HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016 Issue 3 - Florence's Alaskan Adventure.pdfFundraiser History-
Making Party on
September 28.
President’s Report
by Alexis Madison,
Board President.
Collections Report
by Sarah Samson,
Collection Manager.
Museum Report
by Elizabeth P.
Stewart, Director.
This feature is the first in an occasional series about
Rentonites’ travels. Many Rentonites lived in Alaska—during
the Klondike Gold Rush, the 1913 Naval Coal Expedition,
and for various other reasons—but Florence Guitteau’s
account is the only one we have by a woman. This article
relies on her extensive diaries and letters, ones that she
perhaps never anticipated having aired publicly. We believe
her story is extraordinary enough that she would want to
share it with us today.
F lorence Guitteau and her sisters Lucy and Olive were
part of the Renton social scene in the 1910s and 1920s.
The unmarried daughters of an extremely independent
mother and an absent father, all three pursued careers at a
time when that made them stand-outs—for good or ill—in
a small town. Florence first met Roy Peterson, who later
changed his last name to “Storey,” when she had a crush
on Roy’s younger brother Harry in high school. In 1930
Florence was a teacher in her mid-40s when she renewed
her friendship with Roy, who was recently divorced and
Also In This Issue...
RENTON HISTORICALSOCIETY & MUSEUM
Fall
September 2016
Volume 47
Number 3
Continued on page 5
2 4 83
FLORENCE'S ALASKAN ADVENTURE
QUARTERLY
by Elizabeth P. Stewart
2 | RENTON HISTORY MUSEUM
JACK MORRISON (1924-2016)
One of our most dedicated
supporters, John H. “Jack”
Morrison, passed away on
July 26, 2016. Jack was
a regular visitor to the
Museum, always bringing
a new treasure or project
to work on, and always
with a kind word. He was
a lifelong Rentonite, a
member of Renton High’s
Class of 1942, and a proud
veteran of WWII and
member of the American
Legion. But his true
love was music, and he
never tired of playing and
teaching the drums. We will
never forget this joyful man.
COMING SOON...
We hope by the time
you’re reading this, the
Renton History Museum
has re-opened after an
August closure with a new
and improved museum
lobby and offices! Fire
Station #1 was converted
into a museum in late
1979, and this represents
our first major renovation
since then.
We are very grateful to
4Culture, First Financial
Northwest Foundation, the
City of Renton, and dozens
of individual donors who
made this project possible.
We’re also thankful to
Terri and Bill Briere,
Terry Higashiyama,
Robert Bonner, Larry
Sleeth, Dennis Conte,
Michael Nolan, Peter
Renner, Michael Kirk, and
Forma Construction for
their expertise. No “after”
photos yet, but join us for
the grand unveiling event
September 14th at 5:30 pm!
HISTORY-MAKING PARTY
The Renton Historical Society’s annual fundraiser showcases Renton Makers & Doers this year
with a very special Silent Auction. Explore locals’ talents as you bid on their charming upcycled
furniture, specially made for our auction. One-of-a-kind gifts and home furnishings showcase
Renton’s handmade tradition. Dinner, Dessert Dash, and a special guest emcee Aunt Dottie!
Reserve your tickets now! The fundraiser is Wednesday, September 28, 2016 at the Renton
Senior Activity Center. Tickets are $45 each. (http://historymakingparty.brownpapertickets.com/)
On
SEPTEMBER
28
doors open at
5:30 PM
Jack with the VFW Drum &
Bugle Corps, 1940.
FALL QUARTERLY, 2016 | 3
MUSEUM REPORT
QUARTERLY
Fall 2016
Elizabeth P. Stewart
Director
Collection Manager Sarah Samson and I are celebrating
ten years with the Renton History Museum this quarter—
me in April and Sarah in August—and a decade seems
like a good time for reflection. I can hardly believe it has been
almost eleven years now since I first interviewed for the Museum
Director’s job that Steve Anderson had recently vacated. During
the course of one day I met with three panels of interviewers from
the City of Renton, the Renton Historical Society, and Museum
staff and volunteers. By the time I left I was impressed with
Rentonites’ energy and aspirations for the Museum and the city, as
well as their appreciation for the importance of Renton heritage.
