The Marin History Museum App Receives Praise

We are thrilled that the Marin History Museum app is receiving such good reviews! Check out the recent guest op-ed piece, "Marin History Museum is Full of Hidden Treasures," by Carleton Prince for the Marin Independent Journal, and a piece by Christopher Laddish in the Marin Scope, "A Little Known History."

Want to see our informative app in action? Take a look at the review it received from the Daily App Show on YouTube. They will take you through several screens of the app's features, showing you how to best utilize the app for maximum enjoyment.


We invite you to experience the Marin History Museum app for yourself, by downloading it to your Apple or Android device.

Marin History Museum Featured in the Bohemian

The Marin History Museum, and program manager Shelly Jackson, were featured in a fantastic piece in the Bohemian. Check it out!

You're Invited to MHM's Annual Holiday Party!

Join us at the Marin History Museum
for a toast of good cheer 
to the holiday season
and the coming New Year! 

The Gate House will be all aglow

and Santa is rumored to attend with toys in tow!
There will be holiday treats, wine, cider, and more
so many festive activities in store!

Friday December 7th 6pm-9pm
at the historic Boyd Gate House
1125 B. St. San Rafael, 94901

Live music, raffle prizes, carolers, holiday treats and tasty libations!

Justice and Judgement

Hello again!

                As I hope you have all heard, the Marin History Museum is currently hosting a new exhibit entitled “Justice and Judgment” which premiered on October 29 and will remain open to the public until the spring of 2013. The exhibit works to uncover the story of Marin’s law enforcement and emergency services and sheds light on the history of the court of law in the county. Within this narrative, there are three interrelated yet unique subjects of historical study. In “The ‘Q:’ San Quentin State Prison,” the fascinating, if not grisly, history of the county’s landmark prison is divulged in a celebration of the institution’s 160^th anniversary. On hand are a variety of artifacts from the San Quentin Prison Museum in honor of the occasion. “Behind the Badge: Marin’s First Responders” focuses on the development and role of Marin’s agencies of law enforcement and emergency services in the county’s rich history. To finish off the exhibit, “Marin County Courthouses: Laying Down the Law!!!” highlights the history of the court of law in Marin.

                As a member of the Marin History Museum community that was intimately involved in the creation of the novel “Justice and Judgment” exhibit, I would like to speak to my own experiences within the creation process. This past summer, I served as an intern in the curating department under curator Holly Gallagher. As a history major who is interested in pursuing a graduate degree in public history to prepare for a career in curating, my work with the Marin History Museum provided me with critical opportunities to engage in the curatorial process. My work focused on the “Behind the Badge: Marin’s First Responders” section of the exhibit.  I helped Holly out with any and all research necessary to uncover the history of the diverse law enforcement and emergency service agencies in Marin County, participated both alongside Holly and on my own in meetings with many of these agencies to gather information and artifacts, and kept track of the information and artifacts gathered throughout the summer. At the end of the summer, it was my job to type up all of the information that I had gathered throughout the summer in an organized and coherent manner. My work with MHM was very much a learning experience for me in the best way possible. Not only did I genuinely enjoy my work and all of the members of the Marin History Museum community that I met, but I was given the opportunity to apply my research and writing skills that I had learned in the classroom to a practical worldly situation. I learned how to navigate the stacks of boxes full of artifacts in the museum’s collection and how to properly handle certain types of historical artifacts, such as old hats, in addition to honing my research skills. At times, my work brought me into contact with other parts of the exhibit, such as when I accompanied Holly and some MHM volunteers to the San Quentin Prison Museum (located on the grounds of San Quentin itself) to inspect and transport artifacts for “The ‘Q:’ San Quentin State Prison” exhibition. Every step of the way, I gained a new appreciation for all of the behind-the-scenes work of putting an exhibit together, from the birth of an idea for a fascinating historical study to its fruition in the form of a finished exhibition.  My work with MHM provided me with a critical foothold into the world of public history and museum studies outside of the classroom, and for that I am truly grateful.

                That being said, all I can hope for is that you enjoy the MHM exhibition “Justice and Judgment.” So come on out to the Boyd Gatehouse and take a look for yourself. Enjoy!   

