Tatiana Irwin set to deliver keynote for San Mateo County Historical Association meeting

TI: I am a sixth generation Californian, born and raised in Sunnyvale. My passion for history started with ghost stories. I began to wonder who these people were before they became ghosts. Some of the stories involved transportation into the past and this really drew me in — imagining how other people lived in the past … before they came back to haunt the living.

DJ: What has been your career path?

TI: I completed my BA and MA in History at SJSU while interning at the Campbell Historical Museum and Ainsley House. After graduation, I worked at the California Historical Society in visitor’s services, docent education, and public programs. At the same time, I began adjuncting in the San Mateo Community College District and I’ve been teaching full time at College of San Mateo since 2015. I continue to work in public history through the San Mateo County History Museum and the Society of California Pioneers. My latest passion project is a PhD in History through UC Davis and a certificate in Digital Humanities through UC Berkeley.

DJ: Your College of San Mateo profile says that your favorite class to teach is California history because “we are surrounded by our subject.” How so?

TI: California History brings opportunities for family and community engagement. Students can practice history through oral histories and counter mapping projects rather than simply memorizing historical “facts.” I see this approach as a legacy from my predecessor, Dr. Frank Stanger. He started the C. N. Kirkbride Contest with his students’ monographs. The museum still archives and uses their scholarship today.

DJ: Your July 25 keynote address before the San Mateo County Historical Association is titled “A House Divided: The Lathrop, Connor, and Mansfield Families in the Civil War.” How did you choose this topic?

TI: I was initially inspired by a Currier and Ives print at Lora Mundi, formerly the Lathrop House, from 1867 called “The Lincoln Family.” It depicts Lincoln with his family in a domestic space. These prints were meant for mass circulation and hanging it in your parlor made a statement about your politics. Many households across the United States — including Abraham Lincoln’s — were politically and spatially divided by the U.S. Civil War. Not only that, people who were pro-Union also debated the meaning and impact of the Civil War and Reconstruction for African Americans, Native peoples and Asian immigrants. This is where I appreciate California history, because on the East Coast the impact on the Chinese and California Indians is often overlooked. I wanted to ask — how were Redwood City and Lora Mundi divided along these political, social and cultural lines?

DJ: Who were the Lathrops, Connors and Mansfields?

TI: People primarily know Benjamin G. Lathrop as the first clerk, recorder and assessor of San Mateo County, who fought corruption in the election of 1856. In 1858, his wife, Mary, bought the lot to build their home and named it Lora Mundi — “beauty spot of the world.” Lathrop was divided in his loyalties to the Union and his attitudes towards slavery in a “free” state. People were not one thing. We do a disservice to history and what we can learn from it to reduce Lathrop to either an anti-corruption crusader or a slaver. The Connor family were the next significant occupants. Patrick Edward Connor was a general stationed primarily in Utah during the Civil War and his wife and children lived in the house during Reconstruction. Military service geographically separated even families who were politically aligned. Sheriff Joel Mansfield lived in the house well after the Civil War, but joined the US Navy as a messenger boy.

DJ: What surprised you most as you researched these families?

TI: One surprise was the prominent role women played in the history of Lora Mundi. Mary Lathrop bought the lot where they built the house and Johanna Connor ran the household while Patrick served in Utah. Additionally, census records for the 1860s and 1870s helped to understand the other occupants of these houses during the Civil War and Reconstruction. Many households on the Peninsula used Native labor. This included numerous California Indians and an individual identified as “Indian” from the “Utah territory” — where Patrick Edward Connor served. Numerous Chinese people lived not only in white households as domestic servants, but also formed their own households, sometimes with significant personal property. The state of California passed various laws in the 19th century limiting the ability of Asian immigrants to purchase real estate. Although not a surprise, it’s also important to note that many of these men were married, with families in China. It would be wonderful to know more about what they thought of Reconstruction and the 14th Amendment passed while Ah Pong and Ah Kee lived at Lora Mundi as domestic servants to the Connor family.

DJ: Why is local history important in debates over how history is taught and remembered?

TI: I agree with the quote, often attributed to Mark Twain, that history does not repeat itself but it sometimes rhymes. We learn from our histories — personal, family, national and local. Museums like SMCH reflect our community’s past while helping us to visualize a better future. Lora Mundi and its occupants help us to see our current moment with fresh eyes: civil servants fighting corruption; debates over a national path forward; regional schisms in politics; the introduction of technologies that consolidate power for the powerful; and a backlash to immigration. In particular, looking at Ah Pong and Ah Kee forces us to consider the history of Chinese immigration and profoundly challenges contemporary assaults on the 14th Amendment and birthright citizenship.

DJ: What Peninsula places connect with the people you will discuss?

TI: The Peninsula has an incredible collection of well-curated historical sites. The Sanchez Adobe and the Woodside General Store come to mind. The San Mateo County History Museum and archives are also a rich display of the county’s history. However, the most significant site for my talk on July 25 is Lora Mundi, formerly known as the Lathrop House. This historical name captures the site as a residence across several families and historical periods. Lora Mundi translates to “beauty spot of the world,” and if Redwood City isn’t that, I don’t know what is.

EVENT PARTICULARS: The San Mateo County Historical Association’s Annual Meeting will take place July 25 beginning at 1 p.m., inside the organization’s History Museum, 2200 Broadway, Redwood City. The meeting is open to the public with the price of admission to the museum ($6 for adults, $4 for students and seniors). For more information go to www.historysmc.org or call (650) 299-0104. The Annual Meeting is sponsored by Cypress Lawn Heritage Foundation.