A few months later I was on the other side of the
interview table, hoping to sell this bright young UW Museology
graduate on a position with the Renton History Museum. Sarah
had already interned with the Museum and she had written her
M.A. Thesis on the Museum’s Custer-Lewis Collection—which
she discusses elsewhere in this newsletter—so we knew she had
the love of our collection and the dedication to its care that her
job requires. We were lucky that she saw the potential to learn
and grow here, and she accepted the job offer.
I can safely generalize that opportunities for learning
and growing are important to all museum people, and Sarah
and I have certainly done a lot of both. Sarah has taken our
collection stewardship to its highest level; she has overseen a
complete inventory of our collection, rehoused uncountable
numbers of objects into safer environments to protect them for
future generations, and supervised many other young museum
professionals as they contribute their skills to the cataloging
and care of our thousands of objects and photographs. I have
overseen the creation and implementation of a museum master
plan, written untold numbers of successful grant applications,
and worked closely with so many talented Board members and
volunteers for the good of the Museum. Together Sarah and
I have created over 30 creative temporary exhibits that offer
fresh takes on Renton’s heritage and culture. And now we’re
embarking on a new period of capital improvement, beginning
with our lobby and office space.
On a personal level, we have both truly become part
of this community. Sarah married her husband Wil here, and
they’re raising their son Arlo to be a true Sounders fan. I met my
partner Dennis on my first day in Renton—unaware of our future
together, of course—and now we happily spend most of our
work, volunteer, and leisure time here.
All this is to say that I cannot imagine a more fulfilling
and creative way to spend a decade of my career, and I know
Sarah would say the same. I hope—and I believe—that the
Renton History Museum has benefitted from our 40,000 hours
of love, sweat, and tears, and that in turn our community has
benefitted from the Museum.
by Elizabeth P. Stewart,
Museum Director
Surprise party to celebrate Liz's
10 years at the Museum.
RENTON HISTORICAL
QUARTERLY
Sarah Samson
Graphic Design & Layout
Karl Hurst
City of Renton Print &
Mail Services
RENTON HISTORICAL
SOCIETY BOARD
OF TRUSTEES
Alexis Madison, President
Betsy Prather, Vice President
Laura Clawson, Treasurer
Antoin Johnson, Secretary
Jordann McKay, 2018
Vinod Waghamare, 2018
Don Hunsaker III, 2019
Lynne King, 2019
Elizabeth Stewart, Board Liaison
MUSEUM STAFF
Elizabeth P. Stewart
Museum Director
Sarah Samson
Collection Manager
Nichole Jones
Office Aide
RENTON HISTORY MUSEUM
235 MILL AVENUE S
RENTON, WA 98057
P (425) 255-2330
F (425) 255-1570
HOURS:
Tuesday - Saturday
10:00am - 4:00pm
ADMISSION:
$5 (Adult)
$2 (Child)
Sarah with her family at the
2016 Sounders Rave Green Run.
4 | RENTON HISTORY MUSEUM
PRESIDENT’S
MESSAGE
At the June Annual Meeting of the Renton Historical
Society I took over for Stefanie McIrvin as
President. This is my second term with the Board
of Trustees, with a little break in between to fulfill my
commitment to the Junior League of Seattle and to take a
prep class for my HR certification. Now I’m back, and full
of ideas for new directions!
President Stefanie moved the Renton Historical
Society in some new directions, with our History-Making
Party at The Red House last fall and our periodic “getting
to know you” events for those interested in volunteering
or serving on the Board. I hope to continue building the
Museum’s supporters. Whether you’re a member or volunteer
or donor or occasional visitor, your support and involvement
strengthens the Museum and we believe that makes a
stronger, more aware and creative Renton community.
