Regional Oral Historv Office Universitv of California

The Bancroft Library Berkeley, California

Donated Oral Histories Collection

LEONORA H. STROHMAIER: Memories of Years Preceding

and During the Formation of the California Native Plant Society

An Interview Conducted By

Mary Mead

1992

[In fulfillment of requirements for the

Advanced Class in Oral History Methods and Techniques

Vista College, Berkeley

Instructor: Elaine Dorfman]

LEONORA H. STROHMAIER

1992

Photograph taken by Erwin Strohmaier

TABLE OF CONTENTS

A. Planning Materials iii

B. Introduction vii

C, Interview History viii

D. Transcript of Interviews 1

I. Leonora Strohmaier: Personal Background 1

a. Early Childhood Memories 1

b, College Years at UC Berkeley 2

c. Work Experience Leads to Ph.D. 4

d. Years Following Ph.D, 5

e. Leonora Meets Erwin Strohmaier 6

f. Leonora Joins the Berkeley Garden Club 8

11. Activities and Groups Contributing to the Development

of CNPS 10

a. The Regional Parks Association 10

b. Members of the Regional Parks Association 11

c. Leonora's Involvement with the Regional Parks

Association 12

d. Controversy Over the Regional Parks Botanic

Garden 12

e. Three Groups in Defense of the Botanic Garden 13

f. Key People in the Pre-CNPS Groups 15

g. Inspection of the Regional Botanic Garden

at Tilden 16

h. CNPS Is Gradually Organized 2 1

111. First Months of the California Native Plant Society 24

a. Financial Problems in the First Year 24

b. Memories of Original Members of CNPS 26

c. Leonora's Early Involvement in CNPS 30

d. Some Personality Differences in the Early Months 31

e. Early Structure of CNPS 3 1

IV. Additional Memories of CNPS 33

a. Memories of CNPS from Photographs by Erwin

Strohmaier 33

b. Early CNPS Newsletters 35

c. Leonora's View of Changes in CNPS Over the Years 37

d. Leonora's Activities Outside CNPS 3 7

E , Collateral Documents

F. Guide to Tapes

G , Name/Place Index

I. Interviewer's Biography

HISTORICAL TIMELINE

Historical Events and Trends

Dates World State Local

1915 World's Fair

Depression years

World War I1

Controversy over

Tilden Botanic Garden

CNPS Founded

Vietnam War

CNPS State Office

Moved to Sacramento

CNPS East Bay

Chapter is Formed

Personal

College

education

Research/Teaching

positions

Research

Marriage/Family

Joins Berkeley Garden Club &

Regional Parks Association

Liaison between Regional Parks

& Friends of RegionaParks Botanic Garden

OUTLINE FOR INTERVIEWS

Interview One:

A. Leonora's personal history

1. Early family history

2. When did interest in botany form?

3. Education

4. Work history

5. Marriage and family

B. Membership in community interest groups

1. Activities leading up to formation of the California

Native Plant Society

Interview Two:

C. Pre-CNPS Days

1. Easts Bay Regional Parks Botanic Garden at Tilden

a. Controversy over botanic garden site

b. Early groups and members against relocation of garden

2. Leonora's involvement in early groups

D. Founding of the California-Native Plant Society

1. Gradual evolvement of CNPS from early interest groups

2. Key people during first few months

a. Internal differences and difficulties

3. Leonora's involvement in CNPS

4. Structure of CNPS in early months

Interview Three:

E. Additional Memories

1. Photographs of early CNPS meetings and activities

2. Examples of early CNPS newsletters

3. Leonora's activities outside CNPS

vii

EAST BAY CHAPTER

Alameda & Contra Costa Counties

California Native Plant Society

LEONORA STROHMAIER

By David Bigham April 1992

Leonora Strohmaier is a quiet person. I believe I first met her over twenty years ago while helping at the CNPS Plant Sale. I remember a tall, gentle woman who talked a little with the loud and bustling kid I was then. I don't remember much else, except the way she made me feel welcome and at ease. I probably didn't have the eyes or ears to catch the sparkle of wry humor.

I know it must have been there, because in the years since that humor has lighted up many a slow Board meeting and broken moods become too self-serious. Leonora, serving as Board Secretary for so many years, has contributed a rare commodity to CNPS: good sense. She has made our often rambling and diffuse discussions appear rational and ordered in her minutes . She has accomplished this by her ability to grasp the essential points and record them with clarity and economy.

I learned this not only by my own attendance at meetings but also by working on a CNPS history project to summarize those minutes. Reviewing them revealed a voice that was honest, accurate, and, above all, kind. This was especially remarkable because many of those years recorded were vivid with difficult and sometimes disagreeable moments. I guess that is what Leonora has given to CNPS and all of us from her quietness, a point of view which puts us at ease and helps us all to rise to om best.

INTERVIEW HISTORY

This is the second in a planned series of four interviews with

early members of the California Native Plant Society. I began the

series with Myrtle Wolf, and during one of our meetings she

recommended that Leonora Strohmaier would be a good person to

interview if I wanted a more complete history of CNPS. I called

Leonora who was very willing to be a part of the series, and we set

up a pre-interview planning session for 10 February 1992.

I was greeted by Leonora at the door of the Strohmaier home at 77

Bonnie Lane in Berkeley, California. She is a very pleasant, soft-

spoken woman, somewhat shy yet quietly confident and comfortable

with herself. I met her husband, Erwin, who as an amateur

photographer has taken numerous photographs of the early CNPS

members and activities. We talked about the likelihood of using

some of Erwin's photographs for her oral history.

Leonora showed me to a basement office where she had gathered some

early materials about CNPS--she was clearly preparing herself for

the interviews to come. She was curious to know what value an oral

history about CNPS and herself could have to others, and I assured

her that her recollections would be highly valued as an historical

reference. We proceeded to create an outline of topics that would

be used as a guideline during the interviews.

On 28 February 1992, we held our first interview. Leonora was

comfortably dressed for the occasion. She directed me into the

dining room where she once again had spread out materials in

preparation for the interview. The Strohmaier home is an older

Berkeley house with dark wood and a warm, comfortable feeling. A

quiet fire in the fireplace took the chill off a crisp morning.

At the last minute, I explained to Leonora that I wanted to diverge

from our original outline and have her begin by telling me about

herself and her early family life. This proved most rewarding, and

the transition from her personal background to her involvement in

CNPS and related activities was very smoothe. I felt that the

interview was very comfortable, but I noticed that upon completion

an hour or so later, she was somewhat relieved that it was over.

She expressed concern again whether the information would have

value to others. We arranged for a second interview in three weeks

due to schedule constraints for both of us. Leonora is very

actively involved in a number organizations, so I was extremely

grateful she granted me time for these interviews. I again

expressed an interest, once the interviews were complete, to talk

to Erwin about using some of his photographs.

The second interview took place on 20 March, again at the

Strohmaier home. As I walked up the front path to the house, I

looked more closely at Leonora's front garden, full of spring

bulbs. The brilliant red tulips were particularly noticeable and

contrasted well with flowers of blue and also yellow.

Leonora was clearly more comfortable this time as I set up my

equipment for recording. I felt the interview was more relaxed and

spontaneous because of the familiarity of the process. We decided

that one more interview would be required for a more complete

picture of her involvement in CNPS and in groups preceding CNPS.

The third interview, on 27 March, was both interesting a fun.

Leonora has kept a large file on minutes from pre-CNPS groups and

early CNPS meetings as well as CNPS newsletters, the latter dating

from the first meeting of October 1965 through 1973. These

documents helped trigger her memories throughout our interviews.

On this day, she also pulled out an album of early photographs of

CNPS taken by her husband Erwin. She leafed through the pages and

gave brief descriptions of each photograph, and we decided upon

five or six to be included in the oral history. Erwin joined us

following the taping, and he very kindly offered to make extra

prints of those Leonora and I had chosen.

I met with Leonora twice more for editing purposes. Each time she

was as gracious as ever. She is a very busy person, currently at

work on a 50-year history of the Berkeley Garden Club which she

will present in June. Although I told her to take her time with

the editing process, she called in a few days to let me know she

had completed it. The old saying, "If you want something done,

give it to a busy person," truly applies to Leonora!

A native of the Bay Area, Leonora's family history offers valuable

information about earlier places and events. She has also been a

member of many local and state organizations over the years. Her

quiet presence has made a sound contribution wherever she has

elected to contribute her time and efforts. It is a great

privilege to have interviewed her.

