Americana Culinary Surprises in the Whittier Museum

(Gerry Furth-Sides) Whittier was full of surprises, all good, starting with how easy it was to get there.  The  Whittier Museum was next on the list.   Like many, I’m sure, after visiting for the day we also now understand that the Whittier museum is not the library is in Yorba Linda, birthplace of Nixon.  Nixon did grow up in Whittier, went to college here and also had a law practice. (so did MFK Fisher, the legendary food writer as noted below)

The Nixon family also had a restaurant here.  Well preserved artifacts such as the menu and photos of it are  representative of the kind of historic Americana artifacts are beautifully fit into displays.

First surprise was how easy it was to reach the town from LA.   They parking spaces and no meters!  The tree-lined streets are a lovely, green reminder of what the perfect small town can be like.

The Whittier Museum’s permanent exhibit collection depicts many aspects of Whittier history, including agriculture, Quaker settlers, and Whittier College. The museum also highlights notable figures from the Whittier community, such as Richard Nixon and Pio Pico, the founder.

However, another addition is Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher the  preeminent American food writer. She was a founder of the Napa Valley Wine Library. Over her lifetime she wrote 27 books, including a translation of The Physiology of Taste by Brillat-Savarin. In more than thirty books, M.F.K. Fisher forever changed the way Americans understood not only the art of eating but the art of living. Whether considering the oyster or describing how to cook a wolf, she addressed the universal needs “for food and security and love.”

A fun self-tour would be to find her old homes – just as you can with Julia Chilc in Pasadena.  In 1912 after Mary’s father, Re, purchased a controlling interest in the Whittier News, he moved the family to Whittier, purchasing  a house at 115 Painter Avenue.   Seven years later , he purchased a large white house outside the city limits on South Painter Avenue.  The house sat on thirteen acres, with an orange grove; it was referred to by the family as “The Ranch.”

The Library and Archives Department is open Tuesday through Friday from 9am to 4pm and Saturday from 1 to 4pm by appointment only.  There is no charge for members of the public to use the Historical Society’s archives, but there may be reasonable charges for photocopies and reproductions. Depending on availability, our interns or staff may be able to conduct research for visitors.  We realize now why the curator said, “we might as well let you in” because we had no appointment!

 

To set up tours or to answer research requests and appointments, please contact the Office Manager with  at 562 945-3871.