The Haggin turns 70

Stockton museum celebrates sharing community's heritage

For those unfamiliar with it, the

big, red brick landmark in the middle of Victory Park is a mystery.

Somebody's old mansion? A picturesque

firehouse?

For those who remember family outings

and student art shows there, however, the The Haggin Museum is an indelible

part of city life, a touchstone of local history and pioneer heritage.

"I practically grew up here, running

around and playing as a kid," said museum visitor George Perry, pausing to admire

the Stevens Runabout boat in the recently remodeled California Room. "It was

a place for me to wander and wonder. I remember staring up at the big Western

pictures and being real scared by the mummy!"

The ancient Egyptian priest and

the Bierstadt landscapes that impressed Perry are still there; and now, their

stories and that of the museum are being told in a special exhibition, "The

Haggin at 70: A Museum History," on display in the Upper West Gallery through

July 29.

Visitors can take a timeline tour

of The Haggin via photos, news stories and artifacts that trace the museum's

role in city life even before the doors opened in June 1931.

In conjunction with the exhibition,

museum director Tod Ruhstaller will present a two-part slide show on Haggin

facts and fantasies at — p.m. Saturday and June 30. He will include answers

to some of the most frequently asked questions about the museum.

"They ask us who Haggin was and

whether this building was his old family mansion (no," Ruhstaller said. "They

ask how a little museum got a world-class art collection (the majority are Louis

Terah Haggin's private collection, and they want to know where they can find

the mummy (the ancient arts gallery."

Those with memories that go way

back also ask about the Komodo dragon, a giant stuffed lizard that was a longtime

museum curiosity before going to Oakland's Tilden Park.

Ruhstaller is guarded about the

infamous trunk that was a chief exhibit for the prosecution in a 1906 Stockton

murder case involving femme fatale Emma LeDoux. The scandalous item is still

on the premises, he said, though not offered for public viewing.

From earliest museum designs to

the most recent remodelings and additions, the new show has been designed to

give visitors a sense of what The Haggin looked like at different periods of

time.

"Sometimes people come back to the

museum after many years with a mental picture of it as they remember it," Ruhstaller

said. "This exhibition will give them a certain comfort level by showing the

museum they remember, and then they can walk around and get a feel for how the

museum has changed."

Stockton Cultural Heritage Board

chairwoman Leslie Crow calls the museum "a little treasure box" and likened

a visit to "exploring grandmother's attic," given its abundance of artifacts

and information.

"There are many little jewels of

local history that people can enjoy, whether they've lived here for a lifetime

or are newcomers to the community," she said.

Perry said he's always enjoyed the

"special atmosphere" that prevails inside the museum.

"There's a sense of decorum that

makes you respect what it has to offer without being stuffy," he said.

"You're on your best behavior here,"

Crow agreed. "The Haggin is a little oasis of urbanity and civility within our

town, and that's been true from the start."

The importance of the museum to

the community has been evident from its opening day, when 4,000 visitors jammed

inside to see "the cultural pride of Stockton."

The Depression was at its worst

when the museum joined such projects as the Fox Theatre, the Deep Water Channel

and San Joaquin General Hospital as landmarks that planners were confident would

improve the quality of life in Stockton.

Although most visitors to the museum

today enjoy such attractions as the historic tractors of Holt Hall, the time

capsule of history in the California Room and impressive paintings, the best-known

occupant of the museum is undoubtedly the mummy, which first went on display

in the 1940s.

Ironically, the remains of the eternal

Egyptian don't actually belong to the museum. He's on long-term loan from the

Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco and theoretically can be recalled.

And what of the future?

Without question, Ruhstaller said,

the museum will be growing again, given its need for additional exhibition and

storage areas.

"We're starting to feel the pinch.

We need more space."

Beyond space, he said, the challenge

for the museum will be to stay in step with the many facets of community diversity.

One example of that arrives with

the opening Tuesday of a tribute to Mary Ellen Pleasant, mother of the civil

rights movement in California, and a salute to the black pioneers of Stockton.

One of the surprises offered in

the current show is the fact that The Haggin no sooner opened its doors in the

hard times of 1931 than it was faced with the prospect of closing them.

That didn't happen, said museum

editor Susan Benedetti, because the community that started the museum sustained

it in its darkest hour. A huge membership campaign saved the day.

Visitors to the new exhibition,

she said, will sense "a lively institution that remains an important part of

Stockton's cultural life. You'll walk away with a much better appreciation for

what we have here."

To reach reporter Howard Lachtman

phone546-8269 or e-maillachtman@recordnet.com.

INFOBOX:

About the exhibit

EVENT: "The Haggin at

70"

WHEN: Through July 29

WHERE: Upper West Gallery,

Haggin Museum, 1201 N. Pershing Ave.

HOURS: 1:30 p.m.-5 p.m.

Tues.-Sun.

SPECIAL PROGRAMS: Haggin

history slide show: — p.m. Sat. and June 30

MUSEUM ADMISSION: $5;

$2.50, youths 10-17, students with valid ID and seniors 65 and older; free,

children younger than 10 when accompanied by an adult.

INFORMATION: 940-6300

PHOTOS: THE HAGGIN MUSEUM

IN 1930 IN 2001 (Record photo by CRAIG SANDERS CROWD

PLEASERS: In the 1972 photo above, a boy checks out the mummy on display

at the museum. The 1939 photo at right, is from the closing of the jade

exhibit at The Haggin Museum. It was one of the most popular in the museum's

history and drew 15,000 people. (Photos

from The Haggin Museum Collection

PHOTO: PARASOL DISPLAY: In

museum rotunda in 1945. (Courtesy of The Haggin Museum

PHOTO: HAGGIN: Private collection

at museum.