This post is created by Marissa, intern at MHM.  

Marin IJ

On a very special October 18th in 1948, The Marin County Press merged with the San Rafael Daily Independent to form what is now the Marin Independent journal. Ever since, the IJ has been writing, printing and delivering papers to all over Marin.
The writers of the IJ have been finding stories for decades and they haven't failed yet. The IJ has writers located all over the county who report to HQ in Novato for processing. Once the stories are written they are all compiled by a few special people, to form newspapers that are compact, yet beautiful. From there the papers are printed using fancy printers based on those of old.
The older printers worked like this. First the paper, typed on type writers, with pictures made with a method that uses technology similar to taking a picture of the picture to be printed, are made in to a long tape concealing all of the paper on a single strip. That strip is fead to a machine that reads it and imprints it into metal sheets. Those metal sheets are used as molds for silicon copies. The silicon copies are playable and thus, are used to bend the shape of the massive wheel that prints, so the silicon is bent and then hardened and used for a metal mold. The now curved metal mold is used to print all the paper by spinning along side another one with paper on ti and a pool of ink below. Once the paper is printed, it is cut packaged and sent for delivery.
The IJ has had over 800 paper boys for delivering papers every day. The paper boys were independent business men who bought papers in bulk from the IJ and then sold the in subscription to citizens. Being a paper boy was at that time considered to be the best business training a young man could get. Also being a paper boy was highly respected and becoming one was not as easy as one might think.
Today the IJ servers over 75,000 customers at a price of 75 cents daily and $1.25 on sunday. If you do not already receive the IJ I highly suggest it. As a customer of the IJ I can ensure you that the quality is high, the content is interesting and up to date, and the business is local, which is always a good thing. If you wish to subscribe to the IJ you can go to there website: www.marinij.com.
I hope you enjoy reading.reading

Matthew Jackett is a junior at Marin Academy and is interested in history and a talented writer and researcher. As a 2012 summer intern for the Marin History Museum, Matthew wrote a series of blog posts on the mural installed on San Rafael-based Youth in Arts organization's refurbished facade at 917 C Street. The mural was painted by Davidson Middle School students and illustrates the history of Marin in its artwork. This is the second post in that series. Thank you, Matthew for all your hard work! And, be sure to check out the mural in person at Youth in Arts! 

The next section of the mural includes the Spanish Mission, the cattle and dairy farming, and the changes in regime from Spain to Mexico to United States. In the mural, the Mission San Rafael Arcángel is depicted encroaching on the section of the mural dedicated to the Miwoks, representing the way that the Spanish missionaries encroached on the Native American people. It was a significant turning point in the history of Marin, with the first of many foreign presences taking power. The Mission San Rafael was constructed in 1817 as an extension of the Mission San Francisco. It functioned as a sanitarium for sick Native Americans due to the better weather outside of San Francisco. It developed from a sub-mission of San Francisco into an independent mission in 1822 as the ranch and farm built around the mission began developing. The Native American people living in the area maintained all of the orchards, herds of livestock, and buildings. An estimated 1,500 to 2,000 Native Americans lived in Marin at the time, although the number sharply decreased to as few as 250, as a result of the colonial presence.

In 1834, San Rafael became the first mission to secularize, and in 1846 it was taken by General John C. Fremont as a headquarters during the Bear Flag Revolt. The mission then deteriorated until it was restored and reconstructed in 1949.

Next to the mission in the mural is a herd of cattle. The California Gold Rush spurred the start of the dairy farming industry of Marin. Men who came seeking gold and riches were often disappointed with a lack of success and the rough life in the dangerous camps, and upon returning to San Francisco, some would set up farms and ranches up north in Marin. The lush grass that grew in the hills of Marin was some of the best in California, and the new farmers took advantage of that to feed cows meant to produce high quality butter and cheese. They were then able to use the population boom of 49ers to create a market in which they could sell their products.