I would like to thank Mary Wohlers, with whom I corresponded by

phone and mail, for certain early documents of CNPS which were of

great value during the interviews with Leonora. I would also like

to thank Erwin Strohmaier for his willingness to provide

photographs of early CNPS events for this oral history.

In editing the transcripts of the interviews, for the sake of

continuity there were some rearrangements of the text along with

some deletions of repetitious material.

PART I. LEONORA STROHMAIER: PERSONAL BACKGROUND

[Interview 1: 28 February 19921 # #

Early Childhood Memories

Mead : Leonora, before listening to your recollections about the California Native Plant Society, I'd like to hear a little about you, when and where you were born and something about your early family life.

Strohmaier: I was born in Berkeley on Carleton Street just west

of Martin Luther King Drive. My mother was afraid

to go to the hospital because she was afraid she

might get the wrong baby. So I was born at home.

My father was an engineer, and he had a lot of

different jobs early in his career, short-time jobs.

We lived in San Francisco soon after my birth, and

my sister was born in San Francisco. He had jobs

like overseeing the building of the water supply,

things like that. Then, about 1914, he got a job to

be the city engineer in Sausalito.

Mead : You were born what year?

Strohmaier: In 1909, so I was about five years old at that time.

We lived in a beautiful location on the hillside,

and we could see the 1915 fair [World's Fair] from

our window, the Tower of Jewels every night. We

saw the stunt-flying of that aviator [Art Smith].

He did loops and things in the sky, and we could

'see that. So my father's job lasted for four

years in Sausalito. He was in charge of laying

out the streets which are now kind of obsolete.

Anyway, that was a political job, and at the end

of four years he had to find something else. He

found something in Martinez with the Shell Oil

Company. He was an engineer there.

Going back to Sausalito, that was where we first

were interested in native plants. My mother was

always a gardener, and so even there in Sausalito

S t r o h m a i e r : when w e w e r e l i t t l e g i r l s , w e e a c h had a l i t t l e p l o t . Our l o t w a s a g r e a t b i g t h i n g , a b o u t h a l f a n acre. W e e a c h had a l i t t l e p l o t where we c o u l d p l a n t o u r own w i l d f l o w e r s t h a t w e g a t h e r e d from t h e h i l l s .

Mead : So it w a s your mothe r , i n t e r e s t i n g a r d e n i n g .

t h e n , t h a t i n s t i l l e d an

t r o h m a i e r : Y e s , t h a t ' s r i g h t . My p a t e r n a l g randmothe r , t o o , who l i v e d i n B e r k e l e y a l l t h o s e y e a r s , w a s a g a r d e n e r . I n M a r t i n e z , w e a l s o had a home on t h e h i l l s i d e which my p a r e n t s b u i l t . They f i r s t l i v e d i n r e n t e d p l a c e s f o r a c o u p l e o f y e a r s b e f o r e t h e y b u i l t t h e house . So w e had t h e h i l l s beh ind u s t h e r e , t o o , and w e c o u l d go and g a t h e r t h e f l o w e r s , W e c o n t i n u e d o u r i n t e r e s t i n g a r d e n i n g t h e r e .

We had a l o v e l y g a r d e n i n M a r t i n e z w i t h l o t s of f r u i t t r ees , t o o . W e had t h r e e a p r i c o t t r ees , and w e c o u l d h a r d l y l o o k a n a p r i c o t i n t h e e y e a f t e r a w h i l e [ l a u g h s ] . We had a l l k i n d s o f f r u i t , and we canned two hundred q u a r t s o f t h i s and t h a t . My sister and I w e r e a lways p r e t t y good a b o u t working around t h e house and g a r d e n . Mother a lways g o t a l o t of h e l p from h e r g i r l s . I l o v e d t h e w i l d f l o w e r s a l r e a d y a t t h a t t i m e .

Mead : Where w a s your p r i m a r y e d u c a t i o n ?

S t r o h m a i e r : My f i r s t t h r e e g r a d e s were i n S a u s a l i t o . Then on t h r o u g h h i g h s c h o o l , I went t o M a r t i n e z . W e l i v e d i n M a r t i n e z u n t i l my sister and I had been t o c o l l e g e a t UC [ U n i v e r s i t y o f C a l i f o r n i a a t B e r k e l e y ] . A l r e a d y t h e a i r p o l l u t i o n [ i n M a r t i n e z ] w a s g e t t i n g t o my mother t h e r e a t t h e S h e l l r e f i n e r y , s o s h e conv inced my f a t h e r t o t r y t o f i n d a n o t h e r p l a c e t o l i v e and work.

C o l l e g e Y e a r s a t UC B e r k e l e y

Mead : When w a s it t h a t you went t o UC B e r k e l e y ?

S t r o h m a i e r : I s t a r t e d t h e r e i n J a n u a r y 1 9 2 8 .

Mead :

Strohmaier:

Mead :

Strohmaier:

Mead :

Strohmaier:

Mead :

Strohmaier:

So it was around this time that your family

relocated?

Yes, my parents moved back to Berkeley around 1930.

They had a rented house in the Thousand Oaks

district, then found a lot in Kensington where they

built a very nice home. We still have that, my

sister and I. Erwin [Strohmaier] and I go there

every Saturday and help with the garden over there.

When you went to college, what was it that you

studied?

Yes, in college--first I didn't know what else to do

but be a teacher. I didn't know what to major in,

so I put down a French major when I was a freshman.

But we had some family friends who were interested

in science especially. One of them was a professor

in the zoology department--his name was S. C.

Brooks. His wife was a girlhood friend of my

mother's. These people kind of influenced me--got

me interested in science. I thought, "Well, a woman

shouldn't be interested in something like chemistry

or physics."

At that time, then, a scientific field for a woman

was not encouraged?

That's right. Even Mrs. [Mathilda] Brooks tried to

be a scientist and was. She published lots of work,

but she had to really fight her way through. Some

of the things she wrote didn't agree with other

scientists. For example the famous [Melvin] Calvin.

She disagreed with him very much in her

publications.

Did you end up pursuing a career in science?

Yes, I decided I'd sign up to be a botany major. So

that's how I got into that field, I went through

the four years as a botany major and graduated with

honors in 1931 under Robert Gordon Sproul's first

graduating class. He became president, and this was

his first class. He lasted twenty five years as

president, you know.

Strohmaier: I took courses that were more on the side of

chemistry, some organic chemistry, quantitative

analysis, and all the things that could put me in

plant physiology. I wasn't too keen about taxonomy

which is what most of the Native Plant Society

people are very good in.

Mead : Taxonomy is the classification of plants'?

Strohmaier: Yes, the naming and classification of plants.

Taxonomy was not my great forte. Plant physiology

deals with the functions of plants, like

photosynthesis and respiration and nutrition.

Work Experience Leads to Ph.D.

Mead : How were you able to use your education?

Strohmaier: Well, let's see now [laughs]. When I graduated, my

first job I got was to be a T.A. [teaching

assistant] in the Botany Department [at the

University of California at Berkeley]. They had me

work in a plant physiology course and in the

elementary botany course. I was a section leader in

those courses. The plant physiology course was

given by Professor Richard Holman who died very

young--he was only forty one or so and had a heart

attack. The other professor who taught the

elementary botany course was Lee Bonar. He became a

mature man and lived to about eighty or so.

Then Mrs. Brooks told me about a fellowship which

was available through the University of Michigan for

people interested in plant physiology--to spend two

years at Ann Arbor and one year abroad studying

something towards a Ph.D. thesis. I applied for

that fellowship--it was called the F. C. and Susan

Eastman Newcombe Fellowship in Plant Physiology. I

was accepted and went back to Ann Arbor. This was

during the deep Depression, and the income from that

endowment was down so low that they couldn't afford

to send anybody to Europe at that time. Even in Ann

Arbor, we had to try to live on a $400 stipend a

year [laughs].

Strohmaier: When I was there I didn't succeed in getting

anything accomplished towards a Ph.D. thesis. So

after being there for two years, I decided to come

back to California. Then I went back to Cal [UC

Berkeley] and took the necessary courses to get a

teaching credential for high school and junior

college levels. I was hoping to teach in junior

colleges--I didn't want to have to teach kids that

were too young.

While I was in the business of doing that, Professor

Bonar was having lunch with one of the professors in

the College of Agriculture in the Division of Fruit

Products. His name was [William V.] Cruess. Cruess

and Bonar were discussing their business, and Cruess

asked Bonar if he could recommend somebody who knows

something about plant physiology and about mycology,

that's the study of fungi. The wine industry was

just starting up again after the repeal of

Prohibition, and they were interested in having some

scientific work done on the fermentation process.

