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Our chauffeur has just quit, the cook is uncertain….this constitutes the only employees we now have….the house requires at least one servant besides, because the cook will not leave the kitchen, and cooks are so damn scarce that we have to spend half of our time humoring the one we have. (July 15, 1918)175

Hearing the next year that Joey was back and working for their son, Jack, the senior

Johnsons were anxious to reclaim Joey’s services. A series of telegrams arrived, urgently requesting Joey’s help.

If Joe will come advise us when and give him necessary funds. (Nov. 20, 1918)

Urge Joe [to] come. Need him. Must know immediately. (Nov. 23, 1918)

If Joe is coming, he must start immediately. Cannot wait. No cook [for] two weeks. (Dec. 3, 1918)176

Joey’s history of good service to the family was worth tolerating any difficulties or eccentricities of personality. It was also, perhaps, more than a matter of good service; the

Johnsons’ loyalty also reflected recognition of the longevity of relationship. Joey had lived with the family since he was a young man, possibly a young boy; there existed between him and the Johnsons a familiarity with each other’s habits and, as the years went by, a shared history. Together, they had experienced the Johnson family’s highest and lowest moments. Out of that shared life, there also developed a mutual concern for each other’s welfare. In the flurry of telegrams urging Joey’s presence in Washington

D.C., Minnie Johnson expressed concern for Joey’s personal well-being:

175 Letter, July 15, 1918, Hiram W. Johnson to Hiram “Jack” Johnson, Jr., Hiram Johnson Papers 1895-1945, BANC MSS C-B 581, The Bancroft Library, University of California Berkeley. 176 All telegram excerpts from: Hiram Johnson Papers 1895-1945, BANC MSS C-B 581, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

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Worried for fear Joey coming against his will. Tell him it’s lonesome. No Chinese [at] Riverdale [Johnson residence in Maryland], very few [in] Washington. Don’t want him unhappy. (Nov. 26, 1918)177

Hiram Johnson also expressed concern, writing to his son Jack that he hoped Joey “will like the old place, and that his interest in it may compensate for his loss of Chinese companions.”178 Apparently, loyalty, born out of the long-standing relationship between the Johnsons and Joey, won out over the risk of loneliness; Joey traveled across the continent to take up his cooking duties in the Johnsons’ new home. Hiram Johnson reported to his son, “Joe has arrived on time and has fitted into our life just as he did in

California.”179

Eventually the Johnsons hired other servants of varying cultural and ethnic backgrounds, so Joey was not the only Chinese member of the household. Still, the

Johnsons’ concerns highlight the potentially isolated reality Joey’s position may have created for him socially. Throughout the many years that Joey cooked for the Johnsons, he resided in the Johnson household rather than living in the local Chinese community.

At the time Joey and the Johnsons lived in the Governor’s Mansion, Sacramento had an active Chinatown. According to historian Phillip Choy, housing covenants kept the

Chinese restricted primarily to the area of I and J Streets from 2nd to 8th Streets. Excluded from Sacramento society, the Chinese created their own community life with social

177 Telegram, November 26, 1918, Minnie Johnson to Hiram “Jack” Johnson, Jr., Hiram Johnson Papers 1895-1945, BANC MSS C-B 581, The Bancroft Library, University of California Berkeley. 178 Letter, December 13, 1918, Hiram W. Johnson to Hiram “Jack” Johnson, Jr., Hiram Johnson Papers 1895-1945, BANC MSS C-B 581, The Bancroft Library, University of California Berkeley. 179 Letter, December 26, 1918, Hiram W. Johnson to Hiram “Jack” Johnson, Jr., Hiram Johnson Papers 1895-1945, BANC MSS C-B 581, The Bancroft Library, University of California Berkeley.

77 events, churches and schools.180 Chinese residents identified themselves with clan associations based on ties to the same geographic area of China, or on a shared surname and ancestry. Merchants and those individuals with direct ties to China tended to have positions of leadership and importance within the community.181

Joey, born in California, with ties to China that were at least one or two generations back, and in Sacramento only a short time, likely would not have had a position of importance within the Chinese community. Still, did he interact with local

Chinese, joining a clan or participating in community activities? Or did Joey’s life in the

Governor’s Mansion create social as well as physical distance between him and

Sacramento’s Chinese community? It may be that Joey found himself with neither a strong foothold in the Chinese community or in the white community where he was welcome to work, and to engage in political discussions with famous politicians, but denied full rights of citizenship and social equality. Did that social ambiguity contribute to Joey’s strong sense of identification with the Johnson family, and his efforts to assert his position and importance within the household?

Joey remained with Hiram and Minnie Johnson for the duration of their time in the nation’s capital, which ended with Hiram’s death in 1945.182 Johnson’s death ended a lifetime of prolific letter writing, including letters that mentioned Joey. In the last years of

Johnson’s life, references to Joey appeared less frequently within the pages of Hiram’s

180 Phillip Choy. Canton Footprints, 95. 181 Sucheng Chan. Asian Americans: An Interpretive History (New York: Twayne Publishers, 1991), 63-66. 182 Hiram Johnson died on August 6, 1945, the day the atom bomb exploded over Hiroshima, Japan.

78 correspondence. One of the last mentions of Joey is in a letter Minnie Johnson wrote to her son Jack, in 1939. “I find both Joey and Fong have grown quite old and tire easily, so that the fullness of living has had to be lessened…”183 Hiram Johnson’s last reference to his Chinese cook is in a 1942 letter Johnson wrote to his son, telling of a local scrap metal drive in support of the war effort. “Joe and Fong found quite a bit of old scrap and put it out early this morning for the junkman to take.”184 (It is remarkable to realize that

Joey still actively worked for the Johnsons more than twenty years after cooking for them in the Governor’s Mansion!)

Following Hiram Johnson’s death, Minnie Johnson accompanied her husband’s body back to California, for burial in San Francisco. Minnie remained in San Francisco, living with her son. Joey apparently did not return with her to California. Harriet French in her oral history interview briefly mentioned, “Joey died in Washington D. C. sometime after the Senator’s death.”185 Where did Joey live after Minnie Johnson returned to

California? Did the Johnsons keep in touch with their loyal cook? Did they know of his death, and did they help with or attend his funeral? The details of Joey’s last years, remain lost to history. What is known is that Jue Ying, native Californian, ended his life’s journey thousands of miles away from his home state, and from the Governor’s Mansion, in whose kitchen he once proudly served.

183 Letter, September 20, 1939, Minnie Johnson to son, Jack Johnson, Hiram Johnson Papers, BANC MSS C-B 581, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley. 184 Letter, September 20, 1942, Hiram W. Johnson to Jack Johnson, Hiram Johnson Papers 1895- 1945, BANC MSS C-B 581, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley. 185 Notes from Betty Foot Henderson interview with Harriet O. French, June 3, 1959.

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IN HER LADY’S CHAMBER 1923-1934: MARY NEVIS

For all of its many rooms and floors, at times the Governor’s Mansion no doubt felt very intimate, especially with regard to the close quarters in which gubernatorial families and some of their servants lived and worked. Servants working inside the

Mansion unavoidably were witnesses to the private side of their employers’ lives; they observed not only happier episodes of life within the grand house, but also saw more troubled moments. Pat Patterson, Mansion security officer during Governor Warren’s tenure, witnessed the Warren family’s anxiety and distress in the first days after the

Warren daughter, Honey Bear, fell victim to polio. Alta Hitchcock, nanny to Governor

Olson’s grandchildren, lived in the Mansion during the Olson family’s grief over the failing health and death of First Lady, Kate Olson.186 For servants working most closely with the governors and their families (particularly on the Mansion’s second floor where family members had their bedrooms) discretion as well as competence was an important part of job performance. This was especially true for servants such as Mary Nevis, who from 1923 to 1934 served as personal maid to First Ladies Augusta Richardson, Lyla

Young, and Annie Rolph.187

Mary Nevis was married and the mother of three children by the time she started

186 Edgar “Pat” Patterson, Interview with Pat Patterson, Jean Bever and Betty Henderson, an oral history conducted January 19, 1990, Governor’s Mansion Oral History Project, Governor’s Mansion State Historic Park, Sacramento; Alta Hitchcock, an oral history, 1984. 187 Mary Nevis, an oral history conducted January 23, 1983, Governor’s Mansion Oral History Project, Governor’s Mansion State Historic Park, Sacramento.