Coming up on September 28, we’re hosting a
second History-Making Party at the Renton Senior Activity
Center. The focus this year is on “Renton Makers and
Doers,” drawing on the city’s long history of innovation,
industry, and creativity. Building on the popular Flea
Market Flip idea, we’re inviting local artists, craftspeople,
and designers to donate upcycled furniture to our silent
auction, giving them an opportunity to show off their
talents. You won’t want to miss the results! Tickets are
available for $45 each on Brown Paper Tickets at http://
historymakingparty.brownpapertickets.com/. The event
includes dinner, a Dessert Dash, silent and live auctions,
and entertainment by Aunt Dottie and her nephew Aaron.
Proceeds support the Museum’s mission to connect people
to their community through history.
If you would like to support this or any of our
activities, the Renton Historical Society is always looking
for friends we haven’t met yet. Our Board of Trustees still
has a few open seats—we’re in search of a Treasurer-in-
training right now—and we’re also in need of volunteers
interested in greeting visitors on Saturdays and helping
them have the best possible time during their visit. Our
new museum lobby will now be a comfortable and inviting
place to work on Saturdays. Please contact Museum Office
Aide Nichole Jones for more information.
I am looking forward to guiding the Board of
Trustees and the Museum toward even greater success, and
I hope you’ll come be a part of that!
by Alexis Madison, President
UPCOMING
EVENTS
HISTORY IN YOUR
BACKYARD
October 20
5:30-7:00 pm
Anthropologist Llyn De Danaan
shares the fascinating story of
her discovery of pioneering
Coast Salish woman Katie
Gale’s story.
TALES THAT GO BUMP
IN THE NIGHT
October 29
10:00-11:00 am
Storyteller Anne Rutherford
presents a selection of stories and
songs to celebrate Halloween.
Come in costume!
Former Board President
Stefanie McIrvin with Board
member Jordann McKay at the
2016 Annual Meeting
Alexis Madison
President
A HISTORY OF MURDER
September 15
6:00-8:00 pm
Join local author Lynn Bohart
for a book talk and signing!
Includes food and drink, raffle
prizes, a trivia game, and a
talk by the author on how she
researches critical information
for her books. Tickets $20 (all
proceeds to museum).
FALL QUARTERLY, 2016 | 5
traveling between his sons and mother in Seattle and his job
with the Copper River & Northwestern Railway in Alaska.
By the fall of 1931, they were talking about marriage, even
though Florence knew that living with Roy would entail
relocating 1300 miles from friends and family.
Contemplating marriage for the first time at age 46
was a surprise to her; although she had often had her eye
on one man or another, her independence and occasionally
prickly personality always stopped those relationships in
their tracks. She had built a single life that revolved around
her career as a teacher, her travels, her sisters Lucy and
Olive and their mother, and her many friends and colleagues.
“Confessing myself a bit fearsome states it briefly,” Florence
confided to her diary. “Marrying is such a problem.”1
For Florence the fact that marriage to Roy included
an Alaskan adventure may have made it more appealing.
During their engagement she threw herself into the
preparations for her new Cordova life, gathering household
goods and having her teacher friends help her tie quilts. By
May 1932 Roy had found a house to rent and she had her
tickets for her July voyage on the S. S. Yukon. “I … arrive
Cordova on the 6th or 7th,” she wrote, “We are to be married
Continued from page 1
Cover photo:
The Main Street of Cordova,
Alaska, the "Copper Gateway
of Alaska," ca. 1935.