So, I got that job. It was a small job, a research

assistant job, but it was something.

I worked in the Fruit Products Laboratory for a number of years. Cruess and the others encouraged me to get a Ph.D. which I got in plant physiology, in yeast physiology. It took quite a while to get that Ph.D. I got that in 1 9 3 9 . With all these different things going on in between, it took some time.

Years Following Ph.D.

Strohmaier: After I got my Ph.D., they couldn't figure out any place to put me in the Food Technology Lab--the name changed during my time there. But an opportunity arose at the Roma Winery in Fresno. They wanted someone to start a pure culture yeast laboratory for them. So I took that job, and I got $ 1 4 0 a month with a Ph.D.

Mead : At that time, was this considered a good salary?

S t r o h m a i e r : No, i t w a s n ' t r e a l l y good a t a l l . They g o t away w i t h i t because t h e r e w a s s o l i t t l e c o m p e t i t i o n . d i d go t h e r e , and I d i d g e t them s t a r t e d on t h e y e a s t l a b o r a t o r y .

I

Then, Agnes Faye Morgan a t UC B e r k e l e y needed somebody f o r one semester t o t e a c h food c h e m i s t r y and a home economics c o u r s e . So I came back t o B e r k e l e y and d i d t h a t . While I w a s t h e r e , t h e w a r [World War 111 had a l r e a d y begun. J a c k Shave r from t h e Acme Brewery i n San F r a n c i s c o came t o m e and a s k e d me i f I would work f o r t h e brewery i n t h e i r y e a s t l a b o r a t o r y . S i n c e t h e t e a c h i n g a t B e r k e l e y w a s o n l y f o r one semester, I t o o k t h e brewery j o b .

P r o f e s s o r C r u e s s t h e n came t o m e and s a i d t h a t Maynard J o s l y n , t h e one I s t u d i e d w i t h f o r my Ph.D. , Maynard J o s l y n had gone t o w a r , a c a p t a i n i n t h e Q u a r t e r m a s t e r Corps . They needed someone t o t e a c h h i s classes. So I began t o t e a c h o t h e r p e o p l e ' s c o u r s e s and had t o bone up f o r t h e l e c t u r e s [ l a u g h s ] .

Mead : T h a t must have been a real c h a l l e n g e .

S t r o h m a i e r : Y e s . T h i s l a s t e d u n t i l t h e end o f t h e w a r , and t h e n t h e Food Technology Lab k e p t m e on f o r some f r o z e n food r e s e a r c h . T h a t w a s a l s o one o f Maynard J o s l y n ' s f i e l d s , and I had worked i n t h a t w h i l e he w a s away. When h e r e t u r n e d , I s p e c i a l i z e d a l i t t l e more i n how t h e t i s s u e s o f t h e f r u i t s and v e g e t a b l e react t o t h e f r e e z i n g p r o c e s s . T h i s w a s p l a n t microbiology--we made c r o s s - s e c t i o n s of t h e p l a n t s and s t u d i e d them m i c r o s c o p i c a l l y . I had a number o f p u b l i c a t i o n s i n t h a t f i e l d .

Leonora Meets Erwin S t r o h m a i e r

S t r o h m a i e r : Then, i n 1 9 4 6 , a f r i e n d o f mine s u g g e s t e d t h a t I go on a S i e r r a Club h i g h t r i p f o r my v a c a t i o n . So I d i d t h a t .

Mead : The S i e r r a Club h a s been a round a l o n g t i m e , t h e n .

Strohmaier: Oh, yes. They are a hundred years old now. John

Muir started it. And by the way, I was in high

school with his grandchildren in Martinez. His

daughter was a member of the board of education

there, I think she was chairman. She signed my high

school diploma--Wanda Muir Hanna.

Anyway, I went on this Sierra Club high trip, and we

broke up into small groups. On this trip, they had

about one hundred fifty people with mules and all

kinds of things. They don't do that any more, it's

too hard on the mountains. But in those years they

did, and the small groups were put together. Erwin

Strohmaier was on that same high trip. Then, a year

later, I went on another high trip, and he happened

to be on that one. We had not seen each other in

the meantime [laughs]. He had been taking a lot of

color slides on that trip, and our small group had

wanted to get together after we got home to see

these pictures.

I had taken an apartment in the meantime which was

close to my work. Actually, I was sort of pushed by

my friends who said I was being expected too much of

by my mother. I did get an apartment, and I lived

there when this high trip business came up. I

offered to host the slide show. We had it one

evening. Then a night or two later, I got a phone

call from Erwin saying, "How would you like to see

my black and white pictures'?" He had taken both

black and white and color. So he came over and

showed me those. Then. . . [laughs].

Mead : One thing led to another!

Strohmaier: Yes [laughs]! So that was that part of things. In

1948 I was married. I was still working a little

bit to finish up the work I had started at the Food

Technology Lab in the College of Agriculture. The

whole Department of Food Technology was moved to

Davis because they were building a new building

there, and they needed the space here for something

else. Right then I had a little baby, so I didn't

go to Davis and keep up with the Food Technology

Department. That was the end of my career for

money. But I've been busy ever since with something

or another.

Leonora Joins the Berkeley Garden Club

Mead: From that time, were you involved with plant groups?

Strohmaier: Yes, in 1955, my baby was five years old and

starting kindergarten. Mother talked me into

joining the Berkeley Garden Club which she had been

active in all along. So I joined that club, and

I've been active in this ever since then.

In the Garden Club, I have been an officer in the

local [Berkeley] club practically every year--I've

been president twice. Right now, I'm the historian,

and the club is sixty years old this year. At our

June meeting, I am to give a big history about the

Garden Club.

Mead : So you are a very busy person these days!

Strohmaier: Yes [laughs]. The Berkeley Garden Club belongs to a

larger organization, the California Garden Club

Incorporated, and they belong to the National

Council of State Garden Clubs. There are offices to

be held in all of these different things. We have

what is called the Bay Bridges District--the

California Garden Club is broken up into districts

so that people from different clubs can get to know

one another in the same areas. Yesterday, there was

a district meeting here in Emeryville which covered

West Contra Costa County, Alameda County and San

Francisco County. The state has various

chairmanships, and I was Chairman of the Arboretum

and Botanical Gardens on the State ~oard for about

ten to twelve years.

Mead : What are some of the functions of the Garden Club?

Strohmaier: The objectives are to be interested in civic things,

helping cities to create nice public gardens. For

example, the Berkeley Garden Club put in a nice

fireplace at the Live Oak Park. We have worked in

the [Berkeley] Rose Garden for years--we have put in

benches there. Right now we have a project where

every couple of months or so, we go there to pick

wilted roses and pull up weeds.

Mead : So there's a lot of maintenance work which is done.

Strohmaier: That's right. Do you know where the firehouse is located at Marin and The Alameda? That was a park

before it became a firehouse. It was a little

triangular piece of land with trees--the Berkeley

Garden Club had developed that park. They were real

upset when a firehouse was put there. I don't

remember exactly when that happened--I guess maybe

about thirty five years or so ago. I'm pretty sure

it was built while we were living here--we've lived

here [on Bonnie Lane] for forty two years. The

Berkeley Historical Society would probably know. We

belong to that, too [laughs].

PART 11. ACTIVITIES AND GROUPS CONTRIBUTING TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF CNPS

The Regional Parks Association

trohmaier: Going back a little, at one of the first meetings of

the Garden Club I went to, there was a little pile

of brochures on the president's desk from the

Regional Parks Association. I took one home and

decided it would be interesting. I joined that

organization, also.

Mead : What was the function of the Regional Parks Association?

Strohmaier: Their function was to act as a sort of watchdog

organization to keep track of what the Board of

Directors of the East Bay Regional Parks District

was doing and whether it could be approved of. The

directors are elected by the popular vote. The

district at that time was only Alameda County--later

on the district expanded and now includes Contra

Costa County as well.

Mead : So that's quite large, then.

Strohmaier: Yes, it is. They had five directors at that time,

now they have seven. Incidently, one of the

directors is from Martinez--I found this out during

one of the meetings. I asked him where he lived in

Martinez. He actually lived in the house that my

parents built [laughs]. He let my husband and

sister and me visit the place once.

Mead : Do you recall any of the activities in which you were involved in this association?

Strohmaier: Yes, and that really leads to becoming involved in

the CNPS as well. I joined the Regional Parks

Association, and one lady who was on the board of

directors at that time was a librarian at UC

[Berkeley]. She remembered me because I used to use

the library often, and she knew me from that. I

don't remember her name. She apparently was on the

Strohmaier: nominating committee for that organization, and she nominated me for the Board of Directors of the Regional Parks Association, and I was elected. It was through that experience that I got involved with the Native Plant Society. # #

Mead : Leonora, we were just talking about some of the activities of the Regional Parks Association. Do you recall what some of those activities were?

