Month: January 2018

Hi everyone,

Today as I scanned and named documents, I thought about how my work might affect a historian’s research. A decision or error that I might make in the process could later determine a researcher’s access to, or understanding of, certain information. I tried to be very careful in my steps because of this. Although making one mistake on one scan of one folder of one box about California water history may not necessarily transform a historical narrative, it was interesting to think of how information is recorded and preserved, and the effects that can have on the way we understand the past.

I haven’t found anything too fascinating this week because, again, the folder I was working on was full of business-related documents, but I’m keeping an eye out for cool details.

Best,
Aalia

Hi everyone,

This week, due to some technological difficulties, I mostly just worked on learning how to scan and save documents. I then scanned a folder of documents relating to the Ontario Mutual Water Companies Collection which were from the mid-1900s. These weren’t very interesting to read, since they were mainly data and memos, but I still enjoyed working with the historical documents! I’m excited to be doing some work outside of naming and converting files.

Best,
Aalia

On April 18, 1883 William Henderson, on behalf of the Chaffey Brothers, wrote a letter to E. F. Spence, the president of the Los Angeles Telephone Company. In the letter William Henderson expresses his displeasure regarding the telephone connections between San Bernardino, Colton, and Riverside. Apparently the Los Angeles Telephone Company is responsible for these telephone lines and they are inadequate. William Henderson claims that the “modern improvement has proved an aggravation rather than a convenience.” In fact, according to William Henderson, the time it takes to finally make a telephone call between San Bernardino and Riverside is actually longer than the time it takes to physically travel between these two cities. I will let you decide whether this is hyperbole in a pre-automotive age. The letter is steeped in disdain that verges on outright rudeness and it reminds me of “ye olde” customer service complaint. Towards the end of the letter, William Henderson claims that the telephone line is “the cause of more profanity than would sink a ship.” Unfortunately, I have found no record of what E. F. Spence’s response was to this letter. I can only imagine what he thought when he read the letter almost 150 years ago!

Hi all,

Today was my first day back at work after break, and I finished naming all the scans and transcripts from Chaffey letters book 2. As I was skimming transcripts to make sure they matched the scans and to record the relevant information in Excel, some interesting sentences caught my eye and made me think. For example, the brothers wrote a letter to “Wells and Fargo” about financial matters, and referenced “Proctor and Gamble,” in another. These are brands I come across in life today and it’s fascinating to see them talked about in letters from the late 1800s. It made me ponder how much they must have grown and transformed in the century that exists between myself and the Chaffeys.

The Chaffey brothers also wrote to San Bernadino County about a school district I believe they were trying to establish. I know there’s a Chaffey High School in Ontario now, so again I thought of the lasting presence of what these men wrote about. Furthermore, one letter mentioned that the brothers hoped to have a furniture factory, a drugstore, and a dentist in town soon, foreshadowing the expansion of the inland empire.

In January of 1884, William Henderson wrote to a business partner of the Chaffeys saying “a glorious rain has fallen… everything looks lovely.” Today’s forecast shows rain, too. I look forward to everything looking lovely.

Best,
Aalia