Monterey County Historical Society

Museum Founders Club

Monterey County Historical Society, Inc.
MUSEUM FOUNDERS CLUB

To better serve the public, the Society is in the process of building an agricultural museum and research center dedicated to the pioneer agricultural families of the Salinas Valley.  Our goal is to build a facility with about 12,400 square feet of space on the first floor, and an additional 6,000 square feet of open storage and offices on the second floor.

Our efforts center on finding the first 100 individuals, groups, or compa­nies who will each contribute $2,500 or more for membership in the Founders Club.  The names of the 100 Founders Club members are being placed on a gorgeous 6 by 3 foot plaque, which will be prominently displayed in the new museum.

You can help our museum effort in one of several ways:

Presently we are in Phase Three of our building plans with the expansion of our humidity/temperature controlled archival vault.  The cost of the needed expansion is $200,000. We are applying for grants, but additional monies will be required.

Once the vault is completed our next phase will be the construction of the Exhibit Room, Community Meeting Room, Library and Bookstore. At that time individuals or companies who sponsor the construction of a specific room the room will be permanently named after them.                                                                                  

The basic design of the museum building, and in fact the design of the entire facility, has been selected to optimize our ser­vices to the community.  First, the Boronda History Center already has four period museums; the Boronda Adobe, which dates to the 1840s and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places; the Lagunita School, a restored 1897 one-room schoolhouse; the Weeks House, an 1898 Victorian residence designed by noted architect William Weeks, undergoing restoration, and the 1930 Filipino Labor Camp Bunkhouse depicting the living conditions of Filipino farm laborers. Recently added is the Bataan Memorial Monument dedicated to the Company C 194th Tank Battalion of the Salinas and Pajaro Valleys who marched in the Bataan Death March.

Other additions will be a farm equipment repair and display building, a restroom and barbecue facility adjacent to the picnic area, and a replica Indian Village.  Together these buildings, along with old-style streetlights, mailboxes and picket fences, will form our Street of History.  The Street of History, Indian Village, and restored historic buildings along with our Bataan Monument will provide a unique educational opportunity, especially for students.

Finally, the largest of the new facili­ties will be the agricultural museum itself dedicated to the pioneer agricultural families who made agriculture what it is today. The museum will have about 2448 square feet of display area; a library/study room for the many researchers who are now using the re­sources in our archival vault; offices and support areas, as well as a community meet­ing room, which will also serve as a class­room.

We will bring living history to our community.  We will invite such diverse groups as Indian dancers and storytellers, cowboy poets, and veterans of the past wars to join us in presenting their unique histories. If we can provide these events, his­tory will not be dull, but will come vividly to life.

We invite you to share our dream.

If you wish to become a Founders Club Member please fill out the Membership form and send your check or money order to the Monterey County Historical Society, P.O. Box 3576, Salinas, CA 93912. If you have any questions please call the office at 831-757-8085 and ask for James Perry, Executive Director.

Founders Club Members

  1. Dr. and Mrs. George Banks
  2. James and Irene Jeffery
  3. In memory of Ruth M. Bailey
  4. Valley Guild
  5. In memory of J.K. Jefferson Family
  6. In memory of Harris E. (Jack) Patton
  7. Gertrude N. Waterman
  8. Janet and George Brazelton
  9. Virginia and Gaylord Nelson
  10. Rose Catti Del Conte
  11. Margaret and John Breschini
  12. Jeanne and John Pryor
  13. Iverson Family
  14. Joe and Bonnie Romovich
  15. Robert M. Bailey
  16. In memory of our parents Albert N. and Pearl Amaral Jensen
  17. Francis H. Cislini and Rosalie Cislini
  18. Frank and Edna Martin and Family
  19. In memory of Charles L. Pioda Family
  20. In memory of John Adam Eppler
  21. Trudy Haversat and Gary S. Breschini
  22. In memory of Steve C. Breschini Familyand Lawrence Martella Family
  23. Homer and Nancy Hayward
  24. In memory of Thos. H. Mill from Ellen and Family
  25. In memory of Lewis Nielsen
  26. Rodney and Marjorie Burden
  27. In memory of Wesley D. Evans
  28. In memory of Jessie Storm Hughes  by Joanne Church Taylor
  29. The Lauralie Irvine Foundation
  30. In memory of George N. Cominos
  31. The Lauralie Irvine Foundation
  32. In memory of Clare E. Reich from the Reich Family
  33. In memory of Lorraine and Frank L. Foster
  34. Monterey County Board of Supervisors
  35. In memory of Louise Molinari by the  Molinari Family
  36. In memory of Mayor Frank S. Clark
  37. Salinas Woman’s Club, Organized 1906
  38. Robert B. Johnston, in memory of Dr. Luella Hall
  39. Spreckels Sugar Company
  40. John J. and Dolores C. Smith & Sons
  41. Del Garlinger Family in Honor of H.G. Hansen Family
  42. Bank of Salinas
  43. In Memory of George Edwin Lacey
  44. In Memory of Margurite D. Hargens
  45. Bay Fire Sprinklers, Inc.
  46. In memory of Susan L. Bacon by Gary L. Bacon
  47. In Memory of John F. and Annie Hunneycutt Davies by Mary Davies Kelly
  48. Burton and Alice Anderson
  49. Norman & Diane Braga Family
  50. John & Julia MacPherson
  1. In recognition of J. Ross & Erma V. (Blomquist) Hallock Riley by James Ross Riley, III
  2. Taylor Farms California, Inc.
  3. In memory of Mr. C.C. Salmina and  Mrs. Edith Jacop Salmina by Mrs. Adeline Salmina Agostini
  4. Taylor Fresh Foods, Inc.
  5. Nicholas G. and Theodora N. Cominos
  6. Anthony G. and Marguerite A. Lafka
  7. T. Yuki and T. Bunn Families
  8. Blake Matheson
  9. Mary Trotter
  10. Ralph Myers
  11. Robert Baillie
  12. Nancy Ausonio
  13. Marie Cominos
  14. D’Arrigo Brothers Co., of California
  15. Nelle Lyons
  16. Patty McCoy
  17. Thom Taft and Family
  18. Ocean Mist Farms
  19. Chris Bunn & Family 
  20. Yuki & T. Bunn Families
  21. Sally Hughes Church Foundation
  22. The Monterey Peninsula Committee of the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America
  23. Harden Foundation
  24. Monterey Peninsula Foundation
  25. Descendants of Matt Williams
  26. Dawn Avery
  27. Tom & Gail Spencer
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  50. Adelle O’Grady