Please contact the contributing institution for more information regarding the copyright status of this object.
Description
Ruth White Bowie was one of Mill Valley's grande dames in the true sense, though she would have deplored the use of the term. Ruth was born in San Francisco, and she and her twin sister were educated at Miss West's private school in the city, then at the Waltham School for Girls near Boston and Briarcliff Manor on the Hudson. In 1910, Ruth married Ralston L. White, a member of one of Mill Valley's most influential families. In this oral history, Ruth recounts her life with Ralston at the "Garden of Allah," one of the show places of the Bay Area. The Whites took in stride the 1929 market crash, which not only wiped them out financially but left them deeply in debt. They leased their Mill Valley home for $250 a month, half of which went to their gardener, Alphonse Haapa, who remained at the Garden of Allah. They then went abroad for seven years, living in inexpensive pensions and using a part of their meager income for travel - on foot or bicycle. Ralston passed away in 1943, and in 1951, in honor of her husband, Ruth offered the Garden of Allah in trust to the California Academy of Sciences. In 1957, she donated the property, which would be renamed the Ralston White Retreat, to the Northern California Conference of Congregational Churches. For many years the Retreat has hosted group retreats and special events. In 1954, Ruth had travelled to Rio de Janeiro with her brother and sister-in-law, where she met Dr. Robert Bowie. The two were married the next year. Ruth and Robert would go on to travel the world together and split their time between Mill Valley and Colorado. Editor's Note: The transcript and recording for this oral history differ significantly.
Identifier
855E642D-6151-4F8A-B58E-882790021855 1969.001.001
Subject
1929 Fire Boericke, William, Bowie, Rob, Corte Madera Creek Cushing, Sidney Dowd, Irvine Eastland, Joseph Eastwood, Alice Estate houses Estates Fires Garden of Allah Gardner, Jacob Haapa, Alfonso Homestead Valley Kenilworth Hotel Land Auction Mount Tamalpais and Muir Woods Railway MV history - Early Mill Valley to 1915 MV history - Interwar years MV history - WWI and WWII Norris, Kathleen North Pacific Coast Railroad O'Shaughnessy, Michael M Oral history - Natural disasters Polk, Willis Railroads Railways Symmes, Jean Symmes, Laurence Tamalpais Land and Water Company Throckmorton Ranch Travel White, Lovell White, Ralston World War I World War II
If you're wondering about permissions and what you can do with this item, a good starting point is the "rights information" on this page. See our terms of use for more tips.
Share your story
Has Calisphere helped you advance your research, complete a project, or find something meaningful? We'd love to hear about it; please send us a message.
