Archaeologist Betty Rivers dies at the age of 88

Archaeologist Betty Rivers at Colonel Allensworth SHP in 2003

Betty Rivers, archaeologist for the California Department of Parks and Recreation, died on May 9^th.  Mrs. Rivers directed the Department of Parks’ 1988 Allensworth historical research project.

According to her obituary in the Sacramento Bee, in 1949 she studied at the Sorbonne in Paris, where she socialized with writers like James Baldwin and Richard Wright. Before returning to the United States in 1954, she married her first husband, an African American painter.

Not only did Mrs. Rivers direct archaeological projects at Allensworth, she interviewed residents and past residents, thus preserving their stories and the Allensworth story for future generations. As late as 2007, Mrs. Rivers was still conducting historical research on Allensworth and the Allensworth Hotel.

Her article Archaeology with Everyone's Blessing: Testing the First Baptist Church Site at Colonel Allensworth SHP is on the Department of Parks and Recreation website.

General Jackson Announces His Retirement

Major General Anthony Jackson, director of the California Department of Parks and Recreation, announced that he will retire on June 30, 2014.

General Jackson was appointed to the position of director in November 2012, when Ruth Coleman resigned after it was discovered that the department had $54 million hidden away in two special funds. 

In the Department of Parks news release General Jackson said "I want to thank Gov. Brown and the dedicated group of professionals at State Parks for the opportunity to return to public service and help earn back the public's trust in one of California's most valuable assets, it has been a challenging, but ultimately fulfilling tenure at California State Parks." 

Major General Anthony Jackson we thank you for your service to the United States, the state of California and the Department of Parks and Recreation.

The Public Library

“The Public Library presents a wide selection of Dawson's photographs— from the majestic reading room at the New York Public Library to Allensworth, California's one-room Tulare County Free Library built by former slaves.”

The above quote is from the Amazon description of Robert Dawson’s new book The Public Library: A Photographic Essay. The library at Allensworth is one of the many libraries Dawson photographed over the last eighteen years. The little wooden one-room building began life as the town’s first schoolhouse. Thanks to the Allensworth family, after the town’s new two-room schoolhouse opened in 1913, the building was reincarnated as the Mary Dickerson Memorial Library. Named in honor of Ms. Allensworth’s mother, it became the first branch of the Tulare County Free Library.

In the book’s introduction Dawson writes about the influence books and libraries had on Oprah Winfrey, Malcolm X, and others.

"For me, those dreams started when I heard the stories of my rich heritage. When I read about Sojourner Truth and Harriet Tubman and Mary McLeod Bethune and Frederick Douglass, I knew that there was possibility for me." (Oprah Winfrey)

"My alma mater was books, a good library. I could spend the rest of my life reading, just satisfying my curiosity." (Malcolm X)

Over the years the mission of libraries has changed from simply a place to borrow books or read a newspaper, to a place for free internet access, job-hunting assistance, or shelter from adverse weather. In her essay Ms. Dorothy Lazard of the Oakland Public Library talks about the role of today's librarians:

"We know we are hopelessly unqualified to treat what ails many of the people who pass through our doors… There is deterioration all around us, yet we carry on, providing service to the underserved, a patient ear to the unheard. We are acting as the last outposts of community space."

There is an excerpt of The Public Library on NPR, which covers how Dawson began the project and the extended road trips he took with his son Walker.

Dawson feels that “In a culture that is increasingly privatized, libraries are among the last free spaces we have left. Public libraries are worth fighting for, and this book is my way of fighting.”

Mrs. Sarah Hindsman became custodian of the Allensworth library’s collection in 1926.  The books were moved from the library in 1931 and shelved in the northeast corner of the Hindsman store, until the library branch closed in 1943.