Collections & Archives
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…
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,…
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…
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…
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…
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.…
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…
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…
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…
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…