2010.59.14

40-page booklet containing stories of the California Indians of the Yosemite area. Contains photographs and drawings. Stories include: "The Coming of the Indians to the Great Valley," "How the name of Yosemite came to Ah-wah-nee," "Tis-sa-ack, a legend of Half Dome," "Coyote-man Plans for a New People," "and "The Coming of Thunder and Lightning." This publication belonged to Irene (Switchevsky) Hopkins, grandmother of Oakland Museum of California researcher Adam Nilsen. Irene's mother, Tatiana, was born in the town of Staraja Russa in the Novgorod province of Russia in 1898. She and her husband, Herculan Herculanovich Switchevsky, who was a lieutenant in the Russian Imperial Navy, fled from Vladivostok in 1922 to Shanghai, where they joined thousands of other Russians who fled Communist Russia. In Shanghai, Tatiana's daughter, Irene, and granddaughter, Julie, were born, and the family enjoyed their hometown and were involved in the Russian Orthodox Church and other Russian organizations. In 1948 the three women, a widowed Tatiana, divorcee Irene, and young Julie, fled during the advance of the Communists in China. They, along with 5,000 other Russians, were relocated by the International Refugee Organization to the Philippines, whose government had offered them the island of Tubabao as a refuge. Although they spent almost two years camping in tents, the women left with fond memories of the beautiful beaches, monkeys, and the jungle environment. They were excited when the opportunity arose to emigrate to the United States--they had long had their sights set on San Francisco, and in November 1950, they boarded the General Hersey and sailed there. The three lived in San Francisco for the next 25 years and were active in the Russian community in the Sunset and Richmond Districts. Irene, her second husband Berwin ("Burr") Hopkins, and daughters Julie and Carol enjoyed exploring their home state, and this is a brochure that they collected on one of many excursions.

Used: Irene Hopkins | Tourist