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Guide to the Geraldine McGrady Jones Collection
MSS-2007-11-18
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Title: Geraldine McGrady Jones Collection
Dates: 1870-1947
Bulk Dates: 1900-1930
Collection number: MSS-2007-11-18
Creator:
San Jose State University
Collection Size:
1 box,
.21 linear feet
Repository:
San José State University. Library.
San José, California 95192-0028
Abstract: The Geraldine McGrady Jones Collection is a small 20th century family collection that documents ordinary family life in Los
Gatos, California. This collection consists of typed and handwritten creative writing works by Geraldine McGrady Jones, family
photographs, a collection of digitized photographs and an informal oral history interview with the two surviving daughters,
Geraldine (Gerri) Peters and Betty Emrett.
Physical location: Vault 1, Range 21A
Languages:
Languages represented in the collection:
English
The collection is open for research.
Copyright has been assigned to the San José State University Library Special Collections &
Archives. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to
the Director of Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Special Collections
& Archives as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the
copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader. Copyright restrictions also apply to digital
reproductions of the original materials. Use of digital files is restricted to research and educational purposes.
Geraldine McGrady Jones Collection, MSS-2007-11-18, San José State University Library Special Collections & Archives.
Collection processed and finding aid EAD encoded by R. Schuyler Selden. Reviewed by Danelle Moon.
Geraldine McGrady Jones (1892-1952) was born in San Francisco and five years later moved with her family to Los Gatos. She
attended the San Jose Normal School where she graduated in 1914, after which she worked as a school teacher at the Wright's
Station School in the Santa Cruz Mountains. It was there that she met her husband William 'Billy' Jones who worked as an engineer
for the Union Pacific railroad. The couple lived in converted boxcars for the first several years of their marriage and eventually
settled in Los Gatos where they raised their four children Betty ,Geraldine, Robert and Neal. Geraldine Jones recorded vignettes
of her family life in the form of short stories and poems, several of theses poems honor her sons' sacrifices and commitment
in World War II; both were killed in the war. Following World War II, Geraldine Jones worked as an aid in the San Jose Hospital
and the Dibble Hospital in Menlo Park.
William 'Billy' Jones became a popular local figure after installing a small gauge railroad called 'the Wildcat Railroad'
in 1943, on his Los Gatos property. The railroad became a popular amusement for local children. The popularity of this small
gauge railroad attracted the attention of Walt Disney who later consulted with Billy Jones during the construction of the
train system in Disneyland in Anaheim California. The Billy Jones Railroad remains a popular attraction in the Vasona Regional
Park.
Railroads of Los Gatos. Edited by Edward Kelley with Peggy Conaway. Charleston, SC, Arcadia Publishing, 2006.
Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad and W.E. "Bill" Mason Carousel, Los Gatos, California. http://www.bjwrr.org/
Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad and W.E. Mason Carousel Los Gatos California
http://www.los-gatos.ca.us/los_gatos/parks_and_rec/billy_jones_rr/billyjones.html
The Geraldine McGrady Jones Collection is a small family 20th century collection that documents ordinary family life in Los
Gatos, California. This collection consists of typed and handwritten creative writing works by Geraldine McGrady Jones, family
photographs, a collection of digitized photographs and an informal oral history interview with the two surviving daughters,
Geraldine (Gerri) Peters and Betty Emrett.
This collection is arranged into one series: Geraldine McGrady Jones Collection, 1870-1947 (bulk 1900-1930)
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in
the library's online public access catalog.
Los Gatos -- (Calif.) -- History
Los Gatos (Calif.) -- Social life and customs -- Pictorial works
Railroads -- California -- Los Gatos -- History