Livingston Historical Society Museum-Big Things in a Small Building

The Livingston Historical Society Museum is not a very big building.  But it holds a lot of things that tell quite a story about this small northern Merced County City and its role in shaping life in the San Joaquin Valley.

Livingston Historical Society Museum, Livingston, Merced County.  Photo by Steve Newvine

My interest in the museum was first sparked by a brief newspaper item several months ago that thanked volunteers and encouraged the public to visit.  

While the museum will open for special tours, or even a casual visit, the official hours are Sunday’s noon to two.  I thought a museum that was only open officially for two hours a week probably has a story or two to tell.

So I called Barbara Ratzlaff, the president of the Livingston Historical Society, and asked for a visit.  Barbara, who prefers people call her Babs, set up the appointment and met me on location.

Late in the afternoon following a long day on the road for my regular job, I stopped in and took a memorable tour.

Telephone operator’s station display at the Livingston Historical Society Museum.  Photo by Steve Newvine

An early item of interest was this telephone operator’s station.  Livingston had its own telephone company going back to the 1940s.  

The company is now owned by Frontier Communications and functions as a local phone service.

A local resident told me at least one long-time citizen has kept her family phone number ever since 1947.

There is an American Flag on the wall of a meeting room in the back of the building.  The flag has only forty-five stars and is believed to have been given to the City in commemoration of the nation’s forty-fifth state.  

By the way, the forty-fifth state is Utah.

I saw a display of black and white photographs depicting the visit by then Governor Earl Warren to the City from 1950.   

The Governor was running for reelection.  Governor Warren would win a third term, but he did not complete that term in Sacramento.  His tenure at the Governor’s mansion was interrupted when President Eisenhower appointed him to Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court.

Japanese internment artifacts at the Livingston Historical Society Museum.  Photo by Steve Newvine

The museum’s devotes a considerable amount of its limited space to telling the story of the internment of Japanese citizens during World War II.  

Many Japanese citizens worked in the fields in and around Livingston.  Many of these citizens owned property.  Internment took many people away to camps in nearby Fresno and Stockton.  

The Museum collection includes a suitcase used by one family as they packed what would fit and took it with them to an internment camp.  Other displays include newspaper accounts, photographs, and posters.

The Japanese Internment displays at the Livingston Historical Society Museum feature this box that likely held possessions of an intern gathered before being sent to one of the camps- Photos by Steve Newvine

The internment story takes several pages and is sourced to over two-hundred articles and books on Wikipedia.  The Livingston Museum does not attempt to cover the entire story, but it does help the visitor understand to some degree what life might have been like for the Japanese who endured the internment era, and those who returned to resume their lives in Merced County after the War ended.

There is an internment memorial on the Merced County Fairgrounds in the City of Merced.  In Livingston, the primary memorial for this part of the community’s history rests behind the walls of this little building on 604 Main Street in Livingston.

The building opened in 1922 as a County Library and Justice Court.  Then California Governor William D. Stephens attended the groundbreaking ceremony held in March of that year.

While the Museum is not very big, it holds a lot of stories.  It’s a place for volunteers like Babs Ratzlaff, many who have lived in Livingston all their lives, to help share this history was younger generations of interested visitors.

It is a small building with a big story.

To arrange a tour of the Livingston Historical Society Museum, call Babs Ratzlaff at 209-394-2376

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.  He’s written Grown Up, Going Home, a look at his home town of Port Leyden, New York where he details some of that community’s historical events.

Merced County’s Medal of Honor Recipient- Jon R. Cavaiani

When Jon came over to the United States from his native Great Britian, he was reunited with his stepfather and lived in Ballico, Merced County.  

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Jon Cavaiani (left) at a ceremonial function.  Photo from Military.com)

The year was 1953 when Jon was just six years old.  He was adopted by that stepdad in 1961.  

Jon became a naturalized American citizen in 1968.  

Like many young men of that age at that time, he went into the military and fought in the Vietnam War.

Jon was Jon R. Cavaiani.  Staff Sergeant in the US  Army.

 He was a brave soldier, a distinguished leader of men, a prisoner of war, and a recipient of our nation’s highest military honor:  The Congressional Medal of Honor.

The Congressional Medal of Honor is awarded to soldiers who displayed heroism and valor on the battlefield.  Jon’s story of bravery follows that pattern.

According to the Medal of Honor website, Jon was serving as a platoon leader providing security for a radio relay site on the morning of June 4, 1971 when the site was targeted by Vietnamese enemy fire.  

To direct his platoon’s fire and rally his group of soldiers, Jon moved around the attack site often in the line of oncoming bullets.  When it became clear the entire platoon would be evacuated, Jon volunteered to remain on the ground to direct the helicopters onto a landing zone.

 Intense enemy fire forced him to stay at the camp overnight to direct the other remaining troops as they held off the enemy.  There were more acts of bravery as a heavy barrage attacked the next day.  

At one point, Jon got a machine gun, stood up again facing enemy fire, and fired away as his remaining troops were able to escape.

“Through Staff Sergeant Cavaiani’s valiant efforts with complete disregard for his safety, the majority of the remaining platoon members were able to escape. While inflicting severe losses on the advancing enemy force, Staff Sergeant Cavaiani was wounded numerous times. Staff Sergeant Cavaiani’s conspicuous gallantry, extraordinary heroism and intrepidity at the risk of his life, above and beyond the call of duty, were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself and the U.S. Army.”

— Part of Staff Sergeant Cavaiani’s Medal of Honor Citation

He was wounded several times in those two intense days, but returned to the battlefield.  

Within months, he was captured and spent two years as a prisoner of war.

He was released in 1973.  He took on other assignments, graduated from a culinary arts program in Columbia, and lived there with his wife.  In 2010 he was the grand marshal in a Vietnam Veterans Parade in Sonora sponsored by the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 391.  

He was a member of that chapter.He lost a battle with cancer in 2014.  An effort to find a bone marrow donor and to help pay medical expenses was launched in the months leading up to his death.  That effort was detailed on the website Military.com.  

From that web story, the reader learns a little more about Jon the man.  He rarely talked about his Medal of Honor, but wore it at least once in the years following his retirement from the Army in 1990.  

He was remembered as a quiet and humble leader.

Jon is one of 3,498 recipients of the Medal of Honor.  

There is some history about his life and military service available at the Livingston Historical Society Museum.   Thanks to the Medal of Honor website and Wikipedia, this Merced County hero’s story is out there for the rest of the world to see.

As we honor our veterans again with the parades, services, and activities such as the Field of Honor at Merced College, spend a few moments to think about the heroic acts men and women like Jon Cavaiani did on the battlefields of America’s wars.

He was Merced County’s Congressional Medal of Honor recipient Jon R. Cavaiani.  

We thank him for his sacrifice, and we thank all our soldiers for their service.

Congressional Medal of Honor website:  www.cmohs.org

For more on the Livingston Historical Society Museum, call:  394-2376

Steve Newvine lives in Merced and has written the book Finding Bill about his uncle who served in the Vietnam War.