Guide to the Geraldine McGrady Jones Collection MSS-2007-11-18
Rita Wang
SJSU Special Collections & Archives
9/27/2016
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library
San José State University
One Washington Square
San José, CA 95192-0028
special.collections@sjsu.edu
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
SJSU Special Collections & Archives
Title: Geraldine McGrady Jones Collection
Identifier/Call Number: MSS-2007-11-18
Physical Description:
1 Box
(1 linear foot)
Date (inclusive): 1870-2008
Date (bulk): 1900-1930
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; an informal oral history interview with the two surviving daughters, Geraldine
(Gerry) Peters and Betty Ermert; a San Jose Normal School diploma; Dibble General Hospital Honors Certificate; a three-ring
handwritten notebook, and a scrapbook of family photographs with an accompanying "Down Memory Lane" manuscript. The bulk dates
are 1900-1930.
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 Southern 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 aide 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.
Geraldine McGrady Jones Collection, MSS-2007-11-18, San José State University Library Special Collections & Archives.
This collection is arranged alphabetically by form and subject.
The Geraldine McGrady Jones Collection is a small 20th century family collection that documents ordinary family life in Los
Gatos, California during World War II. This collection consists of handwritten and typed copies of creative writings by Geraldine
McGrady Jones, representing her reflections on domestic life, children, and the loss of her two sons in World War II. Part
of this collection includes digital images that were produced from the original family photographic album, which the family
maintains. The album documents the history of the family from 1850 through the 1940s. As part of the original gift, included
in this collection are the audio file and transcripts of an informal oral history interview with the two surviving daughters,
Geraldine (Gerry) Peters and Betty Ermert, which provide an overview of their early family life and personal experiences growing
up in Los Gatos.
On top of the original gift, additional materials were donated by Priscilla S. Peters, the great-granddaughter of Geraldine
McGrady Jones, on May 28, 2022. Included in these materials are a San Jose Normal School diploma, Dibble General Hospital
Honors Certificate, a three-ring handwritten notebook, and a scrapbook of family photographs with an accompanying "Down Memory
Lane" manuscript. The three-ring handwritten notebook contains notes, ideas, names and addresses, and handwritten drafts in
various stages of completion, some of which are already in the collection in typed form. Tucked into the back cover of the
three-ring handwritten notebook is a letter Geraldine McGrady Jones sent to Billy Jones from Boston where she traveled with
the children (this trip is mentioned in "Down Memory Lane" on pp. 10-11). On the verso of Geraldine McGrady Jones' letter
is a note in pencil written by her daughter, Geraldine Alice, to Billy Jones. Many of the drafts appear to relate to Eastern
Star (i.e., a Masonic order based on some Biblical teachings that is open to men and women of all religious beliefs) activities,
something that was important to both Geraldine McGrady Jones and Billy Jones, to which they devoted much time. One draft titled
"Douglas H-100" (which may be an early telephone number) relates to Billy Jones.
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.
The collection is open for research.
Collection processed and finding aid EAD encoded by R. Schuyler Selden. Reviewed by Danelle Moon (2011). Finding aid written
by Rita Wang (2016). Accrual added in, and arrangement and finding aid revised by Christine Thuy Minh Nguyen (2022).
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Los Gatos (Calif.)
History -- California
California -- History -- Photographs.
Box 1, Folder 1
Correspondence 1918-1919
Box 1, Folder 2
Dibble General Hospital Honor Certificate 1946
Box 1
Down Memory Lane Scrapbook
Box 1, Folder 3
Family History 2007-2008
Box 1, Folder 4
Foothill Scribes
Box 1, Folder 5
Poetry Manuscripts 1918, 1939, 1947
Box 1, Folder 6
Press
Box 1, Folder 7
San José Normal School School Diploma 1914
Box 1, Folder 8
Short Story Manuscripts
Box 1
Three-Ring Handwritten Notebook 1935, 1937-1938, 1953