80 working at the Governor’s Mansion.188 Born Mary Hazel Escer on January 25, 1894, in

California, Mary’s earlier life remains for the most part a mystery. Her granddaughter

Sallie Tatum recalls that Mary “didn’t talk much about her early life.”189 Mary’s descendants do know that she had two brothers, John and Peter, and that her parents supposedly owned orchard land near Coloma, California. In the mid-1900s–for reasons lost to the past–Mary’s parents relinquished their children to the Mount Saint Mary’s

Orphan Asylum in Grass Valley, California.190 The 1910 United States Census lists

Mary, age sixteen, and her brother John, age ten, as inmates of the Asylum. Mary’s brother Peter is not listed and his fate remains unknown.191 By her early twenties, Mary was in Sacramento where, on August 8, 1915 at the age of twenty-one, she married

Joseph Manuel Nevis. Through the first years of their marriage, Joseph worked at a variety of occupations, while Mary remained home caring for their young children,

Elmer, Bernice, and Richard. 192

In the mid-to-late 1920s, people were experiencing the first foreshadowing of the

Great Depression to come. As historian Lizbeth Cohen notes in her work, Making a New

Deal, the 1920s saw both the rise of mass consumerism and the failure of working-class wages to keep pace with the economic demands of modern life. Many families had to

188 United States Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth Census of the United States, 1930 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration), http://www.ancestry.com (accessed November 2011). 189 Sallie Tatum. Telephone conversation with the author, April 13, 2012. 190 Ibid. 191 United States Bureau of the Census. Thirteenth Census of the United Sates, 1910 (Washingotn, D.C.; National Archives and Records Administration), http://www.ancestry.com (accessed November 2011); Sallie Tatum, April 13, 2012. 192 Certificate of Marriage, Mary Hazel Escer – Joseph Manuel Nevis, August 8, 1915, Sacramento County Recorder’s Office, Sacramento; Sacramento City Directories, 1915-1926 (Sacramento Directory Company Publishers: Sacramento).

81 depend on all members–fathers, mothers, children–working and earning income to support the family.193 Whether or not this was the case for the Nevis family, the mid-

1920s were the period when Mary sought work outside the home and secured her position at the Governor’s Mansion. Also at this time, Joseph started work as a gardener for the

California State Buildings and Grounds Division. By 1930, he, too, worked at the

Governor’s Mansion, making him and Mary one of the few instances where husband and wife both worked at the Mansion.194 Joseph’s duties included supplying freshly cut flowers from the garden for the rooms of the Mansion. His slender build and average height (five foot, seven inches), also made him the best candidate for climbing the narrow stairs to the cupola to clean up after Governor Rolph’s late night poker games. Joseph once told Mary “those stairs are awfully wiggly. I can hardly go up there.” 195

A sense of pride often went with working in the home of California’s governors, and instilled an expectation that the first families would live up to and reflect the prestige and importance of such an environment. Just as their employers took stock of individual servants’ characters and qualities, servants also took the measure of their employers. As a lady’s maid, Mary was particularly aware of the first ladies’ characters and habits. Mary noted that Augusta Richardson did not always fit the ideal of an upper-class lady of the

193 Liz Cohen, Making a New Deal: Industrial workers in Chicago, 1919-1939 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990, 2008), 102. 194 Sacramento City Directories, 1926-1934 (Sacramento Directory Company Publishers: Sacramento); Mary Nevis, oral history interview, January 23, 1983. 195 Governor Rolph had his poker gatherings in the cupola because it was beyond reach of the telephones. Betty Henderson, Golden Notes: Families in the Mansion, 16.; Mary Nevis, an oral history, 1983.

82 house. “She was kind of rough; she was not refined.”196 Augusta Richardson would

“come downstairs, roll up her sleeves, and wash clothes. She was a worker lady.” She insisted on cleaning her own personal clothing, using a washboard; Mary had to use the washboard as well. Augusta also preferred to eat breakfast in the breakfast room rather than have Mary or another servant bring breakfast upstairs to the bedroom.197 What Mary saw as Augusta Richardson’s less genteel approach to life may have been evidence of her

Quaker faith, and a strong ethic of cleanliness acquired growing up as daughter of a

Swiss doctor.198

As maid to Lyla Young, Mary seemed most impressed with the personal consideration Mrs. Young extended to her. Lyla, mother of two grown daughters, learned that Mary had a daughter, too. She gave Mary a doll once belonging to her daughters, to take home to Mary’s daughter, Bernice. Years later, when remembering the gift, Mary declared “it was the most beautiful doll; I wouldn’t part with it for all the money. I’ll keep that doll for the rest of my life.”199 Mary also received generous Christmas bonuses from each of the families for whom she worked, “very nice, very nice.” Governor Rolph often gave Mary additional tips whenever she carried his meal trays upstairs. In each case, the respect and appreciation behind the gifts seemed to matter to Mary as much or more than the gifts themselves.200

196 Mary Nevis, an oral history, 1983. 197 Ibid. 198 Betty Foot Henderson, Golden Notes: Families in the Mansion, 15. 199 Mary Nevis, an oral history, 1983. 200 Ibid.

83

Some of Mary’s most interesting years of Mansion service occurred while working for Governor and Mrs. Annie Rolph. Mary considered Annie Rolph “a very nice lady. She treated me real nice, she did.”201 Yet Mrs. Rolph also was a woman of exacting standards, as Mary soon learned.

Mary’s workday, true to the nature of domestic service, kept her busy from the moment she arrived each day at the Governor’s Mansion. Annie Rolph’s chauffeur collected Mary at her home early each morning and returned her home each evening.

Many times the workday proved a long one. The Rolphs “kept everything very nice,” with fine linens and fancy silver, all things that required work to keep in top order.

“Sometimes I’d work until nine o’clock, polishing the silver.”202 Mary also helped clean and neatly return all dishes to the pantry shelves, and dust the many marble fireplaces in the Mansion. Wednesdays were “open house,” when members of the public were allowed into the rooms of the first floor. Joseph Nevis decorated the rooms with fresh flowers, and Mary collected calling cards from visitors at the front door.203 As Annie Rolph’s personal maid, Mary spent a good deal of her time in the First Lady’s second floor rooms, and a good deal of time moving up and down the stairs. Every morning at ten o’clock sharp, Mary was to be at the door of Annie’s bedroom to inquire whether to serve breakfast upstairs or in the breakfast room. If the answer was upstairs, then it was Mary’s task to bring up the tray. Mary also ran the bathwater, set up the items for the bath, and set out the clothes that Annie planned to wear. Mary helped her dress, making sure the

201 Ibid. 202 Mary Nevis, an oral history, 1983. 203 Ibid.

84 dress hung correctly and commenting on how the outfit looked overall. Outfits were changed frequently throughout the day, for social calls, dinners, trips into town, etc. In all cases, Mary was to have the items out and ready to go.204

As much time as Mary spent working closely with Annie Rolph, the two women seemingly never developed the personal bond like that experienced by other servants and their employers. In part, it was due to Mary’s view of her place within the front room- backstairs environment of the Governor’s Mansion. Mary focused on performing the duties of her specific work position, and performing them well, without any expectation of a more personal relationship with the First Ladies she served (which perhaps made expressions of appreciation, such as the doll, that more meaningful).

