Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Photograph by George Sakkestad

Among the women featured in the current exhibit at Forbes Mill Museum are, clockwise from top left, Mardi Gualtieri Bennett, Joanne Benjamin, Dot Perry, Betty McClendon, Dottie Hartman, Peggy Fleming, Barbara Squire (now and as a young pilot), Dorothy Dowdell, Jo Bartlett and Ruth Cannon.

Feminine Mystique

Los Gatos women have made their presence felt throughout the town's history

By Shari Kaplan

For more than a year, Forbes Mill Regional History Museum curator Mary Foster wanted to create an exhibit to highlight the accomplishments of the many women whose lives and personal histories intertwined with that of Los Gatos.

Her dream is now a reality in "The Women of Los Gatos," which runs through January 1998 and features photos, books, personal effects and biographies of 34 women who lived and worked here from the 1800s to the present day.

"I wanted to share their contributions. These women had the courage to get out and do something for themselves and for the community," Foster says of her inspiration for the exhibit.

Women came to be featured through three main avenues: Foster solicited recommendations from almost everyone she talked to; she sought prospectives through mentions in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, and she recruited some of the women herself.

Those in the exhibit are the following:

Sara Shuttleworth Anderson did much to benefit Los Gatos in the 16 years she spent here. In 1975, she joined the Art Docents of Los Gatos. In 1976, she volunteered with Project Bell Ringer I, surveying local historic homes for the bicentennial celebration. She helped organize Project Bell Ringer II in the early 1980s. She was a classroom volunteer and a founding member of the Los Gatos Heritage Preservation Society and the Los Gatos Friends of the Arts.

Barbara Gibson Baggerly met her future husband, John, in 1940, when they portrayed the heroine and hero of the Los Gatos town pageant Trail Days. Forty-seven years later, she appeared in the town's 100th anniversary pageant. She was active with the Los Gatos Parent Nursery School in its early days. A mother of four, she was a volunteer resource aide at Fisher Middle School and took elementary school children on historical walking tours of downtown.

Jo Bartlett was known in Los Gatos and throughout the county as a tireless supporter of many civic, political and community causes. Among the projects she actively supported was Open Doors, which brough low-income housing to Los Gatos. She also fought for Villa Vasona senior housing project and for housing for Gilroy farm workers. She served on the Los Gatos Town Council Advisory Committee and was active in St. Mary's Church and school.

Joanne Benjamin has been a Town Council member in some capacity since 1982, including four terms as mayor. When not serving her town politically, Benjamin serves it educationally--she currently teaches economics and government at Los Gatos High School. She serves on many boards and committees, including the boards of KCAT, the West Valley Sanitation District, the Santa Clara County Cities Association and the Santa Clara Valley Transit Authority and Congestion Management Agency.

Mardi Gualtieri Bennett is now retired and living in Santa Cruz, but her presence will always be felt in Los Gatos. She not only served on the Planning Commission and Town Council, including a term as mayor, but was instrumental in saving Forbes Mill and turning it into a historic museum. She also played a key role in making Highway 85--on the drawing board for some 40 years--a reality. She was a tireless crusader for historic preservation in the town.

Mary Alice Blice helped formulate the town's rent ordinance and has served on the Los Gatos Renters' Association board. When the Town Council established the Rent Advisory Committee, Blice was one of two representatives from mobile home parks. She spent nine years on the Community Services Commission, including two as chairwoman. When the Live Oak Adult Day Services came into being, Blice was elected to its board of directors. She also served on the board of the Live Oak Senior Nutrition and Service Center.

Dale Stewart Bryant has been the editor of theLos Gatos Weekly-Times for nearly five years. She grew up in Saratoga and graduated from Los Gatos High School.

Ruth Cannon was the first woman to serve on the Los Gatos Town Council. Elected in 1970, she became the town's first woman mayor in 1972 and repeated the term in 1976.

Elisa Collins lived in the days when stagecoaches traversed the Santa Cruz mountains, which bustled with loggers, mountain men and railroaders. She and husband Lysander turned their large two-story home, located a mile south of the old Forbes Mill, into "Forest House" to accommodate travelers and workers alike. While caring for her own children, Collins did cooking and housekeeping for Forest House and its guests. She bought provisions from local hunters, fishermen and honey-gatherers. Lysander tended the downstairs saloon.

Ethel Dana was a wife, mother of seven, obstetrician, museologist, musician and genealogist. In 1965, the idea for a local art and natural history museum had its genesis at her dinner table. When the museum on Tait Avenue became a reality, she served on its board. She also initiated a series of musical concerts sponsored by the museum, thanks in part to an anonymous donor who enabled many youthful musicians to have a chance to be heard and recognized.

Olivia deHavilland lived in Saratoga with her mother, Lillian, and sister, actress Joan Fontaine. She graduated from Los Gatos High School in 1934. Her favorite teacher was historian and author George Bruntz. A chance meeting with former Los Gatan Yehudi Menuhin and later an introduction to local artists George Dennison and Frank Ingerson gave deHavilland the connections to take the Hollywood screen test that would lead to her role as Melanie in 1939's Gone with the Wind. She won Oscars for her roles in the 1940s movies To Each His Own and The Heiress.