Strohmaier: They had field trips, and they were looking out for

what was going on in the District Board Meetings.

In fact, [the association] encouraged the members of

the Regional Parks Association to go and sit in on

the meetings of the Park District to find out what

they were up to. So the people who could, did that.

Members of the Regional Parks Association

Strohmaier: There was one woman who had been in the Regional

Parks Association for many years. This lady, her

name is Margo Gwinn, goes to all the Park District

Board meetings. So she knows all that's going on.

When the controversy started about the Regional

Parks Botanic Garden, the people who were interested

in keeping the garden at Tilden had been going to

those board meetings all the time and putting in

their two-bits worth so to speak.

Mead : Do you remember some of the other people who were involved besides Margo Gwinn?

Strohmaier: Oh, yes, Joyce Burr, a lady named Marion Copley, Dan

Luten--Dan Luten has been very active in the

Regional Parks Association like Margo Gwinn all

through the years. He's a very bright and

intelligent man.

Mead: So these people were instrumental and diligent, it

seems, in their efforts to preserve certain lands

and flora.

Strohmaier: Oh, yes, that's right. Another name that comes up

that is connected with those days is Leo Brewer, a

chemistry professor [UC Berkeley]. He has a garden

in Orinda where he's been growing native plants for

most of his life, I guess. He was involved in these

organizations.

Leonora's Involvement with the Regional Parks

Association

Mead : What were your activities in this organization? Did you hold any offices?

Strohmaier: In the Regional Parks Association, I was recording

secretary for three years I think. After that I

wasn't on the Board of the Regional Parks

Association any more. As a member, I went to annual

meetings usually--that's what we do in the Regional

Parks Association now.

Controversy Over the Regional Parks Botanic Garden

Mead : How exactly did your involvement with the Regional Parks Association lead to your activity with CNPS?

Strohmaier: The groups that were forming to save the garden came

to the Regional Parks Association and told us about

their problem and wanted us to support their

efforts. And the Regional Parks Association agreed

with their general ideas. I was appointed as the

liaison between these groups and the Regional Parks

Association. I went to a lot of the meetings of

these people who were trying to save the garden.

Mead : You are speaking of the Botanic Garden at Tilden?

Strohmaier: Yes, that's right.

Mead : Do you recall the circumstances around this garden?

Strohmaier: Mr. William Penn Mott, Jr. was the General Manager

of the East Bay Regional Parks District at that

time. He had been the Parks Superintendent at

Strohmaier: Oakland and had done a very good job there--people

liked what he did for Oakland's parks--Lakeside Park

[Lake Merritt] and so on. I think he also developed

the Fairyland there. According to my husband

[Erwin], some of the people in the city offices

thought he was far too extravagant, spending too

much money on all these things for the parks. But

he has become very well thought of through the

years.

Anyway, he was general manager of the parks district

at that time, and he didn't like the looks of Tilden

Regional Park's garden. Mr. [James] Roof, who had

really developed the garden, made a lot of stonework

which was very conspicuous. The thing is that the

stones were not nearly so dominant as the cement

that was between them. So it was aesthetically not

to Mr. Mott's liking [laughs]. [Mr. Mott] wanted to

move the garden to a new site.

The proposal was to take it to what was then known

as the Grass Valley Regional Park--I think now it is

called the Anthony Chabot Regional Park. During

this time it was called the Grass Valley Region. I

don't know when they changed the name. That was

about twenty five or thirty years ago. The groups

which formed to prevent the relocation of the

botanic garden were the precursors of the CNPS.

Three Groups in Defense of the Botanic Garden

Mead : Do you remember some of the people who were defending the Tilden Botanic Garden site?

Strohmaier: Oh, yes--Joyce Burr, Marion Copley, Leo Brewer,

Helen-Mar Beard, Alice Howard and Wayne Roderick. I

also knew Wayne Roderick because he was at the UC

[Berkeley] Botanical Garden. Since I was liaison

with this group, I went to some of their meetings.

It was called the Friends of the Regional Parks

Botanic Garden.

Mead : This was their official name?

Strohmaier: Yes, in fact they had some by-laws they had set up.

There were three groups, you know, that were

defending the garden. They were the Friends of the

Regional Parks Botanic Garden--that was the largest;

then there was the Citizens for Tilden Park led by

this lady Marion Copley--her husband, Michael J.

Copley, was head of the regional lab [Western

Regional Laboratory, U.S. Department of

Agriculture]' down in Albany.

The Contra Costa Garden Committee was the third one,

and Mrs. Kelly Falconer was particularly interested

in this group. When it came time for the

organization of the CNPS, her husband, Donald

Falconer, did quite a bit of the legal work for the

organization--also Scott Fleming. Oh yes, I guess

Jenny Fleming [wife] was in on some of these things,

too.

One time Joyce Burr and Marion Copley came to me to

explain what was going on with the [Tilden garden].

They had already been working, going to the board

meetings and talking to the directors of the park

district.

Mead : It's my understanding that these people were successful in their efforts to save the garden site. What exactly was entailed in accomplishing this? Was there a public vote?

Strohmaier: There was not a public vote. These three

organizations made a counter-proposal against the

proposed larger garden site at Grass Valley. The

new site--some said it was two hundred acres, some

said three hundred acres. The idea was to present

the plants as plant communities rather than just

whatever grew in an area, which is the way the

Tilden garden is set up where there is a desert

section, a Sierra meadow section, a redwood forest

section, and a seashore section, etc. But the plant

community concept is something that was a little bit

newer and involved more space--you had to have the

animals that went with it.

'see page 29.

Strohmaier: The Friends and these other groups made a proposal

to expand the present garden down the creek towards

Lake Anza. They made plans to do this. As far as I

know that expansion has not really taken place.

Mead : Do you know how large the Tilden garden is?

Strohmaier: Yes, it's about five acres, I believe.

Key People in the Pre-CNPS Groups

Strohmaier: Some of these minutes in here might be helpful

[pulls out a sheaf of minutes of early meetings].

his^ tells about the purpose of the Friends of the

Regional Parks Botanic Garden, one of the earlier

organizations [leading to CNPS]. Here was a board

meeting of September 1, 1964, held at the home of

Alice Howard. She was very active in that early

time and in later years, but lately I haven't seen

or heard about her at all.

Walter Knight--he's somebody that I remember that I

haven't mentioned. He was very active--I think he

actually was an employee of the Regional Park

District working on the Tilden garden. Then, Dan

Luten--he was in the Regional Parks Association,

president at the time when I was appointed liaison

between the Association and the Friends of the

Garden. Owen Pearce--he was very interested in

horticulture and was particularly active in the

California Horticultural Society.

Clyde Robin had a business in seeds of native plants

in Castro Valley, and I think he still has, but I

haven't seen him for years. Wayne Roderick--at that

time he was working at the UC Botanical Garden, and

later, after Jim Roof retired, he became the

Director of the Regional Parks Botanic Garden. Jim

Roof [attended the meeting], and these were all the

people who were at this board meeting of the Friends

of the Regional Parks in September 1964. They met

at different homes.

'see Collateral Documents, p. 41

Mead : So it was in 1964 that the issue around moving the Tilden garden was coming to a head?

Strohmaier: Oh, yes. Let's see--an earlier meeting was held at

Helen-Mar Beard's house in May 1964.

When the controversy was going on about whether to

keep the Tilden garden where it is or send it down

to Grass Valley, a tour was arranged for the

directors of the Regional Parks District to visit

the garden and get their input on what they thought

should be done.

Inspection of the Regional Botanic Garden at Tilden

Strohmaier: [Reads from a description of that inspection3]: "An

invitation to tour the garden was extended to the

directors of the park district, to the general

manager and to the Friends of the Regional Parks

Botanic Garden. This invitation was to explain the

plan which the Friends had submitted to the

directors."

The Friends had submitted a plan not to move the

garden but to enlarge it.

"On June 25, 1964, this tour took place. Those

present by invitation of the Friends included

Directors Clyde Woolridge, George Roeding, John

McDonald and Marilyn Haley. President of the Board,

Robert Gordon Sproul, was absent as was the General

Manager William Penn Mott, Jr. In Mr. Mott's stead

was Erwin Luckman, Chief of Plans, Design and

Construction, and Perry Laird, Superintendent of

Parks." Those two were Regional Parks employees.