Florence and Roy tried a house and an apartment before landing a home in this tidy neighborhood, with a view
of St. George's Episcopal Church, 1935. (RHM# 1997.080.13230)
FLORENCE'S ALASKAN ADVENTURE
6 | RENTON HISTORY MUSEUM
soon—if the boat docks in the evening—that night—and I
hope so, because I do not want to spend my first night in a
distant strange place all alone.”2
Florence’s voyage on the Yukon was a transition
to her new life. Her 21-year-old cabin mate, Rhea Collette,
was also on her way to her wedding, to a Fairbanks
butcher she had never met, as was their table mate Audrey
Lawrence, who was engaged to a Fairbanks dentist.3
She and Rhea had “a number of serious conversations
pertaining to the state we are about to enter,” which must
have been helpful to Florence.4 She confessed that “my
heart beats faster and my throat hurts,” when she thought
about Roy.5 In the meantime, she was thrilled by the
sights of Queen Charlotte Sound, Grenville Channel, and
Malespina Glacier.6
Her arrival in Cordova after midnight meant her
"homecoming" was not the auspicious occasion she had
hoped for, but she tried to put the best face on it. They were
married on the morning of July 7, 1932. Roy took her on a
four-day “honeymoon” to the end of the CR&NW line, and
then introduced her to her new home. Later she wrote, “I
remember so well the early morning when Roy led me to
the door of what looked like a shabby building in a poor part
of any place and we entered a dark narrow hall & went up a
stairway that smelled of cat. And I remember what I said when
he opened the apartment door—‘How light and cheery!’”7
Roy Storey had arrived in Cordova ten years
earlier as Engineer of Bridges and Buildings for the
Roy and Florence in Cordova in 1935. Marriage "has changed
me more than it has Roy," Florence wrote in her diary. "He
was already house broke." (RHM# 1997.080.13249)
Roy Storey with Mt. Eccles in the background, 1936.
"Alaska is a man's country," Florence believed. "It
gets some hold upon them," (RHM# 1997.080.13250)
Workers secure "$35,000 of gold concentrate from Nabesna
Mine," 1936. Nabesna was about 60 miles north of Chitina; both
are now located in the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and
Preserve. (RHM# 1997.080.13261)
FALL QUARTERLY, 2016 | 7
Kennecott Copper Corporation’s railway, and it is safe to say
his reaction to the small Alaskan port town was quite different
than Florence’s. He found his railroad job challenging
and satisfying after years working in the office of the City
Engineer of Seattle.8 The Copper River & Northwestern
Railway—nicknamed “Can’t Run & Never Will”—carried
over 200 million tons of copper between 1911 and 1938. The
railway crossed 129 bridges and multiple glaciers between the
port in Cordova and the railroad’s terminus at the Kennecott
Copper mines in Chitina, creating plenty of maintenance and
repair work for Storey and his crews.9
In 1932 Cordova was a town of about 1000 people,
mostly men working for the CR&NW Railroad, as salmon
fishermen, or in the salmon canneries. Florence rightly sensed
that the primary motivation for most people in Cordova was
making a living—“work and money,” as she perceived it—and
that was a starkly different world than her life of teaching and
improving young minds in Renton and Seattle.10 Cordova “is
so below my ideal and standards,” she concluded, yet living in
Alaska provided her a challenge against which she measured
her own character.11
Marriage meant Florence had to give up her career as a
teacher, since school districts only permitted married women to
work as teacher substitutes. Part of her was relieved to relinquish
the earning responsibility to her new husband. “From the time
I was 10 years old, my people did not have my full support to
consider,” she recalled. “I was practically on my own.”12 In her
20s and 30s, she turned over all her teaching salary to support her
mother and sisters; now it was her turn to depend on someone else.
