The Monrovia Historical Museum wishes to acknowledge and thank the Monrovia Fire Department for their recent work to get the Fire Department exhibit completed and ready for viewing. We, at the museum, certainly understand and appreciate the constraints in their grueling schedule! And so it goes without saying that all their hard work and efforts deserve much accolade! A big shout-out to Fire Chief Jeremy Sanchez for “lighting the fire” on this endeavor (pictured above with Vicky Hansen, MHM board member and exhibit chair), as well as  Captain Brannigan Scott for leading his team to this exhibit's completion! Bravo, gentlemen!

Capt. Scott, Brian Cofield, Frank Droege, Joseph Jansen, Nick LaCroix, Rudy Libra, Josh Lin, as well as Joseph Nevarez and Randy Towns (pictured with Capt. Scott) worked diligently and with much attention to detail. Together, they have made it possible for the museum, once again, to proudly showcase this section in our West Wing. And a very special and BIG Thank You goes to Tom Ruzika of Ruzika Lighting for his ongoing and immeasurable contribution to enhance and illuminate all our exhibits! 

In addition to a fireman's pole, vintage artifacts and photos, also included in the exhibit is a documentary video chronicling the history of the Monrovia Fire Department with interesting timeline of events that would make every Monrovian proud and thankful to be part of this city. 

Thank you, Monrovia Fire Department, for completing this exhibit, but most of all, for your integrity, selfless service and commitment to make Monrovia a better and safer place for its citizens!

We, at the Monrovia Historical Museum, are continually fortunate to have such wonderful benefactors. One of those is Norm Haley of Norm Haley Real Estate. Norm generously donated his company's services for our upcoming exhibit, “Monrovia History Through Architecture.”  He commissioned Jose Contreras, his dedicated and talented stonemason, to do the job and we are so grateful! Thank you, Norm and Jose, for taking time out of your busy schedules to complete the stonework portion of this exhibit!

Using almost 2,000 pounds of rubble granite, Jose skillfully and with exceptional precision, crafted the porch stonework that complements Mark Houston's design for this Craftsman façade. The full-view photo below showcases the beauty of the granite stone pillars with the finished battered wood columns. We commend Jose's masterful craftsmanship! 
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While we still await the finishing touches to this construction project, we are thrilled with the progress!  As we look ahead to the completion of this exhibit, currently projected for the Fall, it bears repeating how truly appreciative we are of all the companies and individuals, like Norm Haley, who contribute valuable time and services to make this exhibit a reality--a truly special and memorable exhibit, not just for the Monrovia Historical Museum but for the entire community! 

More to come! Stay tuned! 

​Yes, they braved the summer heat! On July 11, the City's recreation coordinator for the youth program, Hailey Villalobos, led a group of 37 high school students to the Monrovia Historical Museum (MHM) for a private, educational tour. The group comprised those students who were accepted to the Youth Employment Services (YES) Summer Internship program, sponsored by the City of Monrovia's Community Services’ Recreation Department. 

"It was an honor to share the history of our city with this wonderful group of young people," said Oliver Beckwith, museum board member and lead docent that day. Along with Oliver, the other board members who helped guide the students that day were Mark Harvis and Ili Lobaco, as well as Nennette Ferris and our support team of volunteers, Clara Fouser, Matthew Chen, Andrew Miller and Katie Dinh, who showed up to help.

"The tours went well--the interns seemed to particularly enjoy the high school exhibit, perusing past yearbooks and trying on the police uniforms in our Police Department exhibit, as well as tinkering with our collection of vintage telephones. It was really fun having them in the museum," commented Mark Harvis, Museum Board Vice President. At the end of the tour, the students were joined by last year’s YES Interns, Gisselle Nunez, Meredith Dickinson, Kaila Vachani and Jiahao Li. They spoke to the group about their successful experiences with the program. 

The future is bright for MHM and our capacity to provide this valuable service to our community. And YES, our best wishes go to the YES Summer Internship Program, for its success and to the City of Monrovia, for continuing to offer this annual opportunity to our youth!

