Welcome to a visually stunning issue of California History. The feast begins with our cover, Elsie Lower Pomeroy’s We Grow ’Em (1939), offered by University of South Dakota Associate Professor of Art History Lauren M. Freese, whose essay, “The Work of Citrus: Elsie Lower Pomeroy and Southern California Citriculture,” opens a beautifully illustrated conversation between historians of art and industrial agriculture. Geospatial scientist Michele M. Tobias and colleague Scott S. Sibbett, professor of chemical and biological engineering, offer equally impactful imagery in Part 1 of “Fire and Lies: Did the Berkeley Fire of 1923 Contribute to the Tunnel Fire of 1991?” Last but not least is Michelle Lorimer’s “‘Turn Back the Noisy Wheels of Progress:’ Modernization, Postcards, and California’s Romantic Booster Heritage,” which perceptively analyzes California history through a visual-culture lens.
Enjoy!
University of California Press