For their part, Augusta Richardson, Lyla Young, and Annie Rolph, while valuing

Mary’s service, also seemed to do so within the conventional framework of employer- employee relationships. Indeed, in Annie Rolph’s case, emphasis was placed on maintaining set standards of employee performance. Mary and the other maids followed a proper dress code. For the morning hours, Mary wore a gray uniform; the afternoon required a black dress with a white apron. Annie also required that Mary wear only flat shoes, no high heels; hair was to be long, not in the stylish short cuts of the day; dresses were to be plain in style.205

Annie Rolph’s standards for decorum were as exacting as those regarding dress.

One morning, as Mary went about her tasks in the First Lady’s bedroom, Annie said,

204 Ibid. 205 Ibid.

85

“Mary.” “What?” Mary replied. Annie Rolph quickly and sternly reprimanded her. “You never say ‘What’ or ‘What do you want.’ You never say that to me, never say that to anybody.” Mary apologized and asked, “What should I say?” Annie replied that Mary was to “always say, if you can’t attend, say ‘Please Mrs. Rolph; please and this, and please and that.”206 Accordingly, for the rest of her service with the Rolphs, Mary remembered to say, “Please” when responding to the lady of the house. Soon after the incident, Mary learned that the other servants knew of this particular point of order.

“Why didn’t you warn me?” Mary demanded of her co-workers. They responded that they assumed she knew.207 In the minds of her co-workers, did Mary’s position as personal maid to Mrs. Rolph set her apart from the other staff, so that they did not feel the need to share their work knowledge with her? Or was it indeed an honest assumption on their part that Mary knew all the rules of the house? Years later, recounting the incident,

Mary still expressed annoyance at what she clearly felt to be a lack of support by the other Mansion staff.

The rules of the house encompassed more than just uniforms and personal appearance. Maids and kitchen help had to eat in the kitchen and could only use the bathroom just off the kitchen. No maids, including Mary, were to enter the Governor’s bedroom while he was present. All Mansion workers had to use the backstairs only.208

Annie also kept a close eye on the job performance of her staff. On occasion, she would announce she was “leaving for San Francisco,” or a social call. “We’d see her go,” Mary

206 Mary Nevis, an oral history, 1983. 207 Ibid. 208 According to Mary, “backstairs only” was a rule of all the governors for whom she worked. Mary Nevis, an oral history, 1983.

86 recalled, “but she wouldn’t be gone a half-hour or hour, and she’d be right back again–to see what we’re doing; she’d check on us to see if we were doing our work.”209

Annie Rolph also had specific attitudes regarding the chauffeurs. Her chauffeur was welcome to have a cup of coffee in the kitchen, but not so the chauffeur for Governor

Rolph. Mary thought the Governor’s chauffeur, Castleman, “a nice fellow,” but Mrs.

Rolph “never wanted him in the house.”210 On this point, however, the Governor overrode his wife’s wishes. Governor Rolph appeared to rely on his chauffeur as a personal assistant. It was Castleman’s task to go up to the Governor’s bedroom each morning and inquire if breakfast was to be in bed or downstairs (Governor and Mrs.

Rolph had separate bedrooms). If the Governor chose to have breakfast in his bedroom,

Mary brought the tray upstairs to Castleman who then carried it into the Governor’s room.211 Years later, Mary still recalled a morning when the Governor said he was feeling ill and asked Mary to send Castleman up to his bedroom. Annie Rolph hearing activity in the hallway, called from her room “Mary, will you come here please. What’s going on over there with the Governor?” When Mary told her the Governor was ill, Annie responded bluntly, “Don’t worry about that, nothing wrong with him.” Mary, finding herself caught rather awkwardly between what the Governor said and what Annie said, replied “but he wants the chauffeur.” Annie then relented, telling Mary to “go ahead and get the chauffeur.”212

209 Mary Nevis, an oral history, 1983. 210 Ibid. 211 Ibid. 212 Ibid.

87

Annie Rolph’s response on that occasion, and her overall attitude toward her husband’s chauffeur, provides perhaps a glimpse into the less happy side of upstairs relationships. At the time he was elected Governor, Rolph was known as “Sunny” Jim

Rolph for his upbeat public persona. As Betty Henderson suggested in her history of the

Governor’s Mansion, in those first days of the Great Depression “perhaps people needed his buoyance.”213 Privately however, the Rolphs’ life apparently was more complicated than the Governor’s public life. Governor Clement Young’s daughter Lucy, in an oral history interview years later, commented on the unhappy situation between the Rolphs.

“They were really separated, but in those days you didn’t make it official.” Lucy Young recalled that Annie Rolph spent a good deal of time alone in the Mansion. “Mother always said she felt so sorry for Mrs. Rolph.”214

As maid to the lady of the house, Mary could not avoid noticing any troubled realities within the private life of the Rolph household. Mary learned to perform her work with discretion, seeing much but saying little. Even years later when giving her oral history, Mary was careful about what she said; she related situations as she witnessed them, but refrained from conjecture beyond the basic facts.

Governor Rolph suffered a fatal stroke in 1934. That same year, Mary and Joseph

Nevis purchased a house in what was then the rural outskirts of Sacramento (now the juncture of Auburn Boulevard and Winding Way in Sacramento).215 With a new home

213 Betty Henderson, Golden Notes: Families in the Mansion, 18. 214 Lucy and Barbara Young, an oral history conducted February 17, 1982, Governor’s Mansion Oral History Project, Governor’s Mansion State Historic Park, Sacramento. 215 Sacramento City Directories, 1933-34 (Sacramento Directory Company Publishers: Sacramento); Sallie Tatum, telephone conversation with the author, April 13, 2012.

88 and growing children to care for, Mary left state service and her work as maid at the

Governor’s Mansion. Joseph continued his work with State Buildings and Grounds into the 1940s, and then left to take a position of gardener at McClellan Air Force Base where he remained until retirement.216

Mary once remarked that “the pay wasn’t much” at the Governor’s Mansion, yet remuneration for her services was not what remained strongest in Mary’s memories. Fifty years after leaving the Mansion, she still spoke with pride about her work in the governor’s house. “I took care myself; I’d see that everything was set up right….So I was recommended very highly from one governor to another governor.” Mary, like many former servants of the Governor’s Mansion, looked back on her years of service as a positive experience. “I enjoyed that, I did. I had twelve years with those people. Very nice. Each one different.” 217

216 Mary Nevis, an oral history, 1983; Certificate of Death, Joseph Manuel Nevis, August 19, 1962, Sacramento County Recorder’s Office, Sacramento. 217 Mary Nevis, an oral history, 1983.

89

WITH THE FAMILY 1943-1953: EDGAR “PAT” PATTERSON

By at least 1917, guards joined maids, housekeepers, cooks, and gardeners as part of the backstairs world of the Governor’s Mansion. When a bomb exploded at the

Mansion on December 17, 1917 (damaging part of the basement and kitchen), a newspaper account reported that the explosion occurred “just as the guard at the Mansion was being changed.”218 The article also mentioned “the Governor’s guard, H. C.

Raussen. . . .was just around the other side of the house when the explosion took place.”219 Lucy Young remembered that during her father Clement C. Young’s tenure as

Governor in the 1920s, guards watched over the Mansion grounds twenty-four hours a day, marking off as they passed set checkpoints throughout the grounds.220 Guards served “just one at a time. . . .When there was an execution, then there would be extra guards because there were always a lot of threatening letters.”221 By the time of Governor

Olson’s residency–1939 to 1943–guards stationed themselves in the Mansion kitchen as well as patrolling the grounds.222 Alta Hitchcock, nanny to Governor Olson’s grandchildren, recalled that Mansion guards served in “two or three shifts at all times.”

