Museums of Lake County, California

The Museums were happy to loan some of our collection to the Historical Society, if you get a chance stop by Ely Stage Stop and see their display.

Due to staffing challenges the Gibson Museum & Cultural Center will be closed tomorrow May 1st. We regret the inconvenience but consider visiting our Lower Lake Historic Schoolhouse Museum in Lower Lake if you are in the neighborhood. Gibson will reopen on the 6th of May. Thank you.

Suffragette era in miniature. This historic victory in voter rights was made possible through decades of persistent political engagement by suffragistsyet it’s only one crucial milestone in women’s fight for the vote. "Rightfully Hers: American Women and the Vote" examines the unending struggle of diverse activists across U.S. history to ensure voting rights for all American women. The US National Archives made this pop-up Centennial exhibit possible. We invite you to visit any of our three museums to see it in person.

Thank you Crocker Art Museum!

Today we had a chance to host the Pomo Basket Weavers Society to let them get a good look at their history. In their own words, viewing theses historic baskets from our ancestors helps us to see how baskets were made in the past and continue the basketry now to carry forward into the future. "

Looking for something to do this long weekend? We've turned some of our historic Valentines into coloring pages. Print color and share your art with us! Or check out one of our mini-exhibits! Vintage Valentines- A brief history of love, vinegar and changing standards of love and romance via card: https://spark.adobe.com/page/pnxM35fbWojA4/ Lake County Black History- From the Museums of Lake County archives: https://spark.adobe.com/page/2bQw0hbSMvU74/... Building Lake County-Our Chinese Heritage: https://spark.adobe.com/page/VaeeFi3E7E1qs/

Behind the scenes, the staff at the Courthouse Museum have been preparing a new permanent exhibit "Building Lake County: Our Chinese Heritage". This will encompass the history of the Chinese immigrants who made their home in Lake County and the trials and triumphs they faced. Lunar New Year in Lake County in the 1880s involved strings of "110,000 firecrackers" going off and gifts of "litchi nuts, candied fruits...and great squares of plain and brocaded silk...vases and bowls, figurines and hair ornaments". While not as elaborate as those gifts, we offer you a sneak peek at the new exhibit. https://spark.adobe.com/page/VaeeFi3E7E1qs/

This recipe for red yarn from 1855 came across our desks while working yesterday. Still used today, Carmine, a natural red dye also labeled as cochineal extract, E120 or natural red 4, owes its beauty to a teeny tiny creepy crawler. Yep, that's right, a bug. The female cochineal bug to be precise.

Here is a short update on what our staff has been working on at the Gibson Museum site! Thank you to our non-profit, Friends of Gibson, and to Voris Brumfield for putting this together.

Check out this mini-presentation on Vintage Valentines: A brief history of love, vinegar, and changing standards of love and romance via card. We would love to share some of our collection of Valentines with you! spark.adobe.com/page/pnxM35fbWojA4

Celebrating the 150th anniversary, 1871-2021 Lakeport's Historic Courthouse Building. Check out the history of the building as we hit this milestone! https://spark.adobe.com/page/2bcLbIvKl1uM1/ #historicbuildings #museum #courthouse #museumsoflakecountyca #lakeport #lakecountyca

Attend Your Next Virtual Meeting in Style If you're stuck at home, shake up your work-from-home routine right about now with these photos from the Museum of Lake County Collection for your next zoom, microsoft teams or snapcamera meeting https://spark.adobe.com/page/XZmotFAbmW6Pa/

The Historic Courthouse Building is turning 150! Tune in as we celebrate the history of this historic piece of Lake County and one of the homes of the Museums of Lake County!

A big thank you to our community, staff, and non-profits for their support during this unprecedented past year. Although our doors may be closed to the public right now, our staff is working behind the scenes preserving Lake County History and creating new content for when we open again. A big thank you goes to our supporting non-profits; the Friends of Gibson Museum, Lower Lake Historic School Preservation Committee, and the Friends of the Museum. Check out their pages here and consider becoming a member: facebook.com/LowerLakeSchoolhouseMuseum facebook.com/CGibsonMuseumCulturalCenter

Growing up near Mount Rainier on my family's farm I learned to cut, rake and bale hay. This interesting beast is quite a contraption. An early hay baler from the Read Family collection and is full of interesting details. -Clark McAbee, Curator