On a latest afternoon, Veronica Jones thumbed by way of recordsdata within the small neighborhood middle constructing in Altadena.
Volunteer historians are racing to report the tales and voices of Eaton Fireplace survivors
“This constructing holds the historical past of Altadena. We now have been archiving for 90 years,” mentioned Jones, president of the Altadena Historical Society and a resident for greater than 60 years.
When the Eaton Fireplace burned by way of Altadena, it erased greater than houses. It additionally took household pictures, heirlooms and historical past.
Jones and a small group of volunteers are actually working to revive a few of that historical past by way of the voices of fireside survivors.
“Earlier than we type of labored at our personal tempo,” Jones mentioned, noting the society is made up of all volunteers, greater than half of whom misplaced their houses. “Now there’s an urgency to doc all the things, to get the historical past of the fireplace, to get the historical past that we did not have earlier than, to seek out methods to seize these pictures that will have burned.”
They determined oral historical past was a technique to try this.
“The oral historical past challenge got here out of the truth that, OK, now the black and white photos are gone — what are we going to do?” Jones mentioned.
The historic society has long recorded oral histories of residents for archiving. Now they need to seize as many tales of fireside survivors as they’ll.
Veronica Jones within the archives of the Altadena Historic Society.
Thus far they’ve targeted on capturing the tales of Black households in Altadena who misplaced their houses.
That specific history — of racist housing insurance policies that concentrated Black households in west Altadena — grew to become a nationwide story when the Eaton Fireplace disproportionately affected that part of the community.
The right way to take part within the Altadena oral historical past challenge
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The challenge is open to anybody who misplaced a house in Altadena and needs to share a narrative. Jones mentioned the challenge is anticipated to run over the following two years, and interviews normally take just a few hours.
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Individuals who need to take part can attain out to the society immediately at (626) 797-8016 or altadenahistorical.society@yahoo.com. A hyperlink to enroll to take part may also be added to the historic society’s website in mid-July.
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The historic society is also seeking funding to assist help the challenge.
“If you are going to have roots right here and keep right here, you must know the way this city happened,” Jones mentioned. “It’s essential to perceive that the tradition of the city advanced due to the historical past, due to the redlining.”
Jones and her group have up to now recorded the voices and tales of an 86 12 months outdated musician, a multigenerational household and a lifelong Altadenan in his 90s, amongst others.
“We began out with the challenge pondering we need to give hope,” Jones mentioned. “We all know that the fireplace was horrible. However how can we give hope that even when one thing like that occurs? ”
Jones hopes the challenge — the connection of this second to the lengthy arc of Altadena’s historical past — may be one thing of a consolation to survivors.
“The advantage of historical past is you understand you are part of it, however a really small a part of it,” Jones mentioned. “There’s an entire timeline that occurred earlier than us, and that is going to occur after us. There’s been worse occasions, and there will be worse occasions once more. And there will be good occasions once more.”
Block after block of former neighborhoods close to the historic society are actually cleared, empty heaps. The panorama is beginning to look extra like an outdated poster promoting land on the market in what realtors of the previous referred to as the “Altadena Woodlands.”
On a wall in the primary constructing of the neighborhood middle, there’s a minimize of a 140-year-old tree.
The tree, named Herbert by a neighborhood, needed to be minimize down for security causes in 2017. Strings lengthen from the tree’s rings, marking particular years and connecting them to plaques that spotlight moments in Altadena’s historical past.
1883: When Altadena was formally established by John and Fred Woodbury.
1965: When neighbors got here collectively to enhance race relations.
2011: When an apocalyptic windstorm toppled 1000’s of bushes within the space.
A minimize from a tree named Herbert marks moments in Altadena’s historical past.
Sooner or later, the Eaton Fireplace can be a second in one other tree’s ring. And the Altadena Historic Society desires to verify the multitude of tales inside that second are remembered.
“I am hoping 20 years, 25 years from now, somebody is listening or watching the oral histories and so they simply go, ‘You realize, Altadena is a tremendous place,’” Jones mentioned. “It was a tremendous place, and it nonetheless is a tremendous place.”
