Fullerton Arboretum

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Past Exhibits

Museum

“Artifacts from Heritage House complicate our understanding of Victorian
gender roles in such rural places as Orange County, California.”

Now open at the Orange County Agricultural
and Nikkei Heritage Museum!

This exhibit is closed for the summer and reopen on September 11, 2010.

The exhibit will officially close on Sunday, November 21, 2010.

Normal hours when open:

Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday 11:00–3:00,
and by Appointment

Admission is free

Understanding History and Everyday Objects Resource Material Links Below

DHWG Education Questions Here.

DHWG Children Here.


	Examining Victorian Gender and Class The current exhibition at the Orange County Agricultural and Nikkei Heritage Museum examines the effect of a rural location on middle class gender roles for Victorian men and women. This exhibition features artifacts from Heritage House in the Fullerton Arboretum.

“Traditional histories of Victorian gender roles maintain that men and women lived in separate spheres, with men extending their influence outside the home and women confined within.”

When we think about the Victorian period, we conjure up images of corseted ladies hosting tea parties and gentlemen puffing on pipes. Our fantasies about leisurely life in the Victorian era take for granted that such men and women were following social norms set in place for an urban
middle class. By remembering only these images, we forget the complexities of Victorian lifeacross the United States. What happens when we study gender and class in an overwhelmingly agricultural area like Orange County? Did middle-class families in rural places have servants? What did a remote location mean in terms of work and leisure for men and women? What did this nonurban setting do to the public and private lives of middle-class citizens? Most importantly, does examining a rural locale change the gender roles and expectations of residents of this time, as well as everything we think we know about the Victorian period?

“Why everyday objects?”

The artifacts on display in Dirty Hands, Whites Gloves are everyday objects appropriate to even nonurban homes in the Victorian period, albeit a home with a medical practice. By examining common items rather than those reserved for special occasions, we are better able to understand the overlapping interests of public and private personas, as well as leisure and labor in nonurban settings.

To learn more about gender and class in locations like Victorian Orange
County, visit Dirty Hands, White Gloves!

Sowing Dreams, Cultivating Lives:

The opening exhibit, Sowing Dreams, Cultivating Lives: Nikkei Farmers in Pre-World War II Orange County, interprets the experiences of the Japanese American farmers who settled and lived in Orange County in the years leading up to their relocation and internment in the spring of 1942. Based on the collection of oral histories and photographs held at CSUF's Center for Oral and Public History, the exhibit covers immigration, family life, social organizations, and farming. This exhibit opened to the public on February 10, 2007.

The museum featured an original art work by New York artist Mike Saijo based on local photographs and writings in Echo from the pre-war period. The work measures seven feet tall by ten feet wide and reflects the sense of community spirit of the Japanese American farmers.

This exhibit owes much to the cooperation of several departments from across the California State University, Fullerton campus. From Visual Arts to Anthropology, from History to Biology, professors, staff, and students have contributed time, effort, and skills to design, develop, and create the exhibition concepts and structures. Moreover, the volunteers who devoted countless hours building creative displays, and the generosity of people in the community who provided advice, artifacts, and personal items, all contributed to the realization of this project.

Sowing Dreams, Cultivating Lives: Nikkei Farmers in Pre-World War II Orange County will journey with the early Japanese immigrants to California, and follows their stories as they established permanent communities in Orange County, by marrying, raising families, founding schools and social groups, farming, and above all, cultivating their new lives.

This exhibit is free and is open to the public every weekend on Saturday and Sunday from 12 noon to 4:00 p.m.

Future Exhibits

The second exhibit will focus on the pioneer families. A Determined Lot: Orange County Pioneer Farmers will chart the paths taken by the families who settled in the county and consider their motivations and incentives as they farmed the land and created innovations that changed the landscape.

Click Here to purchase a copy of the new book,
Sowing Dreams, Cultivating Lives:
Nikkei Farmers in Pre-World War II Orange County,
by Stephanie George and Carlota Haider,

This full color, 150 page book depicts the struggles and
challenges of Nikkei farmers and has been produced by the
CSUF Center for Oral and Public History.

A Determined Lot: Resilient Pioneers Forge a New County’s Future.

Early Orange County Pioneers

Museum Exhibit

Opens at Fullerton Arboretum

February 16, 2008

The Fullerton Arboretum is pleased to announce the Orange County Agricultural and Nikkei Heritage Museum introduced a new exhibit to the public on February 16 called “A Determined Lot: Resilient Pioneers Forge a New County’s Future.” This exhibition is scheduled to run from February 16 to December 7, 2008 and will be open Saturdays and Sundays, 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. or by special appointment.

The exhibit is located at the Fullerton Arboretum, adjacent to the California State University, Fullerton campus at 1900 Associated Road, Fullerton, California 92831. Admission is free; donations appreciated. The Orange County Agricultural and Nikkei Heritage Museum, at the Fullerton Arboretum at California State University, Fullerton, highlights Orange County’s agrarian roots and the contributions made by pioneering farmers.

A Determined Lot: Resilient Pioneers Forge a New County’s Future explores the development of agriculture in the Santa Ana River valley and other areas of Orange County. It recognizes the challenges faced by pioneer families: water supplies, natural predators, and harvest costs. Familiar names on today’s landscape come from this hardy group of early settlers.

This exhibit, like its predecessor, is based on the collection of oral histories and photographs held at CSUF’s Center for Oral and Public History, and it primarily uses those interviews collected by the Orange County Pioneer Council as well as early oral history classes.

Initially, ranchers grew barley and other grains to sustain cattle, and grapes were planted by the earliest Orange County settlement in Anaheim with irrigation from the Santa Ana River. Deciduous fruit trees like apples and apricots were also tried, but a variety of factors led to changes in the cultivation of these first crops. The development of Valencia and navel oranges marked a change in the area’s agricultural economy. Railroad companies played an important role both in enticing farmers to the area and in expanding their markets across the nation.

When the population growth and rising production costs for farmers collided in the early 1950s, much farmland gave way to housing and other development. Orange State College was situated on 236 acres of Valencia citrus groves and is now known as California State University, Fullerton. The exhibit also celebrates the 50th anniversary of the school’s inception.

This exhibit owes much to the cooperation of several departments working with the Arboretum from across the California State University, Fullerton campus. From Visual Arts to Anthropology, from History to Engineering, professors, staff, and students have taken part in the staging of this exhibit. Moreover, the volunteers who devoted countless hours building creative displays, and the generosity of people in the community who provided advice, artifacts, and personal items, all contributed to the realization of this project. The Curator is Kathleen Frazee and the Designer is Christina Hasenberg. More information is available at www.fullertonarboretum.org.

More Information about the “A Determined Lot—Resilient Pioneers Forge a New County’s Future”

Teachers Guide to “A Determined Lot—Resilient Pioneers Forge a New County’s Future”

1900 Associated Ave. Fullerton, CA 92831
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