Guards did not live on the premises, instead going home at the end of their shifts, a practice followed throughout the time that governors lived at the Mansion.223

218 “Wall of Governor’s House is Torn Off by Explosion,” Sausalito News, Volume 33, Number 51, December 22, 1917. 219 Ibid. 220 Lucy and Barbara Young, an oral history, 1982. 221 Ibid. 222 Alta Hitchcock, an oral history, 1984. 223 Ibid; Lucy and Barbara Young, an oral history, 1982.

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Besides overseeing on-site security of the Governor’s Mansion grounds, guards also represented an evolution in the role and duties performed previously by chauffeurs and carriage men. Until Governor Hiram Johnson moved into the Mansion in 1911, the

Mansion’s stylish carriage house sheltered horses and carriages under the supervision of the carriage master. Governor Johnson introduced the automobile to the Governor’s

Mansion property, using the carriage house to garage his private car, a red Locomobile.224

As the popularity of automobiles grew, chauffeurs replaced carriage masters at the

Mansion. Eventually, California’s governors traveled about in official state cars, which were housed in state garages. In the 1940s, California State Police officers assumed the role formerly performed by chauffeurs. Their duties soon expanded beyond merely squiring governors from location to location. The governor’s driver also served as the security officer responsible for keeping the governor and his family safe, at home and when venturing out into the community or state.

Among the first State Police Officers ever assigned to the Governor’s Mansion was Edgar James “Pat” Patterson.225 Officer Patterson’s service at the Mansion started in

1943 with the arrival of newly elected Governor Earl Warren, his wife Nina, and their six children. It proved to be the start of a long and close relationship between the guard and the First Family.

224 Johnson used his Locomobile to campaign all over California; his son Jack served as his father’s driver. Hiram Johnson III, an oral history conducted November 18, 1986, Governor’s Mansion Oral History Project, Governor’s Mansion State Historic Park, Sacramento. 225 Edgar “Pat” Patterson, Interview with Pat Patterson, Jean Bever and Betty Henderson, an oral history conducted January 19, 1990, Governor’s Mansion Oral History Project, Governor’s Mansion State Historic Park, Sacramento.

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Pat Patterson’s journey to the Governor’s Mansion started many years before, when he arrived in California from his hometown of New Orleans. Orphaned at age eleven, Pat was sent by relatives to Sacramento to live with family friends. Pat graduated from Sacramento High School in 1930 and some years later became an officer in the

California State Police.226 He married Marjorie Watts Towns on February 2, 1942; they remained in Sacramento for all fifty-eight years of their marriage (the couple had no children).227 Marjorie’s own past proved as interesting as that of her husband. She was the daughter of Wallace and Annie Towns, one of the pioneering families of the historic town of Allensworth. The Central Valley community, founded in 1908, was the only town in California independently financed, founded and governed by African Americans.

The Towns family eventually left Allensworth, moving north, where Wallace Towns worked as a pipe fitter at Mare Island Naval Station.228

One of Pat’s first assignments with the State Police was security detail at the State

Capitol. It was there that Pat first met Earl Warren, when Warren was State Attorney

General. As Warren biographer Ed Cray notes, the Attorney General took notice of the young police officer who often read and compared the Bible to the state penal code. On his frequent visits to the Capitol, Warren “would stop to chat with the young man,

226 Merrell F. Small. Introduction to oral history: Edgar James Patterson, Governor’s Mansion Aide to Prison Counselor, an oral history conducted in 1970 and 1972, BANC MSS 76/62, Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 1975, iii; Edgar “Pat” Patterson, Interview with Pat Patterson, Jean Bever and Betty Henderson, an oral history, 1990. 227 Marjorie Watts Towns Patterson, handwritten addendum to the oral history, Edgar James Patterson, Governor’s Mansion Aide to Prison Counselor, an oral history, 76. 228 Ibid, 76.

92 sometimes to discuss the conflicts between scripture and law.”229 A shared interest in the law developed into a friendly camaraderie between the men. In 1943, when Earl Warren won the first of his two and a half terms as California’s governor, Pat Patterson was the new Governor’s first choice to be security officer for the Warren family.230

Earl Warren took on the governorship during World War II, a time of heightened anxiety for all U.S. citizens, and especially those on the West Coast. Following the

December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, fear permeated California society from the humblest citizen to the state’s top leaders. Warren, in his capacity as State Attorney

General, participated in one of the most egregious expressions of post-Pearl Harbor hysteria when he implemented Executive Order 9066, the forced removal of California’s

Japanese citizens to internment camps. Warren later deeply regretted his support of the incarceration. “It was wrong to react so impulsively….It demonstrates the cruelty of war when fear, get-tough military psychology, propaganda, and racial antagonism combine with one’s responsibility for public safety to produce such acts.”231 That experience perhaps had lasting personal impact on Warren; in the years that followed, he actively argued for and upheld equitable treatment for all citizens.

In 1940s California, however, personal safety rather than personal liberties seemed the overriding concern. Security clearly was on the mind of Governor Warren when he met with Pat Patterson immediately after his inauguration as governor. As Pat

229 Ed Cray, Chief Justice: a Biography of Earl Warren (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1997), 105. 230 Ibid, 131. 231 Chief Justice Earl Warren, The Memoirs of Earl Warren (Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1977), 149.

93 recalled, “After the swearing in ceremony, Warren and I had a long talk and he says, ‘Pat,

I want you to help me take care of my family, and also take care of me.”232 Pat took the charge to heart for the ten years he served the Governor.

During the Warrens’ tenure, the Mansion continued its tradition of twenty-four hour security, with guards headquartered in the carriage house. Pat Patterson, however, operated from inside the Mansion, setting up his command post in a small kiosk just off the kitchen.233 Pat kept track of all comings and goings in the house. He coordinated shift duties with the other guards and screened all incoming telephone calls. He acted as liaison between the Mansion and the staff of the Governor’s Office at the Capitol, and he responded to the needs of the Governor’s family.234 Pat and the other guards also improved security of the Mansion’s grounds. They developed a buzzer system that alerted them to anyone jumping the fence, including ambitious politicians on a few occasions.235

The Warrens moved into the Governor’s Mansion and into gubernatorial life at an unsettled time in American history. Overseas, America was fully embroiled in World

War II. At home, the economic hardships of the Great Depression still resonated for many citizens. People often placed a very personal trust in the ability of their public leaders to help them. In Sacramento, private citizens appeared at the gates of the

232 Edgar “Pat” Patterson, Interview with Pat Patterson, Jean Bever and Betty Henderson, an oral history, 1990. 233 Merrell F. Small. Edgar James Patterson, Governor’s Mansion Aide to Prison Counselor, an oral history, iii. 234 Edgar “Pat” Patterson, Interview with Pat Patterson, Jean Bever and Betty Henderson, an oral history, 1990. 235 Edgar James Patterson, Governor’s Mansion Aide to Prison Counselor, an oral history, 17.

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Governor’s Mansion to talk directly with their governor or seek his help.236 Long-time

Sacramento resident Patricia Setzer recalls that on his morning walks to the Capitol,

Governor Warren often stopped to have his shoes shined at the corner of 14th & J Streets.

Those few minutes each morning soon became another opportunity for Sacramentans to chat directly with their governor.237

Living in the Mansion as California’s First Family, meant at times, being the focus of public attention and curiosity. Perhaps, in part, that is what drew the family to

Pat Patterson. The Warrens needed an ally within their new environment, someone they could count on to help them in their role as First Family. Government officials often wanted to meet with the governor at the Mansion. Pat recalled that Governor Warren

“tried as much as possible to have the Mansion as home for the family.” It was Pat’s job

“to really see that this would happen.”238 For Pat, the charge to take care of the family and the governor reached beyond just the basic act of a security officer doing his duty.

