Twentynine Palms Historical Society
29 Palms, California
Welcome!
"What draws us into the desert is the search for something intimate in the remote." ~Edward Abbey
The 2021-2022 Second Friday Lecture Series continues...
Friday, May 13th...
"Art and Light, from the turn-of-the-century landscape painters to the light and space artists of conceptualists, like Phillip K. Smith III"
by Steven Biller
For a century and counting, artists have come to the California desert to experience and depict its distinctive light. Painters who worked in the impressionist and post-impressionist styles were pioneers, followed by the modernists who depicted the light more symbolically, and the postwar and contemporary artists, who approached the subject with nontraditional materials, such as plastics, resins, lights, and mirrors. This talk surveys the artists and the techniques they used to capture and reflect the desert light.
Steven Biller is the longtime editor-in-chief of Palm Springs Life and a board member of Desert X, the biennial exhibition of site-specific artwork in the Coachella Valley. He writes and lectures about California impressionism, especially the early desert painters, as well as contemporary art in the California desert.
Join Steven Biller at the Old Schoolhouse for this lecture at the Twentynine Palms Historical Society's Old Schoolhouse Museum, 6760 National Park Drive, on Friday, May 13, at 7 pm. Admission is $5 at the door.
Doors open at 6:15 p.m.
For further information call:
The Desert Institute
760-819-4714
or email desertinstitute@joshuatree.org
Our Museum and Gift Shop is open
Wednesday - Sunday 1:00-4:00 PM
Now available in our gift shop
One With The Creosote – Memories of a Desert Child
By Chris (Spangenberg) Tiffany
With a blending of poetic imagery and journalistic prose, writer Chris Tiffany reflects on her childhood growing up on the Mojave Desert during the '50s and '60s, to reveal the origins of an interwoven connection to the natural world around her and its influence on her life's paths and perspectives.
Tiffany, a Santa Ynez Valley resident who grew up in Twentynine Palms, is daughter of the late Joe and Margot Spangenberg, who moved their family from San Pedro, California, to Twentynine Palms in 1953. The Oasis of Mara, at the northern entrance to Joshua Tree National Park, was her childhood playground.
Since age 10, Tiffany has kept personal diaries and journals, and credits her writing talent to her mother, who worked as a reporter for The Desert Trail for many years.
A graduate of the University of California, Irvine, Tiffany is a former director of the Santa Ynez Valley Family School, whose curriculum encourages exploration of the surrounding Los Padres National Forest as an extension of the classroom.
A 40-year resident of the Santa Ynez Valley, she is a past editor of the Women's Environmental Watch newsletter, and served as the initial publicist and program coordinator for Arts Outreach for many years.
She continues to enjoy frequent retreats to her cabin on the boundary of Joshua Tree National Park.
Willie Boy & The Last Western Manhunt
By Clifford E Trafzer
The saga of Willie Boy has survived over one hundred years and the captivating story remains alive today.
American Indians throughout Southern California, the American Southwest, and Great Basin remember the story
well. Willie Boy's pursuit of redemption, his attempt to become culturally whole again, reflects a tragic
journey that still resonates today, over a hundred years on from the deaths of William Mike and Carlota.
In his journey to survive, Willie Boy challenged numerous lawmen eager to capture or kill him, prompting the
posse, press, and citizens to demonize Willie Boy.
Clifford E. Trafzer is a Distinguished Professor of History and Costo Chair of Amerian Indian Affairs at the
University of California, Riverside. He has published A Chemehuevi Song, Fighting Invisible Enemies,
Strong Hearts & Healing Hands, and Shadows of Sherman Institute.
2021 Old Timer of the Year honoree
Thurman Carson
Thurman has lived in Twentynine Palms since 1946, when he and his younger brother, Johnny, were adopted by Vi and Paul Carson after their mother was killed in a car accident in Pasadena.
Thurman was just 6 years old when he and his brother arrived in Twentynine Palms. He attended first grade in the old school where the Post Office is today, then went to school in the Quonset hut for three years. He attended fifth grade in the new Twentynine Palms Elementary School off Utah Trail, and attended the sixth through eighth grades in the Old Schoolhouse on Morongo Unified School District property at Utah Trail and Two Mile Road.
In 1954, Thurman's class was the last one to graduate from the Old Schoolhouse, which then sat dormant until 1992, when the Twentynine Palms Historical Society purchased the building from MUSD and moved it to its current location on National Park Drive to transform it into a museum that opened in 1995.
From 1954 to 1958, he attended Twentynine Palms High School. While growing up, he worked in the family business, Carson Roofing, which he continued to do on the side after going to work in the salt mines in Amboy after graduation.
After eight years with the salt mines, he went to work at the Iron Age Mine in the Dale Mining District east of Twentynine Palms, serving as Kaiser Steel Corp. union representative and bodyguard for the president of operation engineers. He held those positions until the mine shut down a year and 10 months later.
By the time the Iron Age Mine reopened, he was again working full-time at Carson Roofing, where he would stay until retiring in 2018 and turning the business over to his youngest son, Devon Carson.
Throughout his life, Thurman has been active in community affairs, serving on the Twentynine Palms Chamber of Commerce board for four years, two as president.
While serving as chamber president and for many years after, Thurman put on at least eight rodeos for Pioneer Days, and put on three rodeos for Grubstake Days in Yucca Valley.
He also was a member of the Needles Rod and Gun Club in Lake Havasu, Arizona, serving as the club's president for six years. The club was started by veterans, including Paul and Vi Carson, in the early 1940s.
Paul and Vi Carson, who had no biological children of their own, are remembered as wonderful people who extended kindness to everyone. The couple picked up and fed local miners on holidays and helped many who needed assistance in Twentynine Palms and the surrounding communities.
In 1952, they also took in Randy and Clem Rogers, the adopted sons of actor, writer and Congressman Will Rogers Jr., who asked the couple if they would take the two boys to Twentynine Palms for one semester. One semester stretched into many, and stayed with the Carsons until graduating from TPHS.
The Carsons loved all four boys equally, and each considered themselves brothers. Thurman Carson has many stories of adventures with his brothers, and of outings the family enjoyed that included visiting movie sets with Will Rogers Jr.
It is with great pleasure that the 29 Palms Historical Society names Thurman Carson as our 2021 Oldtimer of the Year Honoree.
The "Old Timer of the Year" program was created to honor early or long-time residents who contributed significantly to the development or betterment of the Twentynine Palms' community. The program is intended to honor "everyday heroes" whose contributions and efforts over the years have largely gone unsung.
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