Reading Room Exhibit
Our 2026-2027 Reading Room exhibit features candid photographs of people at work in and around Sacramento, along with staff group portraits, and antique office machinery.
Blind World War II veteran Joe Ramirez helps a customer at his concession stand in the Sacramento County Administration Building around 1955. While he was born in Mexico, Ramirez grew up in North Sacramento. When World War II began, he wrote a letter to the local military office asking to enlist even though he was not a citizen. He served and was awarded a Purple Heart. A statue based off his likeness stands in Capitol Park as part of the California Mexican American Veterans Memorial.
Joe Ramirez, Concessioner, c. 1955
Enriqueta Andazola Collection, MS0219, 1985/006/067
Nita McClinton works at the switchboard for Able-One Telephone Answering Service in 1977. Here, McClinton answered and connected calls for businesses that did not have their own secretaries. During a given shift, she’d handle calls for dentists and doctors, bail bondsmen, realtors, and marriage counselors. “You need 400 personalities to deal with them,” she said of the diversity of customers.
Nita McClinton, Switchboard Operator, 1977
Sacramento Bee Collection, 1983/001/SBPMP5812
Frontier Club bartender Nick Sanducci had a bone to pick with the Soul Clinic Mission in June 1951. The charitable religious group had moved in next door to his West End bar located at 922 2nd Street. Sanducci, who took his complaints to City Council, said the mission was "trying to change my customers' habits.” He noted that he was losing business because the missionaries were playing loud organ music and blocking the entrance to his bar while handing out pamphlets.
Nick Sanducci, Bartender, 1951
Photograph by Joe Benetti for the Sacramento Union, 2003/012/0630
Each fall, the Sacramento Valley’s agricultural fields become a hub of activity as the rice harvest takes place. Here, we see Rio Linda ranchers John and Frank Monnich’s operation in 1950.
Farmers in Rio Linda, 1950
Sacramento Bee Collection, 1983/001/09131
Staff at the Palace Laundry pause for a photograph, except the woman on the far left who can’t be bothered to stop folding. The laundry was located at 1300 R Street and boasted high-class service with modern equipment in a fire-proof building. The building and half of its delivery fleet was destroyed by fire in July 1960.
Staff of Palace Laundry, 1928
Gift of Anthony Sekul, 2010/005/001
In 1969, James Cecil York described himself as “a little old damnfool barber out here in Del Paso Heights telling people they've got to love each other.” York, who was also a repeat candidate for city council, founded Parent Patrol in Del Paso Heights in 1967. The group aimed to help the DPH Black community police itself and curb violence. However, community members were suspicious of York's political aspirations, uncomfortable with block patrollers’ use of cameras to document their neighbors, and turned off by the city police and Governor Ronald Reagan’s support of the group.
James Cecil York, Barber, 1969
Sacramento Bee Collection, 1983/001/10750
Harry T. Matsuoka opened a highly regarded shoe repair business at 14116 Market Street in the Japanese business district of Walnut Grove. Though the year he started the business is unknown, we do know that in the 1930s his son Toshio, better known as Mat (pictured here), took over the business and called it “Mat’s Shoe Service.” He operated in the same location as his father through 1991.
Toshio “Mat” Matsuoka, Cobbler, c. 1991
Gift of the Sacramento River Delta Historical Society, 2004/026/072
Employees of the Central Pacific Railroad (CPRR) Car Works pose at the Sacramento Railyards in 1882. When CPRR broke ground on its portion of the Transcontinental Railroad at Front and K streets in 1863, it didn’t have the capacity to manufacture locomotive components. Parts were sent via ship from the East Coast to be assembled at shops at 6th and D streets. But within a few years, the shops were moved to a larger complex nearby, where all components of a train could be manufactured and assembled in one place.
Staff of the Car Works Department, Central Pacific Railroad, 1882
Gift of Julius Frieseke, 1996/043/001
Opened in 1981 at J and 14th streets as La Boulangerie, today there are several La Bou locations around Sacramento. Founder Trong Nguyen is seen at center preparing croissants with his sisters Huong (left) and Tuy not long after the first store’s opening. Trained in France and Washington, D.C., croissants were Nguyen’s specialty and he experimented with difference fillings, including Danish ham, chocolate chips, almond paste, and fruit.
