Collections & Archives

Los Olivos postcard

Travels with Eva Fenyes: An Auto Trip to Los Olivos, 1917

By Michelle Turner | November 1, 2017

Eva Fenyes often kept a journal when she traveled, and several of her small notebooks have survived the years. All are available in the Reading Room & Archives at Pasadena…

batchelder tile factory sketch

Ernest Batchelder: Educator, Designer and Tilemaker: Part II

By Michelle Turner | October 25, 2017

This essay is adapted from the text in the exhibit Batchelder: Tilemaker, which was on view at Pasadena Museum of History from September 2016 through March 2017. Ernest Batchelder: Educator,…

Eva Fenyes on a burro

Fall 2017 Edition of the Collections Quarterly

By Michelle Turner | October 18, 2017

  Archives Feature – The Benshoff Collection Our Archives houses the marvelous Benshoff Family Collection, which contains architectural drawings, personal papers, and photographs. William Alton Benshoff (1869-1959) was an architect…

1886 Pasadena photo

Country Living in Pasadena

By Michelle Turner | October 11, 2017

When Pasadena was incorporated as a city in June, 1886 it was experiencing the beginning of a real estate boom that would transform it from its rustic beginning as an…

Pasadena Lager

This Round’s on the Collections Manager

By Michelle Turner | October 4, 2017

A six-pack has been sitting on the corner of my desk for a week and a half. (And no, I wasn’t fired. Granted, I wasn’t promoted either, but that’s beside the point.) The…

Sketch by tilemaker Ernest Batchelder

Ernest Batchelder: Educator, Designer and Tilemaker: Part I

By Michelle Turner | September 27, 2017

  This essay is adapted from the text in the exhibit Batchelder: Tilemaker, which was on view at Pasadena Museum of History from September 2016 through March 2017. Ernest A.…

photograph of Chi lo sa

Chi lo sa’s Basket: Trunk, Prison, Hiding-place, & More

By Michelle Turner | September 7, 2017

Among the many artifacts being inventoried this summer in the basement of Fenyes Mansion is a small basket that, considering its age, is in surprisingly good condition. Its tightly woven…

Sanborn map of Woodbury Estate

Back Up the Train!

By Michelle Turner | August 30, 2017

A Correction and Additions to “All Aboard! Riding the Rails with Colonel G.G. Green.” Where Did Philip Armour Live? Pasadena or Altadena? Soon after my blog was posted about Colonel…

Thaddeus Lowe home

The Startling Personal Finances of Professor T.S.C. Lowe

By Michelle Turner | August 23, 2017

A bold entrepreneur and scientist, Thaddeus S.C. Lowe (1832-1913) made fortunes and lost them. The story of Professor Lowe’s fortunes is a cautionary tale. He was a scientist with little formal…

McLellan and microscope with micromotor

World’s Smallest Motor: The McLellan Micromotor

By Michelle Turner | August 15, 2017

In 1959, Dr. Richard Feynman, the famous Caltech physicist, issued a challenge that effectively ushered in the field of nanotechnology. He offered a $1,000 prize to anyone who could make…

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