Dorothy Dowdell, a resident of The Terraces, has published 27 books, including historical novels, romances, mystery/suspense novels and educational books for young people. Her historical stories focus mainly on the spirited, entrepreneurial women who helped pioneer the West in its "Gilded Age"--between the Civil War and World War I. Her suspense novel Tahoe has been considered for a movie.

Peggy Fleming, a Los Gatos resident, whom Sports Illustrated once called "the face that launched a thousand Zambonis," has spent the last 15 years as an on-air analyst for ABC Sports, including commentating at the Sarajevo and Calgary Winter Olympics. Her own Olympic moment took place during the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, France, where she won her free-style program by 88.2 points over her closest competitor. This was the only gold medal the United States won at those games. After her victory, she went on to skate at four White House celebrations.

Alice Hansen, a Los Gatos resident for 26 years, was an active member and volunteer for many local and county organizations, including the Friends of the Los Gatos Library, Los Gatos Community Foundation, local PTSAs, St. Luke's Episcopal Church and its food pantry for the hungry and homeless, the League of Women Voters and the Santa Clara County 4-H. She also volunteered in local schools.

Dorothy "Dottie" Hartman lived on a ranch in the Los Gatos foothills before moving to The Terraces of Los Gatos, which might not have existed if not for years of her own hard work. In the 1960s, Hartman started thinking about the need for an upscale retirement community for seniors and began to gather a growing group of like-minded individuals. Together with town personnel, and the Presbyterian Church of Los Gatos (where she was a member), they brainstormed, planned and worked until The Terraces was a viable reality. Hartman was a founder of the Happy Dragon thrift shop and the Village House and Garden Restaurant. She volunteered with Eastfield Ming Quong in various capacities for 20 years.

Dale Stewart Hill works as secretary and treasurer for Hill Research Associates Inc., her husband's Los Gatos-based business. She has been active with Live Oak Adult Day Services, the Los Gatos-Saratoga- Monte Sereno branch of the League of Women Voters, the Friends of the Los Gatos Library, the Los Gatos Union School District Facilities Committee and the American Association of University Women. From 1976 to 1982, she served on the Los Gatos Planning Commission, including two terms as vice chair. In 1974, she became the first woman since 1919 to be appointed foreman of a Santa Clara County grand jury.

Teri Hope, a single mother at age 17, was determined to become a woman of independent means and did just that, breaking into the then male-dominated coffee industry before age 30. With no formal college education but much business acumen, Hope opened her specialty shop, the Los Gatos Coffee Roasting Company, on W. Main Street in 1982. After its success and fame grew, she opened additional coffeehouses in Palo Alto, Carmel and the Stanford Shopping Center. Among her non-java endeavors, Hope has volunteered with the Los Gatos Downtown Association, the Los Gatos Chamber of Commerce and the Teen Counseling Center of the West Valley.

Sue LaForge came to Los Gatos in 1967 and joined the staff of the Los Gatos Times-Observer as a reporter. Later, she became managing editor. Eventually, she became executive director of the Los Gatos Chamber of Commerce, a position she held until 1993. While with the Chamber, LaForge implemented the Los Gatos Christmas Foundation and coordinated emergency-relief efforts for victims of the 1985 Lexington fire and the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. She also served 15 years on the boards of directors for Eastfield Ming Quong and the Southwest YMCA. Currently, she serves as president of the Los Gatos Youth Park board of directors.

Alice Matty, in the early 1900s, became the first California woman hired by the Southern Pacific Railroad. As a local station agent in Los Gatos, she inked the waybills for enough fruit to fill several boxcars per day. She also served as telegrapher and ticket agent and manually operated the train signal levers and the switchback track switches.

Susan Elizabeth "Betty" McClendon came to Los Gatos as a child. As a high school senior, she began a four-year apprenticeship with Vivian Amet Johnston, one of the area's most respected dance teachers. For the next half-century, McClendon taught tap, ballet and social dance to children and adults. She left Los Gatos for the 10 years in which she was involved in the dance world in New York and New Jersey. When she returned, she continued teaching dance; she was responsible for teaching generations of Los Gatos and Saratoga youth social dancing and etiquette.

Ruth Comfort Mitchell's first taste of Los Gatos came at age 4, when she was taken to visit her uncle and grandparents. She was an author and poet whose first work appeared in Sunset magazine. Many of her novels took place in the San Joaquin Valley, where she lived for many years. She also wrote for Ladies' Home Journal and Women's Home Companion.

Kathryn "Kathy" Morgan has served on the Planning Commission since 1982. She also teaches English at Los Gatos High School. In 1987, she wrote and directed the Los Gatos Centennial Pageant, a lavish production that included some 150 Los Gatans in roles including Victorian ladies, fruit growers, firefighters, loggers, railroaders and historical figures James Alexander Forbes, the Lyndons, Billy Jones, Mountain Charley and the bear who attacked him. Morgan is also a founding member of the Los Gatos Historic Preservation Committee.