"Present from the Friends were Dr. Herbert Baker,

internationally-known plant ecologist and professor

of botany and Director of the UC Botanical Garden,

Dr. Helen-Mar Beard, senior botanist at the UC

Botanical Garden specializing in California natives,

and Dr. Rimo Bacigalupi, research botanist and

curator of the Jepson Herbarium and completer of the

last volumes of Jepson's research.

3 ~ e eCollateral Documents, p. 44

Strohmaier: "Present from the Citizens of Tilden Park were Dr.

and Mrs. Michael Copley and Leo Brewer of.UC, an

experienced avocational gardener with many years of

growing natives. Present from the Contra Costa

Garden Committee were Mrs. Joyce Burr, a frequent

visitor, and Ralph Harris, Superintendent of Schools

for Sheldon School District. Others present were

Mrs. Erwin Strohmaier and Cicely Christie. Director

of the Botanic Garden, Jim Roof, completed the

party. Mr. Luckman stated that he was in charge and

requested Mr. Roof to lead the group for an

inspection of the present garden.

"The basic plan of the garden was explained by Mr.

Roof as the group progressed. The botanical

significance of what was being shown was discussed

at some length. Mr. Luckman requested that

botanical discussion be curtailed so that more time

could be spent in consideration of the buildings in

the garden. Concluding that these buildings were of

no value, he commented that there would therefore be

no investment in buildings lost should the garden be

moved to Grass Valley. Pictures were circulated

showing flood conditions in the garden at the height

of the storm of October 1962."

That flood would have washed the garden away

according to certain ideas if Jim Roof hadn't put up

stone walls to hold the garden in place.

So there was a lot of controversy, you see. These

people in the park district were like this [laughs

and gestures by making a cross with her arms] with

Jim Roof and all of the people who were in favor of

keeping the garden [in its present site].

Mead: In being there yourself, what memories do you have

of this inspection?

Strohmaier: I just remember this antagonism of the employees of

the park district. These people who worked under

the general manager's [Mr. Mottl supervision were

the ones who were sort of antagonistic. Mr. Roof

was trying to show the directors all the things

Strohmaier: about the garden that were particularly outstanding,

and these men apparently said, "Let's not take too

much time on all the details about the plants."

They wanted to look more at the big picture--they

wanted something big. They were pro-Grass Valley.

Mead : I notice that you have a wonderful collection of minutes from early meetings and other activities. Are there documents there that bring certain memories to mind?

Strohmaier: Well, this is a letter from [William P.] Mott to Professor Baker. # #

Mead : A letter from Mott to Baker?

Strohmaier: Yes. "As you know there is a committee studying the

question of the botanic garden in Tilden Regional

Park. It is my understanding that their tentative

thoughts are to build a new botanic garden on some

three hundred acres in Grass Valley Regional Park.

The present botanic garden will be used to stock the

new garden which will be much more complete. When

the new garden is ready, it will open for the public

to use and enjoy.

"We have no intention of destroying the present

botanic garden but will continue to use it as a

place to observe those unique specimens that cannot

be moved. For example, I am sure that the Sierra

section will remain as a point of interest and

beauty in Tilden Park. Obviously, however, we will

not be maintaining two botanic gardens. Our

financial resources will not permit this, and it

seems to me that if a new garden is developed it

will have all of the interests of the present garden

plus the opportunity for a greater collection of

material. Also it will have the added advantage

that it can be planned for proper use and

maintenance as well as expansion. It is in the

latter fields that the present garden is deficient,

and there seems to be no way to adequately correct

the situation."

Mead :

Strohmaier:

Mead:

Strohmaier:

Mead :

Strohmaier:

Mead :

Strohmaier:

Mead :

Strohmaier:

So Mott had his mind set about the garden moving to

Grass Valley?

Yes, he had his mi.nd set. But the other people

produced a nice plan for enlarging the present

garden. I haven't actually gone to see it, but

Jenny Fleming told me that the present [CNPS]

director, Steve Edwards, has actually started this

expansion. There's a creek that goes through the

garden, and there's a place in the creek where the

garden boundary was. There's a space between there

and the next picnic ground where it was proposed

[that the garden be expanded]. Steve Edwards is

working on that now and has done some planning.

In your array of materials here, are there other

documents which tug at your memory?

These are just minutes of board meetings--these are

things from January 1964, still with the Friends of

the Garden.

Were you liaison at this time between the Friends

and the Parks Association?

Yes, that's how I got the minutes--they sent them to

me because I was one of the people who went to the

meetings. I don't know how many other people have

these.

This seems to indicate how much devotion and

organizational ability some of the early people had.

Yes--oh, they really were dedicated and hard-

working. Joyce Burr--she and Marion Copley worked

together in one of the early organizations that

eventually merged with others to become the CNPS.

Are there other significant memories you have of the

pre-CNPS groups before they all came together?

I just remember these various meetings with all the

people who were so strongly in favor of keeping this

garden here [in its present site]. There were a few

others, other than Mr. Mott, who were interested in

Strohmaier: development of the Grass Valley project. There was

a professor of forestry named [A, E.] Wieslander,

and a landscape architect named Mae Arbegast--they

were interested in making a design for this new

garden, and they thought it'was a feasible idea.

There would have to have been an awful lot of work

done, plans for two hundred acres.

Mead : What happened to the Grass Valley project?

Strohmaier: Apparently it just fell through, as far as I know.

I don't know the details of how that happened. The

proposal by the Friends and the others was to expand

the present garden if expansion was desired. So

far, there's been no expansion.

Mead : Are there other documents from that time which seem significant to you?

Strohmaier: This is a Friends of the Regional Parks Botanic

Garden committee report4, and it covers the big

thing about the Grass Valley proposal and the Tilden

Botanic Garden as it was, already in the park.

Mead : What was your impression of this report?

Strohmaier: I thought it was a very good overall summary of the

reasons for having this garden stay at its present

site. In support of these reasons, they [the

Friends] submitted this report.

Now here is another summary of all the reasons for

supporting the Tilden Botanic Garden [in its present

site]. "The present garden is of scientific value

and is well-established, representing an investment

of over a million dollars, and the present site is

capabale of expansion, too.... The present garden

is situated in a high-use area and is convenient for

scientific and educational study for a lot of

people. I'

Mead : You are looking at a different summary of reasons for maintaining the original garden site--how does this differ from the one from which you were just reading?

4 ~ e eCollateral Documents, p.46

Strohmaier: Actually, they [the Friends] submitted both these to

the Park District, but at different times. You see,

this went on for two or three years, this

controversy. Some of these organizations started in

about 1962 or so and went on from there.

Mead : I see--they must have been very persistent over this time.

Strohmaier: These same people went to the Park District board

meetings and spoke at those meetings. I went to a

few of them, too, with people like Joyce Burr and

Walter Knight who went to many of these meetings.

[Reading from the second summary]: "Some of the

reasons for maintaining the present garden: the

present site is protected from wind, rare plants are

well-established there. Establishment of rare

plants in Grass Valley is problematic--they are hard

to grow. An extremely competent horticulturist has

been in the garden throughout its history. It has

been said that two gardens cannot be maintained.

Enormous size is a disadvantage for several reasons.

Plant care is much more difficult."

Mead : Again, it sounds like considerable thought went into preserving the Tilden Botanic Garden's present site.

Strohmaier: Oh, yes--these three groups were very devoted to

this.

Mead : Do you think that the controversy over maintaining the Tilden Botanic Garden in its original site really started with the suggestion by Mr. Mott that it be moved?

Strohmaier: Yes, I do think so. I believe that must have been

what happened. Yes.

CNPS Is Gradually Organized

Mead : You were an active liaison between the [Regional Parks] Association and the Friends of the Garden. How did CNPS eventually come to be formed?

Strohmaier:

Mead :

Strohmaier:

Mead :

Strohmaier:

Mead :

Strohmaier:

Mead :

Strohmaier:

Well--I don't really know how to answer that

question. People got so interested in native plants

and the whole problem of preservation of native

plants in the state. This state is so unique in its

flora. We have all these different kinds of

climates and altitudes. We have a high percentage

of endemism, if you know what that means. It means

that a plant grows only in a very limited area--this

is an endemic plant. I think forty percent endemism

is what California has. Some of the endemics are in

such a small natural habitat that they can just be

on a city lot, for example, in an area the size of a

city lot, and nowhere else do they grow wild.

It sounds like it's an important function of CNPS to

be very knowledgeable about plant life.

That's right, and that's the way it has turned out.

The people who are activists now in CNPS are very,

very well-versed in all the details of the flora.