A FORGOTTEN POET:  ANNA KENNARD
by Gail Kennard

Anna Kennard was my paternal aunt, my father, architect Robert Kennard’s, oldest sister. Until recently, none of us in the family knew her as a poet.  Then, an uncovered poem titled “Compensation” led us to recognize her in a new light and ponder what might have been.  

For more than a decade, I have been researching and writing a book about my father’s life and work.  The Kennard family had moved to Monrovia in the early 1920s, and all four of the Kennard children graduated from Monrovia Arcadia Duarte High School.  The family lived in a two-story house on East Walnut Avenue, a few blocks from where the Monrovia Historical Museum* is located today.  

I first read the poem in a small faded blue three-ring notebook my father had kept with him while he was in the US military during World War II.  There are about 60 pages of entries, and the oldest one is this poem by his sister, Anna. He carefully typed each line of the poem, attributed it to her, and dated the entry September 1941.  

Clearly, the poem was very meaningful to him.  But I did not know if or when it had ever been published.  I was not even certain that Anna had written it. Neither of her two children remember her writing poetry.   I reached out to the Monrovia school district, the public library, and even the Library of Congress.  Then I visited the Monrovia Historical Museum, and I was assisted by volunteer, Nennette Ferris, to search through the documents in their high school collection.  We found nothing.  But to my surprise, a few months later, she reached out to me to say she had found the poem in the process of re-organizing their library archives.  And there it was, indeed, printed and published in the Monrovia-Arcadia-Duarte High School, English Department’s 1932-1933 Anthology, and  Anna’s poem was on page one! 

The message of the poem must have resonated with my father as he faced an uncertain future as a soldier in war.  And today, some 90 years later, the poem carries a message that is still relevant.

COMPENSATION
By Anna Kennard, 12A

In years to come when I am tired and old,
And vagrant thoughts stir in my weary mind---
Of days too full of toil and care untold,
Of wretched jealousies and words unkind,
Of griefs too fierce to bring a comforting tear,
Of parting smiles that I no more shall see,
Of hopes that vanished like each fleeing year---
There still will shine one spark in life for me.

I’ll never let the misery and strife,
The ugly things that have been said and done,
Subtract from these last tranquil years of life
The gladness that was brought by hearts I’ve won.
Each memory of friends will be the light
That guides me bravely through the darkening night.

As a woman and African American, born in 1913, her poem speaks to the challenges she faced in her life.  She wrote this poem when she was about 18 or 19 years old, a senior in high school.  For her to have such insight as a young woman, no doubt helped her persevere. 

In high school she was a member of the scholarship society and was one of seven high school students recognized by English teachers at Monrovia Arcadia Duarte High School; Anna Kennard was recognized for sonnet writing in 1933 [Monrovia News-Post, June 10, 1933].  She graduated from Frank Wiggins Trade School, the precursor to the Los Angeles Trade Technical College, and worked in accounting for the Los Angeles Unified School District.  By the 1960s, she was “the only Negro woman employed by the Board of Education as a financial manager” according to the Los Angeles Sentinel newspaper [July 19, 1962].  She persevered.     

*In January 2019, the Monrovia Historical Museum hosted a program about architect Robert Kennard (1920 – 1995).  My father had a distinguished career, designing more than 700 projects including public buildings, schools, colleges and residences.  Here's the link to the article about that event. 

​The Monrovia Historical Museum is proud to showcase this vintage, turn-of-the-century, 800-pound safe. It stands 36" tall and 24" wide and is currently displayed in our 'Lost Businesses of Monrovia' exhibit. 

It was originally owned and used by the Monrovia Telephone and Telegraph Co. to store their cash payroll, and subsequently given to the Monrovia Van and Storage Company in exchange for services rendered. Click this link to read about them. We express our deepest gratitude to Don Samuels for this valuable piece of Monrovia history! See below to read its history. 

Visit us on any Thursday or Sunday between 1:00-4:00pm to view this precious relic!  (Note: we do have the combination to the safe and it is in working order, but due to its weight and vintage condition, we will not be able to allow visitors to try to lock and unlock it.) 

