Tonight's picture was taken in December of 2006. We took Mattie to the grounds of the US Capitol and walked around to look at all the holiday decorations. We paused in front of this tree for a photo. Not a cloud was in the sky and it was a crystal clear day. Like every parent, we thought we would have many more holidays together. We weren't as fortunate however which is why I am glad we tried to make the most of our time together. We were active with Mattie and while being active, I made a point to try to snap photos of these moments. Thinking that Mattie would want to see them in the future, never realizing that it would be ME who would actually need them!
Quote of the day: Being vulnerable doesn't have to be threatening. Just have the courage to be sincere, open and honest. This opens the door to deeper communication all around. It creates self-empowerment and the kind of connections with others we all want in life. Speaking from the heart frees us from the secrets that burden us. These secrets are what make us sick or fearful. Speaking truth helps you get clarity on your real heart directives. ~ Sara Paddison
When you enter the Museum, you are struck by wall sized murals, created by the Walt Disney Studios. These murals depict the various time periods in California's illustrious development.
The Autry National Center of the American West was co-founded by legendary recording and movie star Gene Autry and his wife Jackie, along with country singer and actor Monte Hale and his wife Joanne. The opening of the Autry in 1988 realized Gene Autry’s dream to build a museum to exhibit and interpret the heritage of the West and show how it has influenced the United States and the world. Autry’s career spanned some sixty years in the entertainment industry, and he was also a broadcast executive and Major League Baseball owner. But Autry’s idea of the West was more than just about entertainment. He saw it as a melting pot of American history where many cultures met, competed, and influenced each other, helping to shape the country’s vision of itself then and now.
This maybe one of the most remarkable pieces on display. It is hard to choose a favorite, but this would be mine. This stagecoach was manufactured by Abbott and Downing Company with ironwork by James G. Chesley, in the 1850s. This stagecoach is probably the only known surviving coach from the California Stage Company, the Far West’s earliest major stage line. Founded in 1854, the California Stage Company quickly took over the majority of routes within California, eventually extending northward to Portland and eastward to Nevada’s Comstock lode. It was operated by veteran stage men James Birch and Frank Stevens. Rounded body suspended above undercarriage, or gears, by leather throughbraces. Two leather straps between body and gears check lateral movement. Basically there were NO springs and the movement was more like the gentle movement of a cradle. The gears and wheels were intended for hard service over long distances. Believe it or not there were three rows of seats inside, capable of holding up to nine people with additional seats mounted upon the roof extending passenger capacity to eighteen. This stagecoach is probably the oldest surviving Concord coach to have seen service in the West.
We took a two and a half hour guided tour today. The docent was incredible. A former chemistry teacher, who taught himself California history. He clearly loves his job and it showed as he brought each of the museum rooms to life for us. The Community Gallery interpreted the West through the lens
of the racial, ethnic, and religious communities important to Western
development between 1885 and 1895. Using 1890 census data, the gallery compared
and contrasted family and daily life, education, religious beliefs, politics,
and work among eight different communities. The gallery also included an area
illustrating the saloon as the social center of many Western communities.
Highlights of the Community Gallery included a nineteenth-century fire engine,
an Osage wedding dress, a child’s vaquero outfit, a Chinese immigration
certificate, and an ornate mail-order bar. Within the Community Gallery was a
section on Law and Order in the nineteenth-century West. Highlights here
include Billy the Kid's rifle and items associated with lawman Pat Garrett.
This bar counter and tobacco cabinet were carved mahogany, glass and brass fittings, made by Brunswick Balke-Collender Co., in the Los Angeles style. Formerly installed in the Stockman Bar in Wibaux, Montana, late 1800s. It is an original!!! Notice all the glass bottles on display. As was explained to us, mixologists were very popular in the 1800s. These bartenders could create just about any drink combination possible. Seems to me not much has changed in several centuries.
Right next to the bar was this Edison Multiphone. Or perhaps we would refer to it as a juke box today. These coin operated amusement devices were popular in saloons at the turn of the century. It offered a choice of 24 cylinder recordings simply by turning a crank. By having patrons pay for their entertainment, saloon keepers saved money on having to hire musicians.
This is a painting of a Vaquero, a Spanish cowboy. Looks a bit different from how we imagine a cowboy to be, no?!!! I learned today that horses and cattle came from Spain (they are not native at all to North America) and Spanish speaking people brought herding traditions and horsemanship to what would become the home of the American cowboy. Americans entering California and Texas were intrigued with the techniques and style of the Vaqueros and from there the birth of the American cowboy evolved.
The Cowboy Gallery detailed the evolution of the cowboy from
the open-range era on the Texas grasslands through the modern ranching period
of the late twentieth century. As the most iconic image of the American West,
the cowboy represents the fusion of Anglo and Spanish colonial traditions
within the region, and the gallery presents different traditions ranging from
the Southwestern vaquero to the northern cowboy. In addition, the gallery
contrasts the different forums of "cowboying," including the sport of
rodeo and the working ranch.
After our tour, we went to see the special exhibit entitled, Jews in the Los Angeles Mosaic. This special collection explored how a growing Jewish community settled, prospered,
and helped shape the economy, politics, and culture of a city—and how the
diversity and dynamism of Los Angeles have transformed the local Jewish
community for the past 160 years.
This groundbreaking exhibition protrays the story of neighborhoods
like Boyle Heights and Fairfax, people like Billy Wilder, Max Factor, and Frank
Gehry, and lynchpin industries like the movies and suburban land development.
I learned that Jewish people helped change the region by recruiting the Brooklyn Dodgers,
inventing the Barbie doll, and joining other Angelenos in electing the city’s
first African American mayor. Featured were more than 150 stories, documents, objects, and
images of family, community, and society.
I hope you enjoyed my tour through the Gene Autry Museum. It is definitely worth visiting and now that I saw it, I think Mattie would have appreciated aspects of this Museum. Bordering this Museum is the famous Travel Town Museum (http://www.traveltown.org/). This is a spot we took Mattie to every time he visited Los Angeles. It is an outdoor museum with trains on display, trains with a history to tell. Kids gravitate to this museum because you can board every train and run around. Funny how the sights of a place you used to visit brings back all sorts of memories. I did not even go into Travel Town today, I simply passed it. Most parents have memories of their children from when they were little, and parents may look back at these memories and reflect on the precious time that has gone by. For parents who lost a child to cancer, these memories are not the same for us. Our children are no longer alive and therefore we can't take comfort in knowing and seeing that our children are growing and evolving. For me Mattie will always be 7 years old, and in so many ways memories are needed and yet bittersweet all at the same time.
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