Right now in our East Bay Chapter there is a group

of three or so young people who are going out in the

field and hunting for plants, finding out just

exactly where they are, how big a population it is

and so on.

So the Friends were successful in keeping the

Regional Parks Botanic Garden where it now is. Did

they continue to meet and serve as a kind of

watchdog over the garden?

I don't know when or if they stopped meeting--

probably they just evolved into the CNPS. I think

that's what it amounts to.

Did you gradually become more active in CNPS?

I don't know if I became more active. In the first

few years we used to go on field trips a lot, and we

also went to the evening meetings.

Were they held once a week or once a month?

Once a month or so. A lot of the meetings were held

in Mulford Hall on the campus [UC Berkeley]. Now

our chapter meetings are held in the UC Botanical

Garden meeting room.

Strohmaier: The transition between the Friends and CNPS--I'm not

clear on just how that really was. When the CNPS

was organized, there was quite a bit of activity and

work connected with incorporation and such that the

lawyer friends took care of--Mr. Falconer and Mr.

Fleming.

Mead : So there were efforts to make CNPS an official organization.

Strohmaier: Yes. # #

PART 111. FIRST MONTHS OF THE CALIFORNIA NATIVE

PLANT SOCIETY

Financial Problems in the First Year

Mead : Last time, Leonora, you concluded with a discussion about the transition from the Friends of Tilden Botanic Garden to CNPS. You were saying that this transition was a gradual thing and not something that was very clearcut. Do you remember if there were officers elected for CNPS or a formal election of any kind?

Strohmaier: I don't remember an election, but I know that there were officers. Professor [Watson M.] Laetsch was the first president of the CNPS. There was a meeting in 159 Mulford Hall [UC Berkeley campus] when CNPS was actually initiated--I'm pretty sure that's what happened at that meeting. But I don't remember an election or ballots or anything like that. I don't think they had that, but they could have.

Mead: It was Professor Laetsch who presided?

Strohmaier: Yes, he was a botany professor [UC Berkeley]. These

smaller groups got together, and they were in favor

of organizing into a whole group of people

interested in the preservation of California native

flora. That's actually what the group basically is.

Mead : What kinds of topics came up during those first few months?

Strohmaier: One of the big things was money [laughs]! I think

in the beginning they hoped for corporate donations

and things like that. Mary Wohlers was working very

hard on that--and the others, like Professor

Laetsch. My husband [Erwin Strohmaier] seems to

think it was like--so many of the people at the

university [UC Berkeley] have great skills at this

kind of fund-raising. But they didn't get enough

[funds] early enough.

Strohmaier: They opened an office--do you know about that?

There was an office opened on University Avenue

right by where California Street intersects

University Avenue on the north side of the street.

There was a little store--it was next door to a book

store on one side and whatever was in the corner

building.

One of the things which you gave me from Mary

Wohlers' collection [of documents] was particularly

interesting--the minutes5 of the Board of Directors

of CNPS on July 28, 1966, after CNPS was officially

formed. This meeting took place at the office down

on University Avenue. It lists who was there, and

the President then was Ledyard Stebbins apparently.

There was a report on future plans for CNPS.

Further down in the same minutes, they came to the

finances. Mrs. Grove--I don't remember her--Mrs.

Eva Grove, was the bookkeeper. She was working on

the financial report. The motion was made and

passed that we would pay $125.40 to the IRS

immediately and $11.25 to the Department of

Employment, "both of these items required by law,

the latter the Society's portion of the retirement

system contribution for Mary Wohlers."

Mary Wohlers was the employed secretary who worked

in the office [on University Avenue]. Then they ran

out of money, and they couldn't pay her salary.

Everybody who was there actually contributed some

money right then.

Mead : Out of their own pockets?

Strohmaier: Yes, to help along. I don't really know exactly how

we got out of that and got back on our feet

financially. They had to give up the office and

Mary's employment. She couldn't be paid any longer.

There wasn't enough money. That's one of the things

Erwin remembers very well--he was at that meeting.

Mead : And you were, too, I notice. Do you have any specific memories of this meeting?

5 ~ e eCollateral Documents, p.48

Strohmaier: Well, I just remember that people were kind of

upset. Now there was another meeting at our house

at a time when things were bad--I don't know if it

was before or after this particular meeting. Maybe

the photograph6 [of the meeting] would have a date.

Mead : But it was some time around the same time period. It seems that even though there were some fine ideas in the beginning months of CNPS, finances was a key issue.

Strohmaier: Yes, then our first plant sale was organized for the

purpose of getting the money to bale us out.

Memories of Original Members of CNPS

Mead : Who are some of the people that you remember the most in those early months?

Strohmaier: There was Leo Brewer who was always interested and

very supportive of all the ideas around creating

this organization. He was very interested in native

flora.

Mead : How would you describe him?

Strohmaier: Well, he was a small man. He had had something

wrong with one eye so that he wore a black patch

over one eye all the time. As far as I know

everybody regarded him very highly. During those

years the [Lawrence] Radiation Laboratory people

were very well-known nationally, and he was one of

those people.

Who else? Of course Jim Roof was one that we all

remember well. He was very very devoted to his work

in making this [Tilden] garden. There's an article

here that I have [points to the January 1965

California Horticultural Society ~ournal~] that

tells about how he built that garden up from 1940

until the time in the early sixties when all this

came up.

'see page 26a

7 ~ e eCollateral Documents, p. 50

California Native Plant Society

Early Board Meeting

Berkeley, California, 1966

Left to right: Mary Ann Wohlers, Maxine Trumbo,

August Frugk, Alice Howard, Clyde Robin

Early Board Meeting (as above)

Back left: August Frugk, James Roof, Alice Howard,

Clyde Robin, Mary Wohlers, Paul Zinke (back to camera1

Photography by Erwin Strohmaier

Mead : Was he actually responsible for beginning the Regional Parks Botanic Garden?

Strohmaier: Yes, he was responsible for building the garden.

This article was written by Rimo Bacigalupi who was

apparently the student of Willis Linn Jepson. As

far as I understand everything, Bacigalupi became

the successor at the university [UC Berkeley] to

Jepson. Jepson built up a large herbarium which is

part of the university. Rimo took charge of that

after Jepson's death.

Jim Roof started collecting plants. [Reads from the

Bacigalupi article]: "In late 1938, he set out to

establish this garden in the Bay Area. He first

induced the Forest Service to enter into a

cooperative agreement with the East Bay Regional

Park District. The Forest Service had its superb

collection of native plants all in containers and

easily movable. If the Regional Park District would

provide the land, a botanic garden could easily

become a reality. Fortunately, both public agencies

were agreeable to the cooperative arrangement."

So he [James Roof] did it. He did most of the

planting and laying out of paths and all that. He

had C.C.C. [Civilian Conservation Corps] people

working for him. So this article is a complete

story, really, of the development of that garden.

The basic layout of the garden--the desert section,

the Sierra meadow section and the redwood section,

etc., these sections were created by planting

various plants and trees in them. It took quite a

bit of skill to make the conditions that are needed

for growing all these different things in such a

small area.

Mead : So Jim Roof had to take into consideration all the different environments which were required to set up these sections.

Strohmaier: That's right. Somewhere I remember that he had to

put umbrellas up to save the desert plants from

getting too much water.

Mead : Are there other members who also stand out in your mind?

Strohmaier: Yes, let's see--there were August and Susan Frugk.

August FrugrS was connected with the UC [Berkeley]

Press, and his wife, Susan, was very active and

interested in [CNPS], too.

She was the one who actually produced the first

newsletter and who organized the first plant sale

which was held in the East Bay Garden Center at

Lakeside Park [Lake Merritt]. Some of those

pictures [points once again to Erwin Strohmaier's

photograph album] are of that event. The sale

helped get us out of the [financial] hole. Then

sales became a tradition every year. I think we've

had about twenty five of them. They were given by

the society as a whole for the first seven years or

so. When the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter was

organized, that chapter, our chapter, took over the

sales. The other chapters around the state have

their own sales--many do, not all of them. So the

sale now is just for our chapter, not for the whole

society, although we do contribute to them.

[Leonora pulls out an early CNPS letterhead with

names of members and sponsors.] I better look at

this list--some of these people weren't--I didn't

ever see them. Like Lester Rountree, the honorary

president--she lived in Carmel, and she was very

thrilled about CNPS. I never saw Ansel Adams except

on a Sierra Club trip [laughs]! Of course Rimo

Bacigalupi I just talked about.

