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| Landmark #817 | Sacramento County | Visited: March 21, 2015 | Plaque? YES! 🙂 |
| What is it? | A plaque at the Elk Grove Grange Hall! |
| What makes it historical? | THE GUIDE SAYS: Through the efforts of Miss Harriet G. Eddy, then principal of Elk Grove Union High School, in 1908 Elk Grove acquired the first county free library branch in California. Subsequently, California’s county free library branch system has become one of the most outstanding in America.
OTHER TIDBITS: Miss Eddy grew up in Michigan, where she went to school for Classical Studies at Albion College and excelled at Biblical Greek! She dropped out of MA studies at Chicago University and moved to Elk Grove to become the principal of Elk Grove Union High School. While there, she convinced the neighbors (Women’s Christian Temperance Union) to let her set up a library for her students in their space, then moved up to the next level! State Librarian, James Gillis, appointed her first county library organizer, and as organizer, she visited Russia several times to teach about California’s library organization! Thanks to her influence, the Soviet Constitution included an article about free libraries. While this made her unpopular during the McCarthy era, she played a great role in keeping information flowing in both countries! |
| How can I Help the Helpers? | HERE’S HOW:
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| Where is this place? | LISTED DIRECTIONS: 9125 Elk Grove Blvd Elk Grove, CA 95624 ANNOTATIONS: From Los Angeles: ~379mi (610km) — 6.4hrs |
| When should I go? | Whenever the mood strikes you! |