Sarah Paddock and husband Isaac opened a hotel at the foot of Limekiln Gulch in Los Gatos Creek canyon, where the busy town of Lexington--now replaced by the reservoir--used to be. During the 1860s, travelers and loggers stayed at the hotel, which Paddock was left to run in 1873 after Isaac's death. She also took care of the busy stable facilities. When Lexington was no longer such a thriving town, the tourist trade brought Paddock business. Eventually, Paddock moved, remarried and became a partner in a boarding house.

Dot Perry, a teacher by education, worked at Eastfield Ming Quong when the Los Gatos Union School District ran a specialized mini-school on the campus. She also taught in a special day class at Fisher Middle School. Perry also was active in school PTAs during the years her seven daughters went through Los Gatos schools. She volunteered in classrooms and was active in garnering support for the parcel tax initiative, whose monies enabled the district to maintain many enrichment programs. She frequently attends school board meetings.

Emma Louise Rapp came here on her 13th birthday and spent the rest of her life in Los Gatos. Her parents ran general stores in the Skyland and Burrell areas of the Santa Cruz mountains. She and husband Adolf worked on a mountain fruit ranch. In 1910, Adolf helped established the first mountain telephone exchange. Rapp, a friend of heiress Sarah Win-chester, was known for quoting aphorisms, including "Look up when you are down," "It is far better to pursue than to possess" and "Rules are for fools."

Margaret Louise Rapp Tarquinio, Emma Rapp's daughter, ran cosmetics businesses in Aptos and San Jose while raising her family, then got into real estate. She and her husband built a house on part of the mountain property where she grew up. She also wrote a book, Mama's Memoirs: Growing Up in the Santa Cruz Mountains, which told the story of her mother's family and life.

MarLyn Rasmussen, a resident since 1960, is executive assistant/senior deputy town clerk. In 1962, she was among the founding members of the Los Gatos Youth Park and spent 32 years on its board of directors. She was also a founding member of the Eastfield Ming Quong Service League, the Los Gatos Christmas Foundation, the Los Gatos Community Foundation and the Los Gatos Taxpayers Association. In the 1980s, she served on the Town Council, including a term as vice mayor.

Emma Rau, a co-founder of the Art Docents of Los Gatos in 1973, spent more than 20 years teaching in the Los Gatos Union School District. She began as an art teacher at the University Avenue School. She was the first art teacher at Fisher Middle School when it opened in 1961, and a year later became the district's art coordinator. Before any of her art-related endeavors, Rau joined the U.S. Army during World War II, in which she served for 312 years. She was one of the first WACS trained as an X-ray technician.

Beverly Rouse, a third-generation Californian, moved to Los Gatos in 1962 and has been active in town life ever since. In 1966, she was among the founders of the Village House and Garden Restaurant, whose profits benefit Eastfield Ming Quong, an organization on whose board of directors she has served from 1963 to the present. From 1968 to 1979, she taught history and English at Fisher Middle School. She also found time to be involved with the Fisher Home and School Club, the Los Gatos High School PTA, the Friends of the Los Gatos Library, the Los Gatos Museum Association, the Presbyterian Church of Los Gatos and the board of advisors for The Terraces of Los Gatos.

Isabel Rowell Smith, married husband Stanley Bassett in 1915 and became an owner of the Stanley B. Smith orchard. Smith did much canning with the fruits of the orchards. She also served as captain of the Stanford University women's basketball team and was a member of the Red Cross during World War II.

Neta Snook Southern's claim to fame is recounted in I Taught Amelia Earhart to Fly . The first woman to gain entry to and graduate from the Curtiss School of Aviation, she was also the first woman pilot to carry passengers, perform stunt flying and create aerial advertising. It was Southern who gave Earhart her first flight instructions in 1921, at Kinner Field. It wasn't until 1972 that Southern began writing her memoirs, thanks in part to an adult-education creative writing class at Los Gatos High School. The book came out two years later.

Barbara Searles Squire's first taste of flying came at age 10, when she took a ride with a barnstorming pilot. She began following the career of Amelia Earhart with interest; when old enough, she enrolled in trade school and began installing radio equipment on an assembly line for B-17s. She then took ground-school courses and joined the U.S. Civil Air Patrol as a warrant officer. Cashing in her war bonds, she traveled to Quartzsite, Ariz., to log the necessary hours of flying time to join the Women Air Force Service Pilots. As a WASP, she learned to fly several planes. She also wrote poetry about her flying experiences. Later in life, she and her husband settled in Monte Sereno.

Effie Walton and husband Art bought and farmed 125 acres in the Santa Cruz mountains. Walton worked in nearby stores and then got into real estate. The Waltons helped develop a cabin colony that eventually became Aldercroft Heights. She served two terms as president of the Los Gatos Chamber of Commerce and was active on the Los Gatos-Saratoga Board of Realtors. She also wroteTwo for the Show, a book that tells of her happy marriage and the similar successes she had in various political, economic and civic positions of leadership.

The Forbes Mill Regional History Museum is open Wednesday through Sunday, from noon to 4 p.m. For more information, call 395-7375.

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