Though Pat lived off-premises, he spent the bulk of his workday hours with the family.

He made the well-being of the Warren family a personal as well as professional mission.

“When the Warrens came to the Mansion, the older kids were around seven, eight, and ten years old; and I was right with them, seeing that their hair was combed, seeing that they were ready. When you grow up with somebody like that, see them graduate, and go to their weddings, you feel close to them….I was assigned to the governor to help take

236 Edgar James Patterson, Governor’s Mansion Aide to Prison Counselor, an oral history; Betty Henderson, Interview with Pat Patterson, Jean Bever and Betty Henderson, an oral history, 1990. 237 Pat Setzer. Phone conversation with the author, March 18, 2011. 238 Edgar James Patterson, Governor’s Mansion Aide to Prison Counselor, an oral history, 46, 47.

95 care of the family….and from that time I was always included, as if one of the family.”239

While Pat was not literally part of the Warren family, he was very much a part of family life at the Mansion. Along with Nina Warren’s secretary Betty Henderson, Pat assisted the First Lady in her efforts to help the many families who appeared at the gates of the Governor’s Mansion. Pat alerted Mrs. Warren to the presence and needs of families at the gate. Nina Warren, in turn, fixed up baskets of food and bundles of hand-me-down clothes, which Pat distributed.240 Pat helped keep the Warren children on schedule for school, often standing at the foot of the Mansion’s main staircase, shouting for them to hurry up. “They’d bawl me out, and call me different names, and then I’d call them down and straighten them out.”241 Pat and three other officers shared the duty of driving the

Warren children to school. As requested, the children were dropped off a block or more from their schools to avoid the embarrassment of classmates seeing them with a uniformed policeman.242

The Warren children’s relationship with Pat involved more than just getting to school on time. As Pat observed, “We would disagree or we would argue, and yet…. the understanding was there. The respect was there.” Warren son, Robert, recalls of Pat and

239 Edgar James Patterson, Governor’s Mansion Aide to Prison Counselor, an oral history, 7, 12. The Warren’s son, Earl, Jr. echoed this sentiment, saying of Pat and his wife Marjorie, “we always considered them family.” Earl Warren, Jr., as quoted in “Edgar Patterson, Jurist’s Teacher,” San Francisco Chronicle, February 28, 2001, A18. 240 Pat recalled that Governor Warren also helped families, often giving money out of his own wallet. “Nobody ever came to the mansion, the whole time he was there, that asked him for any kind of assistance, that didn’t get it quickly.” Edgar James Patterson, Governor’s Mansion Aide to Prison Counselor, an oral history, 20; Edgar “Pat” Patterson and Betty Henderson, Interview with Pat Patterson, Jean Bever and Betty Henderson, an oral history, 1990. 241 Edgar James Patterson, Governor’s Mansion Aide to Prison Counselor, an oral history, 7. 242 Robert Warren, Playing, Hunting, Talking, an oral history conducted January 28, 1971, BANC MSS 80/145, Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 1980, 4.

96 the other officers, “they were real people we could talk to and horse around with and yet permit them to retain their role.”243 Pat occasionally was one of the channels through which the Warren children communicated with their father. “They would come to me with problems and if they had something they wanted their Dad to know about, and I’d tell him.”244 Governor Warren depended on Pat for much the same service. Whenever Pat picked up the Governor upon his return from an out of town trip, Warren asked, “How is the family?” Pat knew he wanted to know what they (the family) had been thinking about and dealing with since Warren last was in town.245 Pat and the other drivers also made sure the Governor arrived on time to the Warren children’s sporting and equestrian events.246

The Warren family especially valued Pat’s service on the night of Earl Warren’s election to his second term as Governor. Mrs. Warren and the Governor asked Pat to remain at the Mansion, watching over the Warren children, while the Governor and Mrs.

Warren traveled to campaign headquarters in Oakland, California. It fell to Pat then, to later that evening call the Warrens with the news that their daughter, Nina “Honey Bear”

Warren had fallen ill with polio: “you need to get up here as quick as possible.”247 When the needed medicine arrived by plane in Sacramento, Pat raced to get it. “I think I set a

243 Edgar James Patterson, Governor’s Mansion Aide to Prison Counselor, an oral history, 48; Robert Warren, Playing, Hunting, Talking, an oral history, 32. 244 Edgar “Pat” Patterson, Interview with Pat Patterson, Jean Bever and Betty Henderson, an oral history, 1990. 245 Ibid. 246 Ibid. 247 Ibid.

97 record going out to the airport and going back….I stuck to the Mansion as much as possible; I helped bring her up and down the stairs and pushed her around.”248

Besides his service to the Warren family, Pat also provided a valuable link between the Governor and his staff at the Capitol. The staff realized that all calls to the

Mansion went through Pat; he was the “second voice” of the Governor, a role the

Governor encouraged.249 Warren’s press secretary called Pat each Monday morning to find out if anything of note occurred with the Governor over the weekend. “The

Governor would see a lot of little things of value in the things that we’d just talk about.

He knew that I would relay some of the things that he said to me.”250 The secretaries also called Pat. Pat joked that he and the secretaries “actually ran the Mansion….They would ask me to tell the Governor to do this and that. He would come in and say, “Well, what you got for me to do, what do you want me to do now.”251

Pat’s unofficial role as a sounding board and extra “eyes and ears” for Governor

Warren extended to his duties as Warren’s chief security officer and driver. Pat often escorted the Governor on his morning walks from the Governor’s Mansion to the Capitol, and drove him throughout the region on official business. The time spent together in the car and at the Capitol provided opportunities for the two men to talk on a wide range of topics. Warren came to value Pat’s insights and opinions. When considering appointing

248 Edgar “Pat” Patterson, Interview with Pat Patterson, Jean Bever and Betty Henderson, an oral history, 1990. 249 Jean Bever and Edgar “Pat” Patterson, Interview with Pat Patterson, Jean Bever and Betty Henderson, an oral history, 1990. 250 Edgar James Patterson. Governor’s Mansion Aide to Prison Counselor, an oral history, 33. 251 Edgar “Pat” Patterson, Interview with Pat Patterson, Betty Henderson, and Jean Bever, an oral history, 1990.

98 individuals to official positions, the Governor often sent Pat out to the airport to pick up potential candidates. Earl Warren knew that Pat would engage the candidates in conversation during the drive back to the Mansion. Warren then asked for Pat’s assessment. “He would say, “What do you think of this guy? What’s his character? What kind of a man do you think he is?”252

Equally appreciated by Warren was Pat’s discretion. Pat, like Mary Nevis, learned to see much but say little. He was not above having a bit of fun with this aspect of his job.

Shortly before President Eisenhower announced publicly his choice of Earl Warren for

Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the President secretly sent one of his aides to

Sacramento to talk with Warren. Pat drove the Governor out to the airport to meet with the aide. Later, members of the press tried to confirm rumors of Warren’s appointment.

“They heard Eisenhower is going to appoint Warren….I said, ‘Do tell me about it!’ They said, ‘Somebody had a secret meeting.’ I said, ‘Where was it?”253 The sense of common purpose that developed often between Mansion residents and the workers who served them, clearly was present between Pat and the Warrens.

It was not lost on either Earl Warren or Pat Patterson that in a time of nascent civil rights efforts, one of the Governor’s trusted relationships was with a black civil servant, a man who might have access to the governor, but was barred from certain

Sacramento neighborhoods and establishments based solely on the color of his skin.

Warren and Pat frequently talked about race and racial inequalities. Pat recalled Governor

252 Edgar “Pat” Patterson, Interview with Pat Patterson, Betty Henderson, and Jean Bever, an oral history, 1990. 253 Edgar James Patterson, Governor’s Mansion Aide to Prison Counselor, an oral history, 30.