But giving up teaching meant she had many lonely
hours to fill while her husband tended to the railroad bridges,
so Florence plunged into home-making for the first time in
her life. She taught herself to dress and cook fowl that Roy
had caught, to bake bread and Parker House rolls, and to
darn and sew their clothes. Domestic life was complicated
by the ongoing Great Depression and the fact that supplies
were sometimes hard to come by in remote Alaska. “We
were short of food until after the two government boats
came,” she wrote to her friend Vivian Gunderson. “We have
been without fresh things for so long now that we would
appreciate a head of lettuce, a bunch of celery, some carrots,
more than we could express.”13
She also involved herself in club and church work,
a common social and civic activity for married women
between the wars. Particularly in a remote area like Cordova,
charitable organizations like the International Order of Odd
Fellows, Ladies Aid Society, Order of the Eastern Star, and
sewing clubs and churches gave women organized outlets
to help one another. “This week is a full one socially,”
Florence reported. “Tuesday, our Sewing Club at Lola Date’s,
Wednesday, [Ladies] Aid at the Church, Friday, Guild at
Lola’s and Saturday, the Charity Carnival at the Empress.”14
Her first full year in Cordova was the hardest. In a
reflective mood on New Year’s Eve in 1933, Florence looked
back at her first eighteen months as a married woman in
Continued on page 10
Roy and Florence visiting Chitina with the Chadwicks,
1936. Kennecott Copper Mine was located at Chitina, and
Roy spent half of his time there. (RHM# 1997.080.13262)
8 | RENTON HISTORY MUSEUM
A fter fifteen years of hard work,
I am exceedingly proud to
announce that the processing,
cataloging, photographing, and storing
of the Custer-Lewis Collection is
complete! The giant bequest from
Charles L. Custer came to the Museum
in September 2000. It included a
house and its contents, the contents of
a summer house, as well as property
and stocks which served as the start
of our endowment. Both the Custer and Lewis families
came to Renton before 1900. George W. Custer was a
prominent carpenter and contractor, constructing many
of the buildings still standing in Renton today. In 1902
he married Annie Lewis, the eldest daughter of David T.
Lewis, a coal miner with Renton Cooperative Coal Co.
Sorting through the massive donation took untold
hours of staff and volunteer time. When I first came
onto the project in 2004 as an intern, a good portion of
the photographs had been cataloged and scanned and
about 400 artifacts had been cataloged. Thousands more
artifacts loomed silently behind the scenes, waiting to be
sorted and processed. In 2005 I used the Custer-Lewis
Collection as the basis for my Master’s thesis, creating
a template to help catalog the collection, one that could
serve as a model for others.
When I came back in the summer of 2006, this
time as a full-time employee, the Custer-Lewis Collection
was at the top of my lengthy “To Do” list. Over the next
ten years, I carved out small sections of the collection,
usually by artifact type, and tackled them one at a time.
COLLECTION
REPORT
by Sarah Samson,
Collection Manager
UW Museology Intern Andrea Arenas handled the baby
clothes, men’s ties, gloves, and flat textiles in 2010.
A 2015 4Culture grant allowed us to hire UW
Museology intern Maria Robinson to finally finish the
project. Maria and I sorted through the remaining 600
items, keeping the best 250 of the many personal and
household artifacts. Maria numbered, cataloged, and
photographed the final group of artifacts and archival
documents. She even stuck around an extra two months
after the grant ended to see the project through to
completion. (Thank you Maria!)
After over ten years of work on this collection,
an inordinate amount of my brain space is taken up by
Custer genealogy and information. In 2009 I fielded a
phone call from a woman who told me her Dad’s name
was Bertram Thomas. I immediately responded with,
“Oh, your Dad is one of the twins!” and continued on
with facts about her family. She got very quiet and
asked, “But how do you know all of this?!” It was at
that point that I realized that I might be in a little too
deep. Luckily, my explanation was convincing and I
ultimately ended up hosting a small Custer-Thomas
Family Reunion at the Museum. It has been wonderful
to become friends with so many Custer descendants.
As I celebrate working here for ten years, I fully
recognize how large a part of my professional career
the Custer-Lewis Collection has been. Thousands of
hours, three interns (I’m including myself here), and
3334 catalog entries later (936 archival documents, 1191
artifacts, and 1207 photographs), I am very proud to
have finally placed a big checkmark next to the Custer-
Lewis Collection on my To-Do list.
Sarah & intern Maria Robinson
at the 2016 Annual Meeting.
