I continue to discover new (or rather, forgotten) stories of old Covina in my searches of online newspaper archives. This one I found especially fascinating. It tells of how Covina's first historian, on the verge of completing a book on her decade of research, was subsequently written out of the history books herself...
Published in 1964, Covina: Sunflowers, Citrus, Subdivisions by Donald H. Pflueger1 is still regarded as the definitive scholarly treatment of the city's history. In the book's introduction, Pflueger cites long-time Covina resident Gladys Ratekin as a primary source; in so doing intimating that she was the early town's principal chronicler. I have only recently learned, however, that such was not the case. Another woman who preceded Ratekin – Harriett Russell Head – was in actuality the first to garner local recognition and praise for her years-long efforts to document Covina's past.
Harriett R. Head (1860-1936): Covina's first lady of history.
Photo courtesy Mr. Larry Head.
I became aware of Mrs. Head's work only incidentally while attempting to research Gladys Ratekin. I was curious if the latter had written any articles about early Covina for the town newspapers. I was dismayed to find none, and moreover, apparently only once during her lifetime was Miss Ratekin mentioned in the local press as having anything to do with Covina history. This is that single instance:
Covina Citizen, June 7, 1935.2
So, Gladys Ratekin had actually been someone else's understudy? And who was "Mrs. Pardon Head?" I could not recall seeing that name before. So I did another search. I was amazed to find a dozen detailed scholarly articles on Covina history, and an even greater number of news items which reported on Head's curation efforts. Perhaps understandably, this revelation came as quite a surprise.
One search result in particular attracted my attention. In this newspaper article, published in 1952 at the very beginning of his Covina project, Donald Pflueger revealed that he was indeed aware of Harriett Head...
Covina Argus-Citizen, September 26, 1952.3
...and yet nowhere in his completed book is there any mention of Mrs. Head or her extensive prior work.
How extensive? See for yourself below.
