In 1986, Ken Halla and his young family moved to San Juan Bautista. Immediately, he was drawn to the city’s history. Now, nearly thirty years later, Mr. Halla spends his days preserving images of the city past—a passion on full display during the city’s recent Luck Park Open House.
Two years ago, Mr. Halla, a member of the San Juan Bautista Historical Society, spearheaded the organization’s Digital San Juan Bautista Project. The project’s main goal is to use “current technology related to the preservation of and access to historical resources.” To that end, Mr. Halla and a handful of others have devoted their Tuesday afternoons digitizing nearly one thousand, celluloid and glass negatives into a database, creating for future generations a virtual time capsule.
On Saturday, October 12, the public had the opportunity to view these digitized, black and white photos, as Mr. Halla presented the historical society’s efforts of the last two years.
The majority of photos were from the Ben Ahren and Ed and Marge Lamb San Juan Mission News collections.
For a decade, Mr. Ahren was the photographer for the San Juan Mission News, the city’s weekly that ran for many years until its last publication in 1969. Mr. Ahren’s lens captured the pulse of the mission town during the 1920s.
In 1938, Ed and Marge Lamb purchased the paper. The couple then divided publication duties, Mr. Lamb’s camera snapping shots for stories written and edited by Ms. Lamb’s pen—a partnership and marriage that endured for years.
In June, Janet Wilson, the Lamb’s only child, and her husband Everett gifted hundreds of photos from her parents’ tenure to the historical society.
With photographer’s hands, Mr. Halla steadied the audience from past scenes of the city’s edges to the buzz of life on the streets. In a selection entitled Cityscapes, a score of photos showed the maturation of the fledging town as it stretched from its mission roots, sprouting the geography that would eventually define its character.
From the selection Street Signs, a photo captured participants of a 1918 parade walking along 3rd Street. Mr. Halla then asked his audience to guess the reason for the parade. I blurted out, “An Armistice Day Celebration”, a reference to cease-fire that silenced the guns of World War One.
When all attempts to ascertain the reason for the procession were exhausted, Mr. Halla, using the benefits of digital technology and with the dexterity of a Crime Scene Investigator, zoomed in on the photo, disclosing that the festive atmosphere was the result of a Portuguese celebration. A participant carrying the flag of the Azores—the group of islands off the west coast of Portugal where many of our county’s Portuguese families descend from—and a banner displaying “Welcome to…I.D.E.S. Celebration”—the Portuguese community’s annual Feast of the Holy Spirit—underscored Mr. Halla’s assertion with forensic evidence.
It was a magical moment—a single photo coming to life after years frozen in time and revealing a historical narrative worth 1,000 words.
Though the lack of funding and volunteers present obvious challenges, creating these moments and providing greater access for the public underlies the efforts put forth by Mr. Halla and others.
As a retired educator, Mr. Halla is keenly aware of the project’s potential as a learning tool for students studying history, for he envisions the historical society forging partnerships with local schools that use the digital album to compliment existing curriculum.
Asked what he hoped the public would gain from the Digital San Juan Bautista Project, Mr. Halla responded, “…a better understanding of San Juan Bautista as a community and a town.”
On a Saturday morning in October, Mr. Halla moved a step closer in that direction, as attendees exited his presentation with a better understanding of the City of History, as well as a greater appreciation for those who preserve its storied past.
If interested in viewing the project’s digital, photo collection or making a charitable donation to the project, please contact the San Juan Historical Society via e-mail, sj******@gm***.com.