Sarah Samson
Collection Manager
1952 & 1972 Presidential campaign buttons from the Custer-Lewis Collection.Almeada Shearer, Dorothea Thomas, Florence Custer, William Custer, and
Bertram Thomas, 1910. (RHM# 2000.127.8131)
Curator's Talk:
Custer-Lewis Collection
NOVEMBER
17
at
6:00 PM
FALL QUARTERLY, 2016 | 9
MEMORIAL DONATIONS
May 11, 2016 - July 31, 2016
Lindy Aliment
Eleanor Bertagni
Hazelle DuBois
Bill Belmondo
Eleanor Bertagni
Hazelle DuBois
John Aldo Bertagni
Marlys Aliment
Bill Anardi & Darlene Bjornstad
Jenny Byers
Henry Ed & Mary Jean Cooks
Sherri A. Crahen & Michael P.
Roeder
Larry & Jeannie Crook
Joy M. Curry
Hazelle DuBois
Wendell & Cleo Forgaard
Jean Franceschina
Mary Therese Gorman
Mary L. Gustine-Nelson
Barbara Ivec
Jon & Lyla Koloski
Kathleen & Edward Lefko
Hazel Newing
Barbara Nilson
John & Rose Robinson
RJ and TM Scappini
Robert & Gilda Youngquist
Mary Jean Chinn
Hazelle DuBois
Ethel Clarke
Al & Shirley Armstrong
Hazelle DuBois
Glennis Cooke
Henry Ed & Mary Jean Cooks
Hazelle DuBois
Joseph Thomas“JT”Curry
Anonymous
Henry Ed & Mary Jean Cooks
Hazelle DuBois
Wendell & Cleo Forgaard
Donovan J. Lynch
Robert & Gilda Youngquist
Attilio Angelo Franceschina
Eleanor Bertagni
Bill Anardi & Darlene Bjornstad
Louie & Pam Barei
Don & Carmel Camerini
Henry Ed & Mary Jean Cooks
Larry & Jeannie Crook
Vicki Dallosto, Rob Elliott
& Carly
Hazelle DuBois
Wendall & Cleo Forgaard
Hazel Newing & Family
Mario & Victor Tonda
Robert Logue
Hazelle DuBois
Donovan J. Lynch
Virginia Mann Lynch
Hazelle DuBois
Donovan J. Lynch
Joan Lazor Mansfield
Bill Anardi & Darlene Bjornstad
Hazelle DuBois
John“Noda”Edward Miller
Hazelle DuBois
Wendall & Cleo Forgaard
Marian Olson
Mario Tonda
Jonelle Lynch Petermeyer
Hazelle DuBois
Donovan J. Lynch
Donald G. Pritchard
Hazelle DuBois
Wendell & Cleo Forgaard
Richard Lucotch
Robert Richter
Hazelle DuBois
Wendell & Cleo Forgaard
Pat Shreve
Henry Ed & Mary Jean Cooks
Hazelle DuBois
Betty Jo Lewis Sipila
Bill Anardi & Darlene Bjornstad
Hazelle DuBois
Wendell & Cleo Forgaard
Richard Lucotch
Robert & Gilda Youngquist
Ralph Snowden
Delores Christianson
Don Stark
Hazelle DuBois
Robert & Gilda Youngquist
MEMORIAL
DONATIONS OF
$100 OR MORE
John Aldo Bertagni
Manio & Ann Phillips
NEW MEMBERS
Laura Ambrose
Diana Bartley
Dennis Conte
CJ Jones
Fran Klepach
Alexis Madison & family
Beth Mitcham & Linda Sparks
Judith Peters
Bettijane & Jerry Shepard
Janet Stredicke
Rich & Martha Zwicker
BENEFACTOR
MEMBERS
Shari Fisher
Terry & Dennis Higashiyama
Don Hunsaker III
Herb & Diana Postlewait
PATRON
MEMBERS
Bill Gaw
CORRECTIONS
(from June 2016 quarterly):
DONATIONS IN
HONOR OF
Ken Baker
Connie Baker
Tom & LoRayne Kerr
Connie Baker
IN-KIND
DONATIONS
Betsy Prather
GENERAL
DONATIONS
Sandra Burkey
Carolyn & Will Calhoun
Gaye Faull McClellan
Manio & Ann Phillips
Sally Rochelle
Janene Sestak
Margaret Wicks
GENERAL
DONATIONS OF
$100 OR MORE
Norm & Carol Abrahamson
Anonymous
Sarah Jane Hisey & Howard
Nelson
Don Hunsaker III
Barbara Nilson
Stefanie McIrvin
Melrose Grill
Alice Stenstrom
Victor Tonda
MATCHING GIFT
DONATIONS
Glenn Garrett
Boeing Matching Gift Program
PLAN TO HELP
Including the Renton
Historical Society in your
estate planning, like Charles
Custer did, helps ensure the
future of the Renton History
Museum. The Custer Bequest
created our endowment and
the Custer Fund for the Renton
Historical Society at the
Renton Community Foundation
has enabled us to hire a Public
Engagement Coordinator and
complete important projects
like our lobby renovation.