The Nguyen Siblings, Bakers, 1981
Suttertown News Collection, MS0165, 1995/026/0680
Anita Tager, one of the first two women firefighters hired by the Sacramento Fire Department, steers her rig in this 1977 Sacramento Bee photograph. Until 1984, local women firefighters had to wear ill-fitting uniforms made for men and sized down by a seamstress. Tager fought for women’s uniforms, saying in a 1984 article, “The women padded their boots and hitched up their pants and faked it.”
Anita Tager, Firefighter, 1977
Photo by Erhardt Kraus, Sacramento Bee Collection, 1983/001/SBPM09341
Workers pose in front of the Libby, McNeill, & Libby asparagus cannery in Locke sometime in the early 1900s. The plant was located less than a mile north of the town and included the main cannery building, a warehouse, office, and dock, and a school for the workers’ children (some of whom can be seen in this photograph). The plant also canned tomatoes.
Cannery Workers, c.1915
Gift of Linda Geigle, 2025/001/001
Members of the Sacramento Police Department pose on 6th and H streets in front of the Hall of Justice. The multi-purpose building was completed in 1917 and served as the department’s headquarters, jail, and courthouse. Among the individuals pictured in this panorama are court bailiff Robert Ash, matron Maggie Garrahan, Police Chief Ira Conran, Captain Mannie Brown, and Seargeant Dan Higgins, who retired the year of this photo with 30 years of service.
Sacramento Police Department Staff, c.1919
Sacramento Police Department Records, CTY0002, 1995/013/253
A line of workers clean and prepare Del Monte “Early Garden" white asparagus for canning at the California Packing Corporation cannery in 1943. California Packing had four canneries on the main grid in Sacramento; this one is unidentified.
Asparagus Packers, 1943
Gift of Jeff Redman, 1997/028/068
The Sacramento Public Library started its phonograph lending library in the summer of 1947, and patron Ann Townsend was one of the first to check out an album. She’s being helped by librarian Marilyn Sheehan, who later worked with the library’s bookmobile.
Marilyn Sheehan, Librarian, 1947
Photo by Robert Handsaker, Sacramento Bee Collection, 1983/001/09851
Zellerbach Paper Company was founded by Anthony Zellerbach and his son, Jacob, in 1882. Based in San Francisco, the company founded a variety of paper products, including stacked and folded paper towels and the window envelope. Employees of the Sacramento office are seen here around 1926 in front of their building at 1221-1223 Front Street, which burned down in 1927.
Staff of the Zellerbach Paper Company, Sacramento Branch, c.1926
Gift of Sheila Mobley, 2013/038/049
December 13-18 is the busiest time of year for the U.S. Postal Service, as clerks work feverishly behind the scenes to get holiday cards and packages where they need to go. In this photograph from 1966, staff at the brand-new Royal Oaks Drive facility use a conveyor system to speed mail handling. The post office on Royal Oaks opened in May 1966 and was billed as one of the most modern in the United States.
Postal Workers, 1966
Photo by Harlin Smith, Sacramento Bee Collection, 1983/001/SBPM09826
Made-Rite Sausage Company employee Ken Bakkie demonstrates the Frank-O-Matic for visitors during an open house at the meat processor in 1985. Located at 3353 2nd Avenue, many residents remember the factory, which processed and packaged sausages and smoked meats. One longtime neighbor recalled that it “gave off meat odors you could smell for blocks.” The Made-Rite Sausage Company closed in 1986.
Ken Bakkie, Meat Processing Plant Worker, 1985
Photo by Frank Stork, Sacramento Bee Collection, 1983/001/SBPM2122
Employees pose outside of the new Fort Sutter Post Office branch at 3018 K Street in November 1949. One person is identified: Peter Borgia, in the middle row, fourth from left. Borgia, born in 1907 in Sicily, came to Sacramento with his family at age 6, graduated from Sacramento High School, and worked at a shoe store on K Street before taking a job at the post office.