Helen-Mar Beard was one of the people who was quite

active in one of the organizations that preceded

CNPS. Meetings of the Friends of Tilden Botanic

Garden were held at her house. She lived in a very

interesting house--it's on Oxford Street just north

of Cedar Street [in Berkeley]. It has a round

cupola on top, and it belonged to a sea captain who

built the place. It's now on the architectural

heritage list. He built it so he could see what was

happening in the bay.

Strohmaier: I talked about Leo Brewer.

Professor [H. M.] Butterfield was a sponsor--I

didn't ever have any connection with him in CNPS,

but I did at the university through my work.

Lincoln Constance was an important person, but I

don't remember him too much during this period.

The Copleys--Marion Copley ran one of the other

little organizations which preceded CNPS [Citizens

for Tilden Park]. Her husband was Director of the

Western Regional Laboratory in Albany.

Mead : Was that through the university [UC Berkeley]?

Strohmaier: No, that was for the U.S. Department of Agriculture,

that Western Regional Laboratory. There were four

regional labs all over the country, one of which is

here.

Donald Falconer--I think he had something to do with

the legal part [of incorporating CNPS]. He and his

wife have been active, but not too much lately.

Jenny and Scott Fleming--they're always active.

Jenny Fleming is still very active in our chapter

and goes to all the board meetings. In fact, she

takes me to the board meetings of the local chapter

now.

There's Joel Hildebrand--I remember him because I

took my chemistry courses from him.

Mary Rhyne, one of these sponsors, has been

interested all along. She's active in the Gualala

Chapter which was one of the early ones to be

organized.

Then there's [A. E.] Wieslander--he was a forestry

professor. I didn't know him personally. He was

one of the people who was in favor of moving the

[Tilden] garden to the Grass Valley site.

Mead: It sounds as if some of the sponsors are there more

in name than in activity.

Strohmaier: That's right--they wanted all these nice big names

[laughs]. I felt very honored to be put on that

list. I guess because I happened to have the

doctorate degree, they selected me. Some of the

sponsors--like [Melvin] Calvin and Ansel Adams and

Joel Hildebrand--they weren't able to participate.

Mead : During the early meetings, did certain members take up a particular function of the organization, or was the work done as a collective effort?

Strohmaier: I'm sure there were some people who did most of the

work, but I can't really name them. I don't know

who was who then. Like this business about the

incorporation [of CNPSI--I really don't know who

worked on that.

Leonora's Early Involvement in CNPS

Mead : How would you characterize your own personal involvement--what kinds of activities were you involved in?

Strohmaier: I can't say I was an officer or anything, but I was

faithful in attending meetings and doing things that

needed to be done--like working at plant sales.

During the first plant sale, for example, we sold

everything, not just native plants. Right now, they

are purists, and nothing except California native

plants are sold at our sales. But at that time,

anything to make money was sold. Our downstairs

room [at the Strohmaier home] was used as a

collecting and sorting place for plants, etc. We

had all kinds of dried flowers and wood forms and

things like that which we put up for sale. I was

active in that and hosting meetings. I don't

remember how often the meetings were held at first,

I can't say.

Some Personality Differences in the Early Months

Mead: New members from the three groups were coming

together. I'm wondering if you recall any

personality differences or conflicts which developed

during the first few months.

Strohmaier: Well, I think some of the people didn't get along

too well with Mary Wohlers. I think August Frug6

was one who didn't.... Mary was really a very

dedicated worker, and I don't think anybody put more

into the organization at that time. I don't really

know much about it, but I do know she was hurt by

some of the things that went on.

Mead : Had she been a member of any of the earlier groups?

Strohmaier: I really don't know. One of things she talked about

to me was she and Dr. [Ledyard] Stebbins--I guess I

haven't talked about him. He became a member very

early. He's a genetics professor at [UC] Davis--now

he's emeritus. He became very active early in

organizing the Sacramento chapter. That was one of

the very first chapters to be organized under CNPS.

According to what Mary said, her daughter [Mary Ann]

worked for Stebbins at Davis on some job, and she

told Stebbins about the CNPS. Then, according to

Mary, he jumped right in and said that he was a

founder of CNPS, but he really didn't know about it

until her daughter told him about it. He came in

right away and was a very active person--did an

awful lot. This is kind of a personal thing. We

have to give him credit because he has done a lot,

and he was very active in the Sacramento chapter

from the very beginning. He was president of CNPS

for several terms, I think.

Earls Structure of CNPS

Mead : It's my understanding that the Berkeley CNPS group was the "mother" group.

S t r o h m a i e r : Yes , t h a t ' s t r u e . A s f a r as I know i t ' s a lways been t h e l a r g e s t c h a p t e r . A f t e r t h e o f f i c e on U n i v e r s i t y Avenue c l o s e d , t h e n some t i m e l a t e r , I d o n ' t remember when, t h e r e w a s a n o f f i c e o f t h e s t a t e o r g a n i z a t i o n on E l l s w o r t h S t r e e t i n B e r k e l e y . I t w a s t h e r e f o r a number o f y e a r s . I t moved l a t e r t o Sacramento , I d o n ' t know j u s t when. So now w e have t h e s t a t e o f f i c e i n Sacramento w i t h s e v e r a l p a i d employees. I d o n ' t know where t h e money comes from [ l a u g h s ] f o r t h a t !

Mead : So t h e mother g roup e v e n t u a l l y e v o l v e d i n t o o f f i c e . Does t h a t mean a l o c a l c h a p t e r w a s i n B e r k e l e y ?

a s t a te formed

S t r o h m a i e r : Well, y e s , c u r Bay C h a p t e r w a s o r g a n i z e d i n 1973. Be fo re t h a t t h e r e w a s t h e mother o r g a n i z a t i o n .

Mead: I n 1965 , t h e n , i t sounds as i f t h e r e w a s a n awfu l l o t o f a c t i v i t y . Over t i m e , h a s t h i s l e v e l of a c t i v i t y remained c o n s i s t e n t ' ?

S t r o h m a i e r : I d o n ' t know whe the r t h e r e w e r e t i m e s when it w a s q u i e t e r , b u t as f a r as I ' m conce rned I t h i n k i t ' s been v e r y c o n s i s t e n t l y a c t i v e . I n t h e l o c a l c h a p t e r , I ' m s t i l l t h e S e c r e t a r y o f t h e Board o f t h e l o c a l c h a p t e r . The r e a s o n I l i k e t o keep it u p , a l t h o u g h i t ' s a l o t o f work, is t h a t i t ' s s o n i c e t o g e t a c q u a i n t e d w i t h t h e s e d e d i c a t e d young p e o p l e who a r e now i n CNPS. Hal f t h e b o a r d , a t l eas t h a l f t h e b o a r d , is j u s t young p e o p l e who are working f o r a l i v i n g e v e r y day and p u t t i n g a l o t o f e x t r a t i m e i n go ing t o t h e h e a r i n g s and deve lopmen t s , p roduc ing t h e p l a n t s f o r t h e sa les-- i t ' s a n a l l y e a r j o b t h a t t h e y do . They r e a d t h e EIRs [Env i ronmen ta l Impact R e p o r t s ] f o r t h e deve lopmen t s , e t c . , and s t u d y a l l t h a t .

Mead : I t s e e m s t h a t t h e o r i g i n a l s p i r i t o f c e r t a i n l y been c a r r i e d f o r w a r d .

CNPS h a s

S t r o h m a i e r : The s t a t e board m e e t s f o u r t i m e s a yea r - -peop le come t o g e t h e r from t h e d i f f e r e n t c h a p t e r s a l o n g w i t h o f f i c e r s o f t h e s t a t e . Many o f t h e s e m e e t i n g s are h e l d a t t h e F a c u l t y C lub h e r e [ o n t h e UC B e r k e l e y campus] , s o B e r k e l e y i s s t i l l k ind o f a c e n t e r f o r CNPS.

PART IV. ADDITIONAL MEMORIES OF CNPS

Memories of CNPS from Photographs by Erwin

Strohmaier

Mead : You have some photographs here that would be interesting to see.

Strohmaier: Yes. This one shows Dr. Stebbins auctioning off a

plant at our first sale8. It was held at the

Lakeside Garden Center in Oakland [Lake Merritt].

Here's another view of that sale.

Mead: This would have been held in the fall of 1965?

Strohmaier: This was held in 1966, December 6. In 1965, CNPS

was organized, and all these things went on about

getting an office and hiring a secretary and so on.

1 Then the money ran out, and they had to figure out what to do--so this sale was put on.

Now this is one of the meetings that was held here.

