This past weekend I attended a conference at Asilomar. It’s not
the first time I’ve been lucky enough to spend time at this
beautiful facility, yet it was the first time I learned a bit of
the history behind Asilomar.
This past weekend I attended a conference at Asilomar. It’s not the first time I’ve been lucky enough to spend time at this beautiful facility, yet it was the first time I learned a bit of the history behind Asilomar – history that included a group of incredibly strong women in a time where the female was considered below the male in any number of social standings.
I confess my reasons for going on the one-hour tour were simple. I’m not very good at sitting for long lengths of time; I find myself getting as wiggly as a little child, so after two seminars I decided a guided walk around the grounds would be a pleasant way to pass the time.
Little did I know I was about to meet an incredible speaker, one who would keep her audience enthralled for the next hour. State Park Ranger Roxanne was our guide, and what a gal! The women who fought to build and keep Asilomar would be proud of Ranger Roxanne. Not only has she spent years researching Asilomar’s history, she makes the people behind the park come alive.
Asilomar was not always part of the state park system. It was initially a place exclusively for young women, participants in the YWCA, to go. It was a camp that encouraged everything from sports to (gasp) typing.
When Asilomar came into being in the early 20th century, the Victorian era was in its final stages. And according to Ranger Roxanne, typewriters were considered too tough for the delicate hands of Victorian women. But the women at Asilomar were taught finger-strengthening exercises and memorized the typewriter keyboard. Asilomar was a place where young women could get ahead in life, not be a mere decoration for a male counterpart.
But that’s only one of many side stories Ranger Roxanne told her enraptured audience. Asilomar itself was designed by the first licensed woman architect in California. Throughout the conference grounds the buildings are named for those who kept the dream alive – the dream of encouraging women to go beyond the confines of the male-dominated world. In all fairness, it was not only men these women were up against, but their own counterparts, brainwashed by the beliefs of that era.
Ranger Roxanne told wonderful stories throughout our tour. At any moment I expected ghosts from young women past to join the tour, proudly waving their banners and wearing their YWCA scarves of green, to represent Asilomar.
Yet as hard as these women pioneers fought, the doors of Asilomar weren’t always open. The depression in the 1930s hit the country hard and a camp for women to spend their days was no longer seen as a necessity. Mere survival was. Later, during World War II, Asilomar was opened up to house some of the military families in the Monterey area. Time and again it was put on the auction block for sale. When it was finally bought by the state park system, there were stipulations on the sale. While initially harsh, those stipulations have proved to be a blessing as Asilomar continues to thrive today. Ranger Roxanne reminded us that Asilomar is a state park, open for all residents to enjoy.
At some time during our tour the morning clouds burned off, revealing a beautiful sunny crisp day. Deer roamed the woods around the facility. Crows – or are they ravens? – cawed raucously from trees above our heads. The boarded walkway to the Pacific Ocean beckoned. Waves teased the shoreline and people enjoyed the ocean breeze.
When Ranger Roxanne was done, view of Asilomar had changed. I spent the rest of the day thinking of the courageous women and men who went against public opinion, those who stepped out of their safety zone to make life better for us. I can’t help but hope Californians never lose their pioneering spirit. It’s part of what makes us unique.
Oh, and Ranger Roxanne, thank you. You were the best teacher I had at the conference. And a big thumb to the temple, Asilomar wave to you. .
