from LDS News
Years ago I wanted to write a book about the women of Kern County, Calif., dating from the 1910s through the early 1950s. These were women of diverse cultures such as the Mennonites, Blacks, Hispanics, Whites, Catholics, Mormons, Baptists, Japanese decent and so on. They lived through World War I, the building of new settlements, the Great Depression, the exodus of migrant workers, World War II, and the Korean War. . .
Years ago I wanted to write a book about the women of Kern County, Calif., dating from the 1910s through the early 1950s. These were women of diverse cultures such as the Mennonites, Blacks, Hispanics, Whites, Catholics, Mormons, Baptists, Japanese decent and so on. They lived through World War I, the building of new settlements, the Great Depression, the exodus of migrant workers, World War II, and the Korean War. . .
My grandmother's people came from Nauvoo, Ill., to Utah in the 1850s. Grams married my grandfather in 1913. His family was also LDS, from Indiana.
When I moved back to Utah in December 2002, I was looking for places to research the Bakersfield, Calif., area. Some suggested the LDS archives in Salt Lake City. What I did not anticipate was the plethora of information on my own family. I began looking through the attendance rolls of the various auxiliary meetings. In these notes I found many members of my family mentioned. Perusing the notes left me wondering what these fine people looked liked. As if in answer to my prayer I came across an entry telling about the photo that was to be taken for the Relief Society Magazine. I quickly ran downstairs to the library that held all of the magazines from the past. I copied the picture along with the names of those women from long ago, including my grandmother, Zella Dodge McDonald.
This past July, I met a woman in the Mount Timpanogos Utah Temple with the last name of Gabbitas, the name of a family frequently mentioned in notes I transcribed the summer of 2003. Her husband's family was from the Bakersfield area. I told her about the picture and said I was sure her mother-in-law was in it. As it turned out, she was not, but her name was one that was mentioned. I delivered a copy of the picture for her at the temple.
In August, Cheryl Gabbitas was visiting with old friends, Roger and Jackie Campbell. She mentioned my name. Roger wondered if [it was my father with whom] he had hung around when they were teenagers in the early 1950s. He called. Yes!
In October 2011 we were all able to get together. It amazes me at how I was looking for material to write a book about one particular topic and stumbled into an unexpected surprise — the picture and the stories connected to it. I wasn't trying to find information on my family but I did — much more, some of which ended in completing further temple work along with developing a better understanding of my own family.
— Kelli L. McDonald, Lehi 18th Ward, Lehi Utah Gateway Stake
When I moved back to Utah in December 2002, I was looking for places to research the Bakersfield, Calif., area. Some suggested the LDS archives in Salt Lake City. What I did not anticipate was the plethora of information on my own family. I began looking through the attendance rolls of the various auxiliary meetings. In these notes I found many members of my family mentioned. Perusing the notes left me wondering what these fine people looked liked. As if in answer to my prayer I came across an entry telling about the photo that was to be taken for the Relief Society Magazine. I quickly ran downstairs to the library that held all of the magazines from the past. I copied the picture along with the names of those women from long ago, including my grandmother, Zella Dodge McDonald.
This past July, I met a woman in the Mount Timpanogos Utah Temple with the last name of Gabbitas, the name of a family frequently mentioned in notes I transcribed the summer of 2003. Her husband's family was from the Bakersfield area. I told her about the picture and said I was sure her mother-in-law was in it. As it turned out, she was not, but her name was one that was mentioned. I delivered a copy of the picture for her at the temple.
In August, Cheryl Gabbitas was visiting with old friends, Roger and Jackie Campbell. She mentioned my name. Roger wondered if [it was my father with whom] he had hung around when they were teenagers in the early 1950s. He called. Yes!
In October 2011 we were all able to get together. It amazes me at how I was looking for material to write a book about one particular topic and stumbled into an unexpected surprise — the picture and the stories connected to it. I wasn't trying to find information on my family but I did — much more, some of which ended in completing further temple work along with developing a better understanding of my own family.
— Kelli L. McDonald, Lehi 18th Ward, Lehi Utah Gateway Stake