99

Warren’s earnest desire to understand how it felt to Pat to be black in America, and especially growing up in the segregated South. “I used to tell him about some of the things that happened in New Orleans, the way black kids felt, maybe being left out, all white kids and you being the only one. I think from his Brown decision that was handed down [Brown v. Board of Education, Topeka, Kansas], one part of his decision almost quoted the ideas that he and I used to talk about….I could see it in his decision, things that he picked up as he was asking questions about how the black man felt, how the black kid felt.”254

The time spent together not only provided opportunities for the men to talk; it deepened a bond between them that went beyond their official relationship. The two men knew each other prior to their time at the Governor’s Mansion, when each held other positions with the state. Once at the Mansion, the dual employer dynamic characterized

Pat’s relationship with the Warrens: though Pat served the family, his employer was the

State rather than the family. Both Earl Warren as Governor, and Pat Patterson as State

Police officer, worked for the people of California. Within that shared reality, the men seemed to discover a source of mutual support and respect. The security officer and the

Governor became friends.

The two men took an interest in each other’s lives, concerns, and aspirations. Pat came to sense when Warren’s official responsibilities weighed on the Governor. “It felt like there was something bothering him; he couldn’t reach it.” Pat would walk with

254 Edgar James Patterson, Governor’s Mansion Aide to Prison Counselor, an oral history, 3,4; Warren biographer, Ed Cray, also credited Pat Patterson’s influence on Earl Warren’s thinking about race: Ed Cray, Chief Justice: a Biography of Earl Warren (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1997) 325-326.

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Warren, and listen when the Governor was ready to talk. “We used to…throw a ball around….in the backyard of the Mansion and actually get away from all the governor’s things. We’d….talk about some of the decisions that he made and what was happening in the state.”255 Warren in turn, took an interest in Pat’s future, encouraging him to become a lawyer. Both the Governor and Mrs. Warren adjusted their demands on Pat’s time so he could attend law school at night. During the day, while the Warren children were in school, Pat studied his books as he sat on-duty at the Governor’s Mansion.256

Earl Warren’s tenure as California’s governor ended in 1953 when President

Eisenhower appointed Warren as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. The Warrens moved to Washington D.C.; Pat Patterson remained in Sacramento, serving as Governor

Goodwin Knight’s driver and guard. Governor Knight, like Earl Warren, came to trust and value Pat’s service. At the end of Knight’s tenure, Pat remained at the Mansion, briefly, to help Governor Edmund “Pat” Brown and family transition to their new life and home. Pat then left to begin his career in criminal justice, becoming a parole officer, then prison counselor with the Department of Corrections, and later teaching criminal justice courses at California State University Sacramento.257

The friendship between Pat Patterson and the Warren family continued throughout the years following the Warrens’ move to Washington D.C. The Warrens visited Pat and his wife, Marjorie, whenever the Chief Justice returned to Sacramento.

255 Edgar James Patterson, Governor’s Mansion Aide to Prison Counselor, an oral history, 11, 23. 256 Ibid, 29; Merrill F. Small, Introduction to oral history, Edgar James Patterson, Governor’s Mansion Aide to Prison Counselor, iii. 257 Edgar “Pat” Patterson, Interview with Pat Patterson, Betty Henderson, and Jean Bever, an oral history, 1990; Steve Gibson, “Ed Patterson, Warren’s driver and friend, dies,” Sacramento Bee, February 25, 2001, B1.

101

During the years that Pat Patterson taught classes at Sacramento State, Earl Warren agreed to meet and talk with Pat’s students, at Pat’s home.258 The Pattersons, in turn, visited Earl and Nina Warren in Washington D. C. In between visits, the two men kept in contact. “The whole time he was Chief Justice, I would hear from him at least every other month…I always phoned him. I never missed any of his birthdays or anniversaries.”259

Pat and Marjorie Patterson were among some of the last of Earl Warren’s friends to visit him before he died in July 1974. They spent an afternoon talking about the law and reminiscing about their time in Sacramento and at the Governor’s Mansion. Pat later remembered that visit as “one of the happiest visits I made with this great man….He was a friend who had always given me fatherly advice and good counseling in all areas of my life.”260 After Earl Warren’s death, the Pattersons remained in contact with Nina Warren and the rest of the family through visits, letters, and phone calls. The lines between employer and employee had long ago dissolved. Pat Patterson, Governor’s Mansion guard, represented one case where the servant of the house indeed became “like family.”

That such instances are rare was not lost on Pat. Years later, recalling his service at the

Governor’s Mansion, Pat noted that “a lot of people don’t realize, when you’re working with the governors we worked with. . . .it was working with good people. . . .they let you in on a lot of things.” Pat paused and then wondered aloud whether present-day

258 Edgar “Pat” Patterson, Interview with Pat Patterson, Betty Henderson, and Jean Bever, an oral history, 1990; Steve Gibson, Sacramento Bee, February 25, 2001. B4. 259 Edgar “Pat” Patterson, Interview with Pat Patterson, Betty Henderson, and Jean Bever, an oral history, 1990. 260 Hand written note from Pat Patterson to Betty F. Henderson, July 13, 1974, BFH Collection II/3/29 Box 13 OGM 8-15-377, Governor’s Mansion State Historic Park, Sacramento; Edgar James Patterson, Governor’s Mansion Aide to Prison Counselor, an oral history, 76d.

102 governors’ staff had “the same closeness” he experienced. “I don’t guess they have that anymore.”261

261 Edgar “Pat” Patterson, Interview with Pat Patterson, Betty Henderson, and Jean Bever, an oral history, 1990.

103

THE FACE IN THE PICTURE 1959-1966: AMANDA FERGUSON

It seems fitting to end these profiles with the servant whose image in a photograph inspired this thesis project. Her name was Amanda Ferguson, and the photographer’s camera snapped her picture in May 1959 as she served breakfast to Governor Edmund

“Pat” Brown and then-Senator John F. Kennedy.262 Amanda was one of two cooks who worked for Governor Brown when he, his wife Bernice, and their teen-age daughter,

Kathleen, resided in the Governor’s Mansion.

Amanda began her life in Louisiana, far from the busy life of California’s capital city. Born Amanda Howard, on July 24, 1906, she was an orphan by the time she was fourteen, living with her adoptive parents Eddie and Lizzie Moore. Amanda remained in

Louisiana into her adult life, moving to California sometime in the mid-1950s.263

Bernice Brown, like some of the First Ladies before her, hired and paid the cooks herself; the rest of the household servants were civil service employees. Amanda started her job as cook at the Governor’s Mansion on Friday, February 13, 1959, as noted by

Bernice Brown in her personal calendar.264 Far from unlucky, that Friday the thirteenth marked the start of a busy and interesting working experience for Amanda. At the time

262 The historic breakfast took place May 1, 1959, in the breakfast room of the Mansion. “Mansion Entertaining, 1959-1966,” C113: Subject Files-Governor’s Mansion, Papers of Governor Edmund G.Pat Brown (1958-1993), Accessioned 2003-278, California State Archives, Office of the Secretary of State, Sacramento. 263 United States Bureau of the Census. Fourteenth Census of the United States, 1920, (Washington D. C.: National Archives and Records Administration) 264 Bernice Layne Brown, Life in the Governor’s Mansion, an oral history conducted in 1979, BANC MSS 83/123, Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 1997. 16; “Bernice Brown’s Calendars,” C113:Bernice Layne Brown Papers, Photographs and Memorabilia (1924-c.1984), Accessioned 2003-257, California State Archives, Office of the Secretary of State, Sacramento.