"This is the '66 meeting at the Strohmaier's house

at a time when the young society was in bad

financial straits, and the meeting went far into the

nightg." [Reading from the back of the photograph.] The people are listed here--there's Paul Zinke, this

one, August Frug6 was back here. This is Jim Roof,

and this is Alice Howard who was very active in

those early days--I don't see her around nowadays.

This is Clyde Robin--he was in Castro Valley and

specialized in native plant seeds. That's Mary

Wohlers there.

Mead : It looks like the next picture is an additional view of the members at that meeting.

Strohmaier: Yes, it's the same meeting.

'see page 33a

'see page 26a

Dr. Ledyard Stebbins Auctioning Plants

First Annual Plant Sale

Garden Center, Lakeside Park, Oakland

December 6, 1966

Photography by Erwin Strohmaier

Strohmaier: This is one of the sales that we had at the

Brazilian Room [in Tilden Park] later on1'. Let's

see, the first sale there was in 1968. We were two

years at Lakeside Park. This was an early one there

at the Brazilian Room--1972. At that time we had

the opportunity to store our things for the sale

down at the regional lab growing ground on Marin

Avenue. Some of the active members in the early

days were employees of the regional lab, and they

made it possible for us to store our things and

prepare them there. The day before the sale, people

brought them up to the Brazilian Room and set it up.

They used to sell succulents at quite a few of the

sales that weren't natives, and I used to collect

them and take them to that growing ground.

Mead : This is a nice photograph--it shows a larger overview of a sale and how many people attended it,

Strohmaier: Yes! They still do up at Merritt College. Here's

another one--I'm selling succulent^^^. This is all

1972--people were looking into things!

This is a field trip to the desert12, April 1969, in Red Rock Canyon in southern California. Where's Dr. Stebbins?--he should be in there somewhere. Everybody was looking at . . . 'belly' plants.

Mead: Yes, they seem completely absorbed. You just said

something about 'belly' plants--is that a figure of

speech?

Strohmaier: Yes! [laughs]. They're so small that we have to get

way down to see them, so they call those 'belly'

plants [laughs].

This is a field trip over in Marin County in

Tiburon. Old St. Hilary's Church--that has now been

made into a two-acre native plant reserve around

this church. I think the Nature Conservancy has

losee page 34a

"see page 34a

'*see page 34b

California Native Plant Society

Annual Plant Sale, Brazilian Room

Tilden Park, Berkeley, California

October 28, 1972

Leonora Strohmaier

Annual Plant Sale, Tilden Park

October 28, 1972

Photography by Erwin Strohmaier

Field Trip to Red Rock Canyon, California

Leonora Strohmaier (lower right)

April 1969

Photography by Erwin Strohmaier

Strohmaier: taken that on. There were some other Marin County

people who were particularly interested in this and

joined with us, or we joined with them, and pushed

the establishment of St. Hilary's reserve. This is

the little church on that two acres--and here the

people are looking at the plants.

One of these pictures was used on an early cover of

the pre-Fremontia journal. Before Fremontia became

established, there were just little things like this

[hands me a California Native Plant Society

~ewsletter]'~. The Bayleaf is our chapter newsletter

now.

Earls CNPS Newsletters

Mead : Was it Susan Frug6 who did the first [CNPS] newsletter?

Strohmaier: Yes, this is my file with those newsletters before it became Fremontia. These are kind of rare--very few people have these--they're from 1965 to 1973. # #

Mead : [Looking through newsletters.] These go way back to the beginning. The first one was October 1965?

Strohmaier: Yes, to 1973. These were all [mailed out] before

the local chapter was organized.

Mead : So once the local chapter was organized, the Bayleaf came into being.

Strohmaier: Yes, and it was not nearly so fancy as it is now.

Within the last two or three years, the Bayleaf has

become very professional with the type and headings.

Some of the board members of the chapter got to work

and did this with their computers. They made it,

what shall I say, fancy.

Mead : Let's go back to the original newsletter--what were some of the things that it covered?

13see Collateral Documents, p. 54

Strohmaier:

Mead:

Strohmaier:

Mead :

Strohmaier:

Mead :

Strohmaier:

Mead :

Strohmaier:

Mead :

Strohmaier:

Let's look. The newsletter was for members all over

the state--whoever was a member of CNPS. The very

first.. .October 1965".

I think it's wonderful that you have them!

Number one, October 1965--it was called Native

Notes.

It looks like there's information on the first

general meeting, the sponsors, and a kind of opening

statement and purpose of CNPS.

Howard Knight was treasurer for sending in dues--

there's a membership application here. The first

general meeting was October 28, 1965. That was held

in Mulford Hall. We used to have quite a few of the

meetings at Mulford Hall on the [UC] campus.

The newsletter states that Paul Zinke gave a talk.

He gave a talk at the meeting at Mulford Hall--it

was concerning the comparison of the flora of

California with other Mediterranean climates such as

Spain and Portugal and so on. He had just been to

Spain and Portugal and made this study.

It's really amazing--the group really catalogued

themselves well, not only the plants but their own

activities.

There's a list of sponsors--it's a list of the

people which was also on the letterhead. They're

making an appeal for joining. Anyway, this is what

the first newsletter looked like.

So you just kept these as you got them?

Yes. Well, actually, Erwin is the one who has

encouraged me to do it [laughs]. Jenny Fleming is

planning to come and borrow these and make copies of

them.

''see Collateral Documents, p. 77

Leonora's View of Changes in CNPS Over the Years

Mead : What do you think are some of the most significant changes that have occurred since those early years?

Strohmaier: Well, I don't know quite what to say. There's a lot

more interest in the detail of flora. For example

in our chapter, there's a couple of young board

members who are working on books. One is to be

about flora of the two counties of Alameda and

Contra Costa. The other is being put together by a

committee--it's a list of every single species that

have been known in our two counties, where they are

and how many are around now.

Leonora's Activities Outside CNPS

Mead : You yourself have been involved over the years in other groups besides CNPS. Has your involvement in all these groups been fairly equal?

Strohmaier: The Berkeley Garden Club is one I have been mostly

involved in. Then there are all the different

branches of that [club].

I'm still active in other groups as well, like the

Camera Club. I've never been active in competing,

but we have the group who puts out the newsletter

here [in the Strohmaier home] every month to do

their mailing. Then we've had the annual judging

[of photographs] at our house for over twenty years.

Some of these pictures [points to photo album of

early days of CNPS] probably wouldn't be so good if

it weren't for an interest in photography [laughs].

And there's some overlapping of members. One of the

people on the Native Plant [Society] chapter board

right now, Marian Reeve who is a past president of

the chapter--I see her in about five different

organizations [laughs]! # #

Mead : I think we're drawing to a close, Leonora. I'm particularly pleased about your memories of pre-CNPS activities and meetings that led to the development of CNPS--around the issue of Tilden Botanic Garden.

Mead : I recall interviewing Myrtle [Wolf] about the years immediately following the development of CNPS, but the years preceding it are very interesting and really reflect the enormous concern surfacing at that time about the garden and [more] generally the preservation of plants. It sounds like quite a remarkable time.

Strohmaier: Yes--I think it's kind of interesting the way they

got the sponsors, all those big names.

Mead : Was it simply a matter of approaching them?

Strohmaier: Yes, I think so. Even Admiral [Chester W.] Nimitz,

you know [laughs],

Mead : So they were shooting big!

Just kind of generally--in thinking back about the

times before CNPS became established, is there

anything else that stands out in your mind?

Strohmaier: Well, I talked a lot about the meetings--as you

said, the people then as now were very dedicated and

into this.

Mead : I'm personally recalling the early sixties in the Bay Area. It seemed like it was an opening up of attitudes and a time of new ideas. It sounds like the pre-CNPS groups were very much caught up in this same spirit and climate and were actively involved.

I really appreciate the opportunity to interview

you, Leonora. It's very interesting information and

adds enormously to the historical picture of CNPS

and how it was formed. Thank you.

Strohmaier: I'm glad to be helpful. # #

COLLATERAL DOCUMENTS

COLLATERAL DOCUMENTS INDEX

Appendix A. Organization Committee Meeting of the Friends of the Regional Parks Botanic Garden 41

Appendix B. Report: Tilden Garden Tour of EBRPD Board of Directors, June 25, 1964 44

Appendix C. Friends of the Regional Parks Botanic Garden: Committee Report 46

Appendix D. Minutes of Board of Directors Meeting of the California Native Plant Society 48

Appendix E. "The Regional Parks Botanic Garden in Tilden Park," by Rimo Bacigalupi 50

Appendix F. California Native Plant Society Newsletter, July 1971

Appendix G. Native Notes, California Native Plant Society, Number 1, October 1965 78

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