The cattle in the mural are surrounded by a frame that is decorated with cattle brands that local farmers used in the 1840s through the 1860s. Mentor Artist Brooke Toczylowski saw the brands in a book at the Marin History Museum and showed them to the Davidson student artists, who later decided to include them in the mural. The brands were unique for each farmer, put on the cattle to identify ownership. The book of branding symbols at the Museum starts in Spanish and ended in English. Similarly, in the mural, the brands gradually change from ones belonging to Spanish farmers during the time of the Mission to American farmers after the Gold Rush. This represents the change in regime in California over those years.

The flags at the end of this section of the mural are the flags of Spain, then Mexico, and then the Bear Flag of 1846, developed by California Anglo-Americans wanting  independence from Mexico. The Bear Flag has been adapted into the California State flag of today.

This section of the mural shows the transition from the Native American Miwok way of life, through the Mission San Rafael and Spain, into the Mexican period and the beginning of Marin being a part of the United States. This was followed by the growth in population and industry that came with the Gold Rush, making the Bay Area what it is today.

The San Rafael history mural at Youth in Arts was created with support from the County of Marin, the Fenwick Foundation, the MacPhail Family and the Marin Community Foundation. Youth in Arts will host a public reception and celebration of the mural this Friday, September 14, from 5-8 p.m. The event will include a dedication ceremony at 6 p.m. and the opening of a new exhibit on the creation of the mural by Davidson students. 

An artists' rendering of the original San Rafael Mission

(From the MHM archives) 

The portion of the mural painted by Daivdson students

Marin cows! The Dairy industry still remains an integral part of the Marin economy.

Matthew Jackett is a junior at Marin Academy and interned at Marin History Museum this summer. During his internship Matthew wrote this series of blog posts on the mural installed on Youth in Arts refurbished facade at 917 C Street. We were happy to collaborate with YIA to celebrate this new mural, which illustrates Marin history. 

Join Youth in Arts at a public reception and exhibit opening focused on the mural on Friday, September 14, from 5-8 p.m. And, Thanks, Matthew for your research and writing! 

Youth in Arts’ newest project allowing students to explore the history of Marin in an artistic medium is a mural placed on the outside of their building. The mural was created by students at Davidson Middle School with the help of Brooke Toczylowski, an artist who works with Youth in Arts.

The mural works inward from two ends chronologically, with the center panels representing the present and future of San Rafael. The beginning of the history of Marin and San Rafael is the Native American Miwoks, and that is what the first panel of the mural depicts.

The man in the mural is a Miwok elder, Gene Buvelot, who was interviewed by the students. He has been a member of the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, otherwise known as the Federated Coast Miwok, for 12 years. He gave the students information for their research project and helped them learn more about the Miwok culture, but also to recognize that Miwoks and Native Americans are still very much alive and a part of today’s world. Similarly, his presence in the mural is meant to depict Miwoks not as something in a history book, but something very much alive, with a thriving culture that lives on. It places Miwoks in the present as well as the past.

The Coast Miwok people who inhabited Marin thrived off of the abundance of the land and its natural resources for over 3000 years. The bountiful earth provided many plants such as acorns and hazelnuts to eat, as well as birds and small animals that could be captured with bows and arrows or slings and traps.

In the foreground of the panel is a sáka, or traditional tule canoe. It was the Miwok people’s main means of transportation across water. The canoes were dry and seaworthy and could seat as many as three people. They were made from tule reeds, making them water resistant. Rowers used double-bladed paddles to propel the boat forward. It was on boats such as these that the Miwoks went to greet Sir Francis Drake when he first arrived in the Bay Area.

Behind the canoe and the Miwok elder are grass houses woven from tule reeds, called kótcha. It was in structures such as these that the Miwok people lived. Some were large enough to fit multiple families. In the main villages, of which there are over 600 identified locations, there were also large roundhouses for dancing and ceremonies.

Across the top of the mural stretches the Mount Tamalpais ridgeline that is so familiar to Marin residents. The shape of the ridgeline has been said to look like the silhouette of a sleeping woman. In the mural, that outline is highlighted by the depiction of an actual sleeping woman, painted in the likeness of one of the students at Davidson Middle School who worked on the mural. Her body fades away to be a part of the mountain.

Visit the Youth in Arts Blog HERE

A portion of the mural painted by Davidson Middle School students