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Amanda started her years of service at the Governor’s Mansion, the backstairs-front room worlds of the Mansion were quite different from what Delia Melloy, Joey Johnson, and other servants from decades past experienced. The majority of servants lived out, a trend that started in the years following World War I. Historian David Katzman notes that the shift from live in to live out reflected a steady decrease of white women in domestic service and an increase of African American women, as African Americans migrated out of the South into urban centers throughout the country.265 According to Katzman, household labor for white women provided a temporary occupation until they married and started their own families. “Nearly half of all black women, however, could expect to work most of their adult life.” Marriage did not end the economic need for the wages a working wife could contribute. Live out domestic work provided a form of employment that was compatible with marriage and, Katzman notes, was one of the few occupations open to African American women.266

Amanda Ferguson’s arrangement at the Governor’s Mansion did not completely follow the live out trend noted by Katzman. Amanda actually lived in the Mansion, occupying the servant’s room on the second floor (the room had been converted to one large space from two smaller rooms in existence during Delia Melloy’s occupancy decades before). Since Amanda was a married woman it may be that she divided her time, living at the Mansion on the days that she worked and going home to her own residence on her days off. It is also possible that Amanda was widowed or divorced at the

265 David Katzman, Seven Days A Week (Chicago: Oxford University Press, Inc., 1978), 72. 266 Ibid, 82.

105 time she started working for the Browns, making it possible for her to live full-time at the

Mansion. The historic record is vague on these points, but whatever the arrangement,

Amanda was a very present member of the Mansion’s backstairs “family.”

The front room world of the Mansion during the Brown tenure also reflected changes from earlier decades. Over the sixty years since governors first started living at the Governor’s Mansion, California’s population increased considerably and with it the political, social, and legislative activity of the state. By the 1960s, California was establishing itself as a leader in new technologies, education, and industry. Under

Governor Brown’s leadership, California’s freeway system was modernized; the State

Water Project improved California’s system of dams, reservoirs and canals, including creation of the California Aqueduct; and the California Master Plan for Higher Education expanded the state’s system of public universities and colleges.267 This also was a time of social challenge, when youth rebelled against the conventions of earlier generations and protested the Vietnam War, and minority citizens fought for civil and economic rights.

Racial prejudice and discriminatory practices existed in California as in the rest of the nation. African American citizens like Amanda found themselves shut out of some

Sacramento neighborhoods, schools, and public establishments. The black community in

Sacramento actively worked to break down racial barriers in the city; Governor Brown, at the state level, pushed for and supported legislation to equalize the social and economic

267 “Edmund G. Brown,” Hall of Fame, The California Museum, Sacramento, http://www.californiamuseum.org/exhibits/halloffame/inductee/new-inductee (accessed 1/13/2012); “The History and Future of the California Master Plan for Higher Education,” Center for Studies in Higher Education, University of California Berkeley, http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/uchistory/archives_exhibits/masterplan/bios.html (accessed 1/13/2012).

106 landscape, including the 1964 Rumford Fair Housing Act, which ended housing discrimination.268

California’s reputation as a leader on social, technological, and political fronts drew attention from all parts of the nation and the world, and visits from some of the world’s leading citizens. For the Governor’s Mansion, this meant an increase in the public life of the executive home. The Browns welcomed to the Mansion distinguished guests such as Indira Gandhi, Arthur Schlesinger, Senators Hubert Humphrey and John F.

Kennedy, Sargent Shriver, a contingent of United Nations representatives, all twelve

California Supreme Court justices, and Ambassadors of Chile, Ceylon, Britain, and

Ireland. Besides individuals, the Browns also welcomed various groups, including legislators and their wives, aerospace industry leaders, Democratic Party committees, labor groups, farmers associations, and numerous boards and commissions. Governor

Brown was known for maintaining a friendly, personal relationship with his office staff; staff dinners and secretary luncheons were held every year at the Mansion. Twice during their tenure, the Browns hosted elegant black-tie dinners. In all, the Browns feted anywhere from 700 to over 1200 guests each year at the Mansion.269

Tours of the Mansion also increased during the Brown years. Both the Governor and Bernice Brown had a keen appreciation for the historic importance of the Governor’s

268 Assemblyman William Byron Rumford, author of the bill, was one of the first African Americans to serve in California’s legislature. Robert O. Self, American Babylon: Race and the Struggle for Postwar Babylon (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2003), 79, 167; Steven M. Avella, Sacramento, Indomitable City (Charleston: Arcadia Publishing, 2003), 131-133. 269 “Mansion Entertaining, 1959-1966,” C113: Subject Files-Governor’s Mansion Entertaining, 1959-1966, Papers of Governor Edmund G.Pat Brown (1958-1993), Accessioned 2003-278, California State Archives, Office of the Secretary of State, Sacramento.

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Mansion. As Bernice explained, “Pat was a great believer that it belonged to the people and they liked to see it. He said, “They paid for it; they’re entitled to see it.” Bernice set up a regular system of tours for the Mansion. “We set our own ground rules….It had to be arranged through the Governor’s Office. It had to be a group, not an individual.”270

Mrs. Brown’s secretary typically guided the group through the Mansion; if it was a large or special group, Mrs. Brown often took the group through herself. It was not unusual to have three to four tours every week and quite often two or three tours on one day.271 Pat

Brown correctly gauged public interest in the grand residence.

The bustle of public events at the Mansion translated into a high level of activity for all the Mansion staff, but particularly for Amanda and the kitchen help. Amanda’s day as a rule started early, as she had to prepare and serve breakfast to the Governor, Mrs.

Brown and any guests that stayed over. Her work responsibilities then lasted until well into the evening as she served dinner, oversaw cleanup, and prepared for the next morning. An evening event meant an even longer day. Meals had to be planned down to the last detail and timed so that all food was ready to go when guests sat down to dine.

Large dinner or luncheon parties, with tables set up in all of the first floor rooms, no doubt proved especially challenging with regard to the timing and serving of meals.

Equally challenging were any unexpected events, as was illustrated one day when

Bernice Brown spoke before a conference of librarians. Discovering the group knew little about the Governor’s Mansion, Mrs. Brown impulsively invited the entire conference

270 Bernice Layne Brown, Life in the Governor’s Mansion, an oral history, 15. 271 Ibid; “Bernice Brown’s Calendars,” Accessioned 2003-257, California State Archives.

108 over to the Mansion that same afternoon for tea and a tour. She hurried home to the

Mansion and instructed Amanda to send out for cans of punch. “You don’t have time to make it from scratch.” Bernice and Amanda worked together to come up with enough food to serve to a group of four to five hundred members. Recalling Amanda’s efforts,

Bernice Brown said, “She was great at making cookies. I just gave her a couple of hours notice, though….and they all came, they all came.”272 Amanda’s reaction to the unexpected guest event is unrecorded, but all Mansion cooks had to be prepared to pull together teas, lunches, and dinners on short notice.

Bernice Brown’s calendar of speaking engagements, trips out of town, official events and dinners, and get-togethers with family and friends, was every bit as busy as the Governor’s. It is conceivable that there was not much time or opportunity to develop the sense of unity between employer and staff as seemed to exist in previous governorships. Yet, in spite of busy schedules, the Browns managed to keep track of life in the Mansion and build a supportive relationship with the servants. Bernice Brown made efforts to provide a good work experience for her household staff. When the services of maids were required on weekends, Bernice ensured they received overtime pay for the full time. In the case of maid Alberta Taylor she went even further. “She

[Alberta] was really good. I thought, ‘she really deserves more money’. . . .so my secretary and I connived and we finally had her reclassified as a supervising housekeeper.”273 For Amanda, Bernice had a shower installed in the second floor

272 Bernice Layne Brown, Life in the Governor’s Mansion, an oral history, 15-16. 273 Bernice Layne Brown, Life in the Governor’s Mansion, an oral history, 16-17.

