Photo Illustration by Stephanie Woehrmann

Well Preserved

Sunnyvale museum celebrates 25 years of documenting valley life

By Daniel Hindin

The Sunnyvale Historical Society, which promotes the rememberance of the Sunnyvale of days past, this year celebrated the 25th anniversary of its museum. The society strives to remind valley residents of the days when Sunnyvale was referred to as the Valley of Hearts Delight instead of the Heart of Silicon Valley.

The society was formed on Oct. 31, 1956, with the intentions of naming the Murphy house an historic landmark. Though they lost their immediate battle, much good has come out of it.

After the house was torn down in 1961 because of the city's lack of motivation to continue to work on repairs and upkeep, the city offered the historical society a room in the main building of the park that was built in place of the house. Today, Murphy Park is a beautiful, peaceful haven where friends, couples and individuals go to relax in the warmth of the sun on freshly cut grass under gigantic 100-year-old eucalyptus and palm trees.

Upon entering the building, visitors are warmly greeted by knowledgeable docents, many of whom have dedicated decades to learning, sharing and preserving the history of Sunnyvale.


Photograph by Jacqueline Ramsyer

Don Frahm, a Sunnyvale resident for over 40 years, looks over memorabilia from the former Sunnyvale High School.




When she's not leading classes of young school children or curious adults around the display room, docent and museum curator Chiyo Winters is busy in the back room sorting through old pictures and relics.

Whether from the cold war aeronautics era, the agricultural boom or the ranching days of Sunnyvale or pre-Sunnyvale, Winters is enthralled with each and every artifact in the museum. She can--and will--talk for hours about canneries, furniture pieces, family lineages, the post office, the military, trains, planes, earthquakes, anything and everything that can be associated directly or indirectly with the history of this area.

Winters says honestly, "The only thing we don't do are Indians because we can't do them well." But the museum can do post-Native American history very well.

Back in her workroom, Winters shows off a hundred years of newspaper articles about Sunnyvale all the way up to last week's edition of The Sun. "Friday is the day that I get to sort through all this stuff," she says as she walks over to a large 3-foot by 3-foot box. "Right now I'm trying to organize all of the oversized photographs we have."

She proudly points to and explains every odd and end in her work room and then continues into the storage room where she has even more historical artifacts.

This clock, date unknown, is from the Murphy Family home that resided on the land the museum is currently on until the 1960's. In 1844, the Murphy family journey west in the first wagon train to cross the Sierra's into California. En route, Mrs. Murphy gave birth to the first emigrant American child born in California.




Photograph by Jacqueline Ramsyer







The museum room is too small to hold everything that the society has collected, but Winters makes a point of rotating different items into the showroom.

"I've lived in Sunnyvale ever since I was a little girl," she says as she recalls the 1951 tornado that ripped through Sunnyvale. "I had a teacher in high school who got me interested in chemistry," she continues as she looks at an old slide rule. "My husband was the one who was interested in social sciences."

She also waxes about her favorite hobby--photography. She shares one of her photos of white blossoms that was featured on the cover of a brochure for the Orchard Heritage Park Interpretive Exhibit earlier this year.

"I like to take pictures of little things like flowers. I carry my camera with me everywhere I go. I always wear long pants and shirts so I can get 'down and dirty,'" she says.

Whether she is dealing with chemistry, photography or museum relics, Winters likes to get 'down and dirty' with them all. She is wholeheartedly devoted to the museum. She invites anyone and everyone to Murphy Park to appreciate and celebrate the museum and its 25 years of chronicling Sunnyvale's past.

---

The Sunnyvale Historical Society museum is open on Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 12 p.m.-3 p.m. and on Sundays, from 1 p.m.-4 p.m.

---

Public Safety

Deborah Taylor-Hollis: Some of life's choices aren't as easy as they seem

Photo: Fremont High begins new school year

Sports Briefs

Dustin Realini helps team to third place Junior Olympic Baseball Tournament win

Silicon Valley Quakes rolled into the quarterfinals of the North American Roller Hockey Championships

Local teams in field hockey jamboree