Please contact us or our
Edward Jones representative,
Shane Klingenstein, to discuss
ways you can plan ahead to
help the Museum!
First Financial NW Foundation
10 | RENTON HISTORY MUSEUM
Alaska. She pronounced herself “satisfied to be married to
Roy. It has not all been easy, nor has it all been hard, and
there have been many compensations and joys.”15 She took
stock: “My housework palls in interest from time to time, but
I take hold anew and keep on. Cordova itself does not appeal
to me and has little to offer…. There are many times when the
thought that we may be here all the rest of our lives almost
overwhelms me. But I am determined to quit crying.”16
The natural beauty of Mt. Eccles, the Eyak River, and
Prince William Sound was her respite from homesickness.
When she was down about the town, she wrote, “I close my
eyes to its sordidness and turn to the clean sharpness of the
Eyak range and the spread of the bay.” “Cordova sits back in
a sort of bay,” as Florence described it to her friend Vivian.
“The ocean looks landlocked here. Mountains lie on 3 sides—
and near, fed by mountain streams, is a lovely lake—Eyak….
It is quite good sized.”18 She often described Alaska’s weather
and its natural beauty to friends: “The hemlocks and spruce
are very dark against the snow on the hills. Just above them
are the high white mountains.”19
Florence’s fortunes depended on her husband’s,
and she took a keen interest in his work and in managing
their finances. Although Roy had a well-paying job by Great
Depression standards, he was still supporting two of his
sons and living in Alaska was expensive. He picked up extra
work designing the plans for the new Cordova City Hall and
helping prepare the application for New Deal funds to build
it.20 He ran unsuccessfully for Territorial Highway Engineer
in 1936, and Florence helped write and send out campaign
materials, penning over 300 letters to women voters.21
Alaska was not immune from the labor unrest that
deepened across the country in 1935 – 1937, and the Storeys
Continued from page 7
ENDNOTES
1 Florence Guitteau Diary, 31 December 1931, p. 290. (RHM# 2014.023.006)
2 Florence Guitteau Diary, 30 March 1932, p. 297; 3 April 1932, p. 298; 22 May
1932, p.300. (RHM# 2014.023.007)
3 Ibid., 2 July 1932, p. 39.
4 Ibid., 5 July 1932, p. 40.
5 Ibid., 5 July 1932, p. 42.
6 Ibid., 5 July 1932, p. 41 – 42.
7 Ibid., 11 January 1935, p. 102.
8 Political card, Roy J. Storey for Alaska Highway Engineer, 1936. (RHM#
1999.089.002)
9 Ned Rozell, “Glaciers no obstacle for Copper River and Northwestern Railway,”
Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks, http://www.gi.alaska.edu/
alaska-science-forum/glaciers-no-obstacle-copper-river-and-northwestern-railway;
“History of the Area: Founding of Cordova,” Cordova Historical Museum, http://
cordovamuseum.org/history/cordova-s-foundation. Roy’s love for Alaska may
have contributed to his divorce from Ora Ainsworth Storey in 1930, since it
appears that Ora never joined him there in their last seven years of marriage.