109 servant’s bathroom. More importantly, Bernice hired a second cook, no doubt recognizing that the level of entertaining they were doing at the Mansion required a tremendous amount of time and work from just one cook. With a second cook in place,

Amanda was guaranteed some much-needed days off as well as assistance during especially large events.274

Bernice Brown once commented, “I’ve always enjoyed cooking….That’s the one thing I couldn’t do. I didn’t cook in Sacramento.”275 Her schedule did not allow much time for cooking, but Mrs. Brown also seems to have recognized the importance of respecting the cooks’ authority in the kitchen. Governor Brown would ask Bernice at times to cook breakfast for him, but she refused, telling him she would lose the cook if she did so.276 Nevertheless, according to Constance Carlson, sister of Governor Brown,

Bernice “had her hand in” the kitchen, conferring with Amanda about meals and particular menu items, and even at times just spending time visiting. Mrs. Carlson recalled of Amanda, “Gee, she was nice. My mother [Ida Schuckman Brown] and

Amanda, and Amanda and me and Bernice, we had great conversations with Amanda.

She was a good baker. She made lovely cookies, particularly at Christmas. I still have some of her recipes.”277 Amanda had the full confidence of her employer; Bernice entrusted Amanda with some of her favorite recipes, knowing that Amanda would

274 Betty Foot Henderson, “History of the Governor’s Mansion, 1965,” C113-Subject Files– Governor’s Mansion History, 1963, 1965, Papers of Governor Edmund G. Pat Brown (1958-1993), Accessioned 2003-278, California State Archives, Office of the Secretary of State, Sacramento. 275 Bernice Layne Brown. Life in the Governor’s Mansion, an oral history, 13. 276 Ibid. 277 Constance Carlson, an oral history conducted April 8, 2003, Governor’s Mansion Oral History Project, Governor’s Mansion State Historic Park, Sacramento, 8-9.

110 prepare the dishes to exact specifications. Mrs. Carlson recalled with pride that Amanda prepared “ordinary” American cuisine for the Browns who did not go “like Jackie

Kennedy, in for a French cook or anything like that. Amanda did most all of the cooking….and they had roasts and potatoes, and would have a varied menu. But it was certainly American.”278

Amanda Ferguson turned out to be one of the last cooks to serve a full tour of duty in the Governor’s Mansion kitchen. The Browns left the Mansion in 1966, making way for Governor Ronald Reagan, his wife Nancy, and their son Ron, Jr. Just three months after moving in, the Reagans also left, moving to a private home in another part of the city. In the fall of 1967, the Mansion opened to the public as a State Historic

Monument, officially ending the elegant residence’s role as a family home.279

With her work at the Governor’s Mansion ended, Amanda eventually moved to

San Francisco to settle near family. By all appearances, Amanda lived a quietly private existence, leaving behind little documentation about her life or her impressions of time spent in California’s executive home. Yet, within the many days and hours of her working life at the Mansion, Amanda, like all the servants before her, witnessed events, met individuals, and forged relationships she might never have encountered or experienced except for her place in the backstairs world of the Governor’s Mansion.

Amanda Ferguson died on September 29, 1986, twenty-seven years after her

278 Ibid, 34. 279 In 1970, the Governor’s Mansion was reclassified as a State Historic Park.

111 image was captured in a photograph along with that of a governor and a future president.280 Her story, like theirs, is not forgotten.

Courtesy of California State Parks, the Governor’s Mansion State Historic Park, 2012.

280 State of California. California Death Index, 1940-1997, (Sacramento: California State Department of Health Services, Center for Health Statistics)

112

APPENDIX B

PHOTOGRAPHS

113

DELIA MELLOY

© 2012 Dennis Gallagher. All Rights Reserved. AllRights Gallagher. Dennis 2012 ©

Delia Melloy having fun with the camera. This was about the time that she worked at the Governor’s Mansion.

114

© 2012 Dennis Gallagher. All Rights Reserved. AllRights Gallagher. Dennis 2012 ©

West lawn of the Governor’s Mansion: Delia on left, beside the tree, and Leona, the Pardee family’s cook, at center. The man at right is possibly the gardener, Olaf Anderson who moved with the Pardees from their Oakland home to Sacramento (photograph circa 1903-1904, prior to construction of the Mansion’s west annex in 1905).

115

© 2012 Dennis Gallagher. All Rights Reserved. AllRights Gallagher. Dennis 2012 ©

Wedding picture of Delia (Melloy) and Peter Gallagher. They were married December 18, 1906.

116

MARY NEVIS

.

© 2012 Sallie Tatum. All Rights Reserved Rights All Tatum. Sallie 2012 © Mary Escer (Nevis) on the right, with her mother Natalina Minetti, and her brothers Peter (standing in rear) and John Escer. The photograph was taken approximately in the early 1900s prior to Mary’s parents surrendering her and her brothers to the Mount Saint Mary Orphan Asylum.

117

© 2012 Sallie Tatum. All Rights Reserved. Rights All Tatum. Sallie 2012 ©

Joseph Manuel Nevis, husband of Mary (Escer) Nevis. Joseph served as gardener at the Governor’s Mansion in the same years that Mary worked at the Mansion as a maid. He went on to be gardener at McClellan Air Force Base.

118

served. © 2012 Sallie Tatum. All Rights Re Rights All Tatum. Sallie 2012 ©

Mary Nevis with her son, Elmer (circa 1970s). Mary would have been in her eighties at this time.

119

EDGAR JAMES “PAT” PATTERSON

p.29 BANC MSS 76/62, MSS BANC Courtesy of the Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 2012. Berkeley, California, of University Library, Bancroft the of Courtesy Pat Patterson, California State Police officer, and driver to the governor, shaking hands with Governor Earl Warren, prior to Warren departing California to take up the duties of Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, 1953.

120

Berkeley, 2012. BANC MSS 76/62, p.29 76/62, MSS BANC 2012. Berkeley, Courtesy of the Bancroft Library, University of California, California, of University Library, Bancroft the of Courtesy Officer Pat Patterson on duty at the Governor’s Mansion, 1953. This appears to be inside the guards’ office in the east end of the Mansion’s Carriage House.

121

AMANDA FERGUSON

2012. C113 Brown Papers, Papers, Brown C113 2012.

FamilyPhotos. Courtesy of California State Archives, Archives, State California of Courtesy Mansion cook Amanda Ferguson in the kitchen of the Governor’s Mansion with Governor Edmund G. “Pat” Brown, Mrs. Bernice Brown, and members of the Brown family, circa 1960.

122

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Letter, July 9, 1921, Hiram Johnson to Jack and Archibald Johnson. Hiram Johnson Papers, 1895-1945, BANC MSS C-B 581, Part IV, Box 9, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

Letter, February 8, 1919, Hiram Johnson to Jack Johnson. Hiram Johnson Papers, 1895- 1945, BANC MSS C-B 581, Part VI, Box 2, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

Letter, April 1, 1933, Hiram Johnson to Jack Johnson. Hiram Johnson Papers, 1895- 1945, BANC MSS C-B 581, Part VI, Box 6, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

Letter, August 12, 1921, Hiram Johnson to Jack Johnson. Hiram Johnson Papers, 1895- 1945, BANC MSS C-B 581, Part IV, Box 9, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

Letter, December 13, 1918, Hiram Johnson to Jack Johnson. Hiram Johnson Papers, 1895-1945, BANC MSS C-B 581, Part VI, Box 2, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

Letter, December 26, 1918, Hiram Johnson to Jack Johnson. Hiram Johnson Papers, 1895-1945, BANC MSS C-B 581, Part VI, Box 2, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

Letter, July 15, 1918, Hiram Johnson to Jack Johnson. Hiram Johnson Papers, 1895- 1945, BANC MSS C-B 581, Part IV, Box 9, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

Letter, June 10, 1922, Hiram Johnson to Archibald and Jack Johnson. Hiram Johnson Papers, 1895-1945, BANC MSS C-B 581, Part IV, Box 10, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

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