By Raymond R. Lang Editor’s Note: This essay appeared in the 1923 (Vol. II, no. II) issue of Trails, a yearbook published annually by the California Alpine Club based in San Francisco. Its author, Raymond R. Lang, delivers practical advice for the modern out-of-doors experience, which is at times both…

By Robert L. Harrison Late night ferry service between Marin County and San Francisco has been a long-running concern for county residents. Before the Golden Gate Bridge connected the two communities, the need for ferry service was a critical link for everything from daily commerce and commuting to emergency medical…

By Carol Acquaviva Native American stereotypes have long been used to market commercial products. The Land O’Lakes maiden is one of the most well-known examples. Popular culture has a knack for distorting reality, and Native Americans are often depicted as primitive people rather than what they really are: members of…

By Robert L. Harrison Nationally, there has been a slow demise of print newspapers. This is in vivid contrast to the time when most read the daily newspaper as their primary source of news. In the late 19th century the Bay Area was…

By Carol Acquaviva The Anne T. Kent California Room invites to you to a virtual screening of an exciting new documentary titled Epic Bill. This film profiles Bill Bradley whose local video rental business — Bradley Video — you may remember. Bill, a former resident of Corte Madera who trained…

By Lissa McKee The Anne T. Kent California Room has acquired a collection of California Division of Highways (now CalTrans) records of right-of-way surveys for proposed projects in Marin County in the 1950s and 1960s. These files include photographs of the areas adjacent to the Highway 101 corridor before it…

By Carol Acquaviva In case you missed it, the Fairfax Library, in partnership with the Anne T. Kent California Room, recently hosted an illustrated presentation by California Room Map Archivist Dewey Livingston, titled “Fairfax History: Patterns on the Land.” The June 9th talk which highlighted the evolution of roads, neighborhood…

By Brian K. Crawford William Brown was born in Zanesville, Ohio, in 1825. Around 1847 he moved to Missouri and lived there for five years, during which he met and married 15-year-old Sarah Cole. In 1853, three days after their marriage, they took a wagon train to California and settled…

By Robert L. Harrison Women have suffered unequal treatment from time immemorial. Under masculine dominated law they were, and in too many societies are still controlled by their husband or male relatives. In America it took 145 years for women to win the right to vote and after almost 100…