10 Florence Guitteau Diary, 3 December 1938, p. 300.
11 Ibid., 1 July 1935, p. 183.
12 Letter, Florence Guitteau to Vivian Gunderson, 24 February 1935.
(RHM# 2014.023.025)
13 Letter, Florence Guitteau to Vivian Gunderson, 21 January 1937. (RHM#
2014.023.026)
14 Florence Guitteau Diary, 9 February 1934, p. 9.
15 Ibid., 31 December 1933, p. 62.
16 Ibid., 31 December 1933, p. 62.
17 Ibid., 31 December 1933, p. 62.
18 Florence Guitteai to Vivian Gunderson, 13 October 1932. (RHM# 2014.023.019)
19 Florence Guitteau to Vivian Gunderson, 24 February 1935. (RHM# 2014.023.025)
20 Florence Guitteau Diary, 27 July 1935, p. 195.
21 Ibid., 28 March 1936, p. 234.
22 Ibid., 7 September 1936, p. 254.
23 Ibid., 19 September 1936, p. 262.
24 Ibid., 12 September 1938, p. 289.
25 Letter, Florence to Vivian Gunderson, 10 Sept. 1938. (RHM# 2014.023.028)
26 Florence Guitteau Diary, 3 December 1938, p. 294.
were in the thick of it. By summer 1936 employees of the
Kennecott Copper Corporation and the CR&NW Railroad
had become impatient with management promises, and on
August 7 railroad employees went on strike. Roy was in a
difficult position—working closely with the line workers,
yet still white-collar—and he and Florence feared that the
Corporation would decide to close the railroad. “Many very
unpleasant things have happened and hot words have been
exchanged,” Florence wrote. “It is awfully nerve-wracking
not to know what the Company means to drop down on us.”22
The strike dragged on through September, and
with another longshoremen’s strike looming and copper
prices falling, the Kennecott Copper Corporation had to
consider how cost-effective it was to continue to operate the
Chitina mine and its railroad. An agreement was reached on
September 19, 1937 and Florence reported that “the town
rejoices,” but the end was in sight.23 A year later a letter
from Kennecott President E. T. Stannard was published in
the Cordova Times, announcing the permanent closure of the
mine and the railway.24
While Florence herself looked forward to leaving
Cordova, she did have compassion for the closure’s impact
on the town and its residents. “There’s a sadness about
leaving here,” she told friend Vivian. “So many of the men
have worked for the Road since construction days and so
have spent practically all their working days here…. Their
lives have been bound up in this Railroad and its interests. I
do not know what they are going to do.”25
She and Roy hastily packed up and made their
arrangements to come home, finally, after six years of wishing
and hoping to return. “I feel no sense of loss now,” Florence
wrote in her last Cordova diary entry. “I have rather a sense of
looking ahead and a feeling of a part of life that is finished.”26
The CR&NW railroad office in Cordova, Alaska, where Roy's
office was located, 1936. (RHM# 1997.080.13264)
FALL QUARTERLY, 2016 | 11
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Renton History Museum
235 Mill Avenue South
Renton, WA 98057
Phone: 425.255.2330
Fax: 425.255.1570
rentonhistory.org
FROZEN IN TIME
After nine years of research, the Renton History Museum is finally able to exhibit its
collection of 49 rare glass plate negatives with 70 images of the city’s businesses and
residences identified through dogged historical detective work. In 1909 an unknown
photographer went door to door to capture the city’s aspirations, perhaps for exhibit at Seattle's
Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition. The negatives were developed in 2009, a project made possible
by a grant from 4Culture. Enjoy this glimpse of our city in its youth along with the maps and
other sources that reveal it.
From
MAY
31
to
OCTOBER
29
INFrozen
Time
RENTON HISTORY MUSEUM
235 Mill Ave. S
Renton, WA 98057
Quarterback Jim Williams and the Renton High School varsity football team at Buckley, 1944. (RHM# 2004.045.11827)
IN HINDSIGHT...