1903 MacNeale & Urban Company Safe (in Don Samuels' words)

Owner-Donor of the Artifact: Don Samuels, Diamond Bar, California 

Donor's Connection to Monrovia: I was born and raised in Monrovia. My father and grandfather owned and operated Monrovia Van and Storage Company from the early 1940s to 1979. 

How I Acquired this Item: From time to time the Telephone Company, on the 100 block of East Lime Avenue would call on Monrovia Van and Storage to move the safe from office to office. At some point in the mid-1950s the safe was no longer needed by the Telephone Company and it was offered to Monrovia Van and Storage for the cost of removing the safe from the premises. The safe was housed in the office of Monrovia Van and Storage at 141 East Colorado until 1979 when my father sold the business. The safe was not included in the sale and my father had no room for it at his home. So I "inherited" the safe and it has served as a conversation piece in my home for the last 45 years. 

Description of the Safe: The safe is 36 inch tall by 24 inch wide and 24 inch deep and weighs around 800 pounds. The safe was manufactured by The MacNeale & Urban Company of Hamilton, Ohio. The MacNeale & Urban Company made their last safe in 1903.  Therefore, the safe was made sometime between 1888 when the company moved to Hamilton, Ohio and 1903 when it ceased making safes. The safe has the words Monrovia Tel & Tel Co. painted in red and gold across the top.

Historical Background: The earliest reference to the Monrovia Telephone and Telegraph Company on the Monrovia Legacy site was 1914. The safe was probably purchased by the Telephone Company soon after it opened offices in Monrovia. The story I was told as a child by my father and grandfather was that in the early years of the Telephone Company, employees were paid in cash and that the safe was used to store the weekly payroll. I was also told that at sometime in the past, someone attempted to blast a hole in the bottom of the safe. A steel plate attached to the bottom of the safe Is evidence that there is some truth to this story. The safe was disposed of once the Telephone Company no longer needed it to safely store cash.

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When Don Samuels stepped into the museum one Spring afternoon to offer to donate an 800-pound, vintage safe once used by the Monrovia Telephone and Telegraph Co., we were all ears!  But behind the story of the safe is Don's family's long history as local residents and owners of Monrovia Van and Storage, a family-owned and very successful business operation spanning four decades.​ Read the short story below. 

Monrovia Van and Storage was a business owned and operated by the Samuels family from the early 1940s to 1979. Clifford Samuels moved his family to Monrovia from Iowa in 1937. He used funds from the sale of the family farm to purchase his home at 956 West Olive and to buy his first truck. The trucking business started slowly during the war years. However, with the end of World War II and the subsequent influx of people to Southern California, the business thrived.

From the beginning, the business office was located at 141 East Colorado, the current home of the Peach Café. By the mid-1950s, Monrovia Van and Storage had five trucks and was moving families and businesses, locally and across the state. Their trucks displayed the name of Monrovia wherever they went. In 1958, the business opened a used furniture store next door at 137 East Colorado. The original office at 141 East Colorado as well as five store fronts on the 100 block of East Olive were used for temporary storage of their customer’s belongings. My grandfather's woodshop was located on an elevated platform at the back of 141 East Colorado. To this day, that same elevated platform is at the rear of the Peach Cafe.

In 1953, Clifford continued to work in the office but turned the business over to two of his sons, Kenneth and Duane. My father, Kenneth, brought his family to Monrovia shortly after Clifford and built his first home at 514 West Olive. By the late fifties the grandsons Larry, Dick and Don (myself) were old enough to spend their summers helping out with the family business. Both Kenneth and Duane were active members of the Monrovia business community. Kenneth was long time member of the Monrovia Elks Club and Duane an active member of the Monrovia Kiwanis club.
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Clifford continued to answer the phone until his death in 1968. Eventually, the company was purchased and absorbed by a large national affiliate and the doors of Monrovia Van and Storage at 141 East Colorado were closed for the last time in 1979.