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Description
Key Words: Claremont history, "Claremont: A Pictorial History," Racial discrimination in Claremont, League of Women Voters, Planning Commission, Claremont Historic Resources Center [Part 1] Wright moved to Claremont when her husband accepted a position at Claremont Graduate University. She immediately became involved with the League of Women Voters. She was also active leader of the Planning Commission and the Claremont Historic Resources Center, and in the late 1980s she became the mayor of Claremont. Wright describes the history books that had been written about Claremont before she published "Claremont: A Pictorial History." She hopes that in the future, someone will be able to analyze the social history of Claremont. She describes the process of writing the book in a city-planning style and discusses the book’s strengths and weaknesses. When Wright originally took her manuscript to Castle Press, it was twice the size of the final draft. She left out information about the founding of Pomona College, the railroad, the police department, and the volunteer fire department. There were other things that she left out because “it’s either too soon after people have been in office or have done things, or we don’t know the full significance of things, and some people are still alive.” Wright mentions that there was resentment from some people in the community for including Mexican-Americans in her history of Claremont. “There were some people who felt I shouldn’t have put anything in about the Barrios, and about Mexican-American people. I felt if I was writing about the growth and development of the town I had to include the Barrios because those were part of the town; they became part of the community.” She describes the “kind of New England ‘uppityness’ . . . that existed in this town for quite a few years.” [Part 2] Wright explains that some of Claremont’s earliest houses – like the Penfield and the Sumner houses – were moved from one location to another. She describes the process of collecting photographs, advertisements, and maps for her book. She mentions some of the records that were left out of her book, like the Mexican children who would leave school to pick fruit in the citrus groves. She adds that the money that was raised to publish the book came mainly through donations. She was very happy with the relationship that was strengthened between the Claremont Historic Resources Center and Claremont Heritage during the process of writing and publishing the book. She also thanks other organizations who helped her collect information as she researched Claremont’s history. [Part 3] Wright describes her previous writing experience. She came to Claremont in 1972 and became involved in the League of Women Voters and the Parent Faculty Association at Sycamore Elementary School. She explains how she got started with the Claremont Historic Resources Center. She explains that she wrote "Claremont: A Pictorial History" as a history of land use for two reasons. First, she thought that it was the best way to get a grant for the book; second, she feels like she is most knowledgeable about that part of Claremont’s history because of her involvement on the Planning Commission and the League of Women Voters. [Part 4] She describes working with Castle Press before the book was published and the process of narrowing down what to include in the book. She describes how Claremont has changed since it was founded. She included the history of the Barrios because they were part of the history of the development of Claremont; however, she received criticism from some of Claremont’s older residents who felt that she was “dredging up things that needed to be forgotten” about the Mexican-Americans living in Claremont. [Part 5] Wright thanks the people in the Claremont community who helped her research and write "Claremont: A Pictorial History." She describes how she plans on being involved with the Claremont community in the next few years.
Books City planning Communities Local history Mayors Municipal government Women in politics
Time Period
1887/1981
Place
Claremont (Calif.)
Provenance
Claremont Heritage California Revealed is supported by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, administered in California by the State Librarian.
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