Descriptive Summary
Administrative Information
Access Points
Biography
Scope and Content
Descriptive Summary
Title: Kaufman (Mary) Collection,
Date (inclusive): 1979-1991
Collection number: Mss26
Creator:
Mary Kaufman
Extent: 0.3 linear ft.
Repository:
University of the Pacific. Library. Holt-Atherton Department of Special Collections
Shelf location: For current information on the location of these
materials, please consult the library's online catalog.
Language:
English.
Administrative Information
Access
Collection is open for research.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Kaufman (Mary) Collection, Mss26, Holt-Atherton Department of
Special Collections, University of the Pacific Library
Access Points
personal name
Schuller family
Kaufman family
Kaufman, Mary Louise Schuller Marconi (b. 1899)
Marconi, John Alva (b. 1925)
Kaufman, Kenneth
corporate name
Pacific Pea Packing Company (Oakdale, Calif.)
subject
Women ranchers -California -Oakdale
Women cannery workers -California -Oakdale
German Americans -California -Valley Home
Dairy farmers -California -Oakdale
Sheep ranchers -California -Oakdale
Baseball for children
Earthquakes -California -Loma Prieta -October 17, 1989
Thalheim (Calif.) -History -Sources
Valley Home (Calif.) -History -Sources
Oakdale (Calif.) -History -Sources
Biography
Mary Kaufman (b. 1899) is the daughter of Austrian immigrant Frederick Schuller (b. 1866)
and Rose Schmidt. Schuller first farmed in Ohio, then came to California (1907), where he
bought fifty acres of land in Talheim, Stanislaus County. Due to World War I era
anti-German feeling, this community soon changed its name to Valley Home. Mary was the
second of eight children. She first married Oakdale cattle, sheep and dairyman, John
Marconi (1919), and they had one son, also named John (b. 1925), before Marconi died from
an accidental gunshot wound (1932), leaving his wife to operate their dairy alone. John
Marconi Jr. served in the Navy during World War II. After the War Mary Marconi married
Oakdale canner, Kenneth Kaufman (1947). Kaufman's company canned peas, spinach and
peaches under the Pacific Pea Packing label. Mary Kaufman worked at the cannery until her
retirement.
Scope and Content
The Kaufman Collection consists of: Daryl Morrison's taped interviews with Mary Kaufman
(1990-1991) in which the latter discusses her childhood home at Valley Home, her roles as
rancher's wife, mother and cannery employee; a "Valley Home Cookbook" with historical
notes about the settlement and its inhabitants; and, a few clippings and photographs of
the Valley Home area.