Almost Lost to History – with Monique Sugimoto and Rick Humphrey in the Local History Center at the Peninsula Center Library By Artist, Writer and Contributor Lynne La Fleur
Monique Sugimoto, Archivist and Local History Librarian, Palos Verdes Library District
“Hey Dan, come look at this! These are illustrations of the Plaza!”
They both recognized immediately what they had in front of them. Rick Humphrey and Dan Pinkham, 2 of the 7 members of the Portuguese Bend Artist Colony, had stumbled upon the original conceptual drawings of Malaga Cove Plaza, Valmonte Plaza and Lunada Bay as they were originally conceived for the Palos Verdes Project. Tucked away in a storage loft at the Malaga Cove Library, and nearly lost to history, Rick and Dan had discovered these historic documents as they were packing away their own displays after the most recent PV Peninsula Land Conservancy Art Show.
Horribly degraded and crumbling into fragments, they gathered them up carefully and took them to Dan’s home for safe keeping until they could figure out how to preserve them. “It would have been a challenging and prohibitively expensive endeavor,” Rick explains. “The only way was to photograph each and digitally piece them back together again”.
This monumental humpty-dumpty task of digital repair took over 3 months, the process beginning in earnest when, by chance, Rick met Archivist and Local History Librarian Monique Sugimoto in the Local History Center at the Peninsula Center Library and they talked about Doors Open Peninsula, the 100th Anniversary Celebration of the Palos Verdes Project scheduled June 17th of last year.
Artist Richard Humphrey at work
I came on board in a similar way when I met Monique in the Local History Center, learned about Doors Open Peninsula, and began work on my Centennial Celebration poster with the Project’s original site map prior to 1929 and my own illustrations of landmarks on the Peninsula.
The Malaga Cove Library Gallery hosted an art show a few days after the DOP activities featuring the conceptual drawings Rick had digitally restored as well as posters he designed of historic photographs and images from the first years of this community brought to life again, beautifully showcasing the magnificent Grand Plan for this place we call home.
History has a new home at the Palos Verdes Library District’s updated digital repository, still located at palosverdeshistory.org.
“I’m so excited to have the public go in and share recollections!” Monique states as she opens up the iconic photograph of “The 40 Families” – the original Japanese Farmer Families. The actual photograph is several feet long and hangs in the Local History Center adjacent to her workstation. “It is now possible with the Digital Repository to hover over an individual, see that person’s name and profile, and add to that information. There are photographs of Phillip’s Ranch, the Malaga Cove Library with its old fireplace, a Geo Map of the undersea formations off our coast and a location finder for any area one chooses to explore.”
Annie’s Stand, the Ishibashi flower and vegetable stand by Lynne La Fleur.
The new platform went live April 22nd. The landing page clicks to Browse All where anyone can access the archived history of the Peninsula, contribute and share memories and add tags. Simple to register and navigate, this provides a vital tool for teachers, students, local residents, writer and artists, and history enthusiasts. Monique has gathered and digitized a good portion of the collection over a period of years of dedication that now contains 3,246 assets to date.
“What I really like about this is that it fits right into the narrative we’ve all discussed”, Rick emphasizes, “about how important it is to communicate to the next generation of residents who come here what they have; and we need to be vigilant as best we can.”
Almost Lost to History is a very real and present concern for all of us as older first residents move on and new residents join our community. It is of vital importance that we remind and inform this community about the unique and magnificent history of the Palos Verdes Peninsula they share to enjoy and protect. With the loss and dismantling of the Wayfarers Chapel, and the high-density mandate the Housing Element from Sacramento presents, the fragility of our legacy is most apparent and at risk.
Please take advantage of the new Digital Repository - it’s a wonderful asset for anyone interested in our history. There are plans in the works to offer a series of presentations for contributors to share recollections and personal memories at either the Peninsula Center or Malaga Cove libraries with slide shows and lectures.
* The Portuguese Bend Artist Colony members include Richard Humphrey, Daniel Pinkham, Vicky Pinkham, Tom Redfield, Amy Sidrane, Kevin Prince and Stephen Mirich.
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