Staff of the Fort Sutter Post Office, 1949
Gift of Peter Borgia, 2008/029/001/006
Howard Yorgan looks out the window of his tiny key and watch repair shop at 911 ½ K Street in 1977. His self-proclaimed “world’s smallest store” was only 3 feet wide and at most 16 feet deep. Yorgan worked six days a week at the shop from the time he bought it in 1956 until five days before his death at age 80 in 2000, making keys but also making friends with neighborhood regulars.
Howard Yorgan, Watch and Key Maker, 1977
Photograph by Skip Shuman, Sacramento Bee Collection, 1983/001/SBPMP10745
An employee checks stock at Newbert Hardware in 1984. Located on the southeast corner of 17th and J streets, the shop operated from 1937 to 1993. It served local contractors, farmers, and handymen and was known for its knowledgeable staff and as the place to get that hard-to-find item. The company donated three of its neon signs to our collection, one of which is currently on view at the Golden 1 Center.
Unidentified Hardware Stocker, 1984
Photograph by Owen Brewer, Gift of Glen Vanderford, 1993/046/006
Teachers, administrators, custodial staff—it takes a range of professions to keep a school running! Here, the employees of Elder Creek School pose for their 1967 staff photo. Second from right in the bottom row is Mary Hennessey, who had taught at Elder Creek School for 18 years and was retiring at the end of the school year. Mrs. Hennessey earned her teaching certificate in 1934 from Chico State and taught at several schools around Sacramento County before her long stint at Elder Creek.
Staff of Elder Creek School, 1967
Gift of Angie Buell, 2001/033/260
City of Sacramento engineer-custodian Alfred Miles sets the City Hall clock forward for daylight saving time in 1950.
Alfred Mills, Custodian, 1950
Sacramento Bee Collection, 1983/001/09800
Enriqueta Andazola (looking at camera) works behind the counter at Dottie's Fountain in the 1950s. She made her home in North Sacramento after fleeing the violence of the Mexican Revolution in 1917. After divorcing her husband, she raised their five children alone while working mainly in manufacturing and canning plants, including California Packing/Del Monte. Andazola was a leader in Sacramento’s Mexican community and was instrumental in creating spaces where they could practice their culture and traditions, including co-founding the Centro Mexicano community center near Southside Park.
Enriqueta Andazola and colleagues, Waitresses, 1950s
Enriqueta Andazola Collection, MS0219, 1985/006/002
Artifacts and Photographs from Thomson-Diggs, Cal-Western Life Insurance, and Other Early Offices
Artifacts and photographs in these exhibit cases came from local companies Thomson-Diggs and Cal-Western Life Insurance, along with other early offices.
Thomson-Diggs was a wholesale hardware company founded in Sacramento in 1900 by Frederick Fay Thomson and his brother Herbert after they merged their existing hardware store with the Diggs Vehicle and Implement Company. In 1912, the company moved from 308-312 J Street to a newly constructed four-story building at 3rd and R streets. Here, sales, administrative, and warehouse staff kept the company running via product shipments throughout Northern California, Oregon, and Nevada. The company remained on 3rd Street until a move to a new building on Del Paso Rd in 1986. It went out of business in 1997, just shy of its 100th anniversary.
Headquartered in San Francisco but with branches throughout the west, the Western States Life Insurance Company (later Cal-Western Life Insurance) was organized in 1911. The Sacramento branch moved into their brand-new high-rise at 926 J Street in 1924. In 1952, they relocated to another newly constructed building at 2020 L Street. In 1988, CSH received a collection of bound volumes of the company newsletter, multiple office machines, and several hundred photographs of Cal-West employees and company activities.
Artifacts shown here include a time clock, 1935-1945; "Flyer" message delivery system, c.1910; Stenotype (c.1911) and shorthand textbook (1939); Dictaphone and wax cylinder, c. 1910; Marchant Calculating Machine, Model XLA, c. 1930; and Rotospeed Duplicator, c.1910.
Artifacts shown here include a Paragon Model 1A Numbering Machine, 1950s; “Baby” Burroughs Calculator, c. 1953; stapler and staple remover, c.1960; Western Electric Model 302 Rotary Telephone, 1938-1954; and Adler Electric Printing Calculator, 1978-1981.
Artifacts shown here include a Remington Standard Typewriter No. 7, 1906; candlestick telephone, c.1900; and Burroughs Class 5 Calculator, 1919.