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Conley, Marjorie (audio interview #1 of 1)
INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - This interview was conducted at Conley's home. 7/7/1982
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- 2020-11-10
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- SUBJECT BIO - Marjorie Conley's family has been involved in the development of Long Beach for several generations. Conley herself volunteered in several important local groups including serving as president of the Junior League of Long Beach. Conley's families, the Townsends and Campbells, were early Long Beach residents and business and political leaders. Her grandfather, Stephen Townsend, for example, served as mayor. Conley grew up in the Los Cerritos area and remembers its once rural character. After she graduated from college she worked as a teacher until she married Loren Conley and returned to live in Long Beach where she began her career as a volunteer. In this single interview, Conley describes her work as a "gray lady" during WWII and subsequent work with the Junior League and the Children's Dental Clinic. TOPICS - Topics on this side of tape include: family background; childhood; education; oil and WWIITopics on this side of tape include: WWII; Junior League; California Heights Methodist church and Long Beach Hospital Association
- *** File: cbmconley1.mp3 Audio Segments and Topics: (0:00-2:40)... Introduction. Conley was born in Los Angeles while her father was an intern at Los Angeles County Hospital, but her family moved to Long Beach while she was still a baby. She attended American Avenue school until her family moved to Los Cerritos because they felt downtown Long Beach was getting too crowded. Shortly after her family moved there, she believes the area was incorporated into the city. The neighborhood had large jackrabbits and her family owned livestock, including a cow, chickens, and a goat that "mowed" the lawn. Nearby was a home that was later converted in to the Southern California Military Academy. At about the same time, Virginia Country Club moved to Los Cerritos from Recreation Park. (2:40-7:56)... Oil was discovered in Los Cerritos in the 1920s, although it didn't make a large impact on the area because of the relatively low density of homes. Several homes were moved from Pacific Avenue. One of them belonged the Reginald Campbell family who were the parents of Norma Craig, the wife of John Craig, II. Another home belonged to Congressional representative Van de Water, who wife lived there after he was killed in an accident. Two others, the Bixby and Will Cook homes, were moved to Sunrise Boulevard. Congressional representative Lineberger lived nearby, too, near some oil wells. His family lived in Washington D. C. so noise didn't bother them (7:56-14:06)... Conley attended Los Cerritos school. It has 3 teachers and a principal, Belle Royce, who also taught 6th, 7th and 8th grades. Royce later went into real estate and oil leasing. Several Mexican American families lived nearby on Rancho Los Cerritos and their children attended the school. There were also Japanese Americans who lived in Virginia City or north Long Beach and some of their children attended the school. Still, the school only had about 100 students. The students often took field trips or played sports against neighboring schools. To visit a school at Dominquez, they walked across a raiilroad trestle. Both boys and girls played baseball and Alfred Encinas was their best pitcher. The principal took older students on trips to Exposition Park or to see such things as a beached whales. She let the students build a tennis court, put on plays and make costumes, and participate in mathematics speed contests every week. There were only 6 students in Conley's class which included Don P. Davis and Elizabeth Lineberger, the daughter of the Congressional representative. (14:06-19:29)... There were 5 children in her family and her older sister was accepted at Pomona College. About the same time, he father had to retire because of his health so he moved the family to Claremont in 1924. They lived there for 3 years before returning to Long Beach. Conely stayed in Claremont and attended Scripps College. Back in Long Beach, Conley's family lived at 10th and Pine in a house designed by the architects Greene and Greene; later they bought 3 large lots on Magnolia and moved the house there. One of the Greene brothers was still alive and he supervised the moved, designed an addition and the landscaping for the new location. Babb was building his home nearby at the same time. In 1927, the name of Magnolia street was changed to Country Club Drive to add "prestige" to the area. Within the next 2 or 3 years, there were many new homes along the street. In addition, Virginia Country Club sold some of its land along the street for homes. Conley's mother complained that the new homes spoiled her view. (19:29-25:07)... Babb, who built a home nearby, had an airplane which he kept at Earl Daugherty's field. Many people in the area, such as Jack Merrill and Carolyn Clock, owned horses and rode them for both recreation and transportation. Conley, her sister, and many others belonged to a junior riding club. They rode in the nearby willow groves and the bed of the Los Angeles River. What was later Desmond's home was occupied by the Johansings who employed a Japanese house boy who owned a motorcycle. Nearby the Rawn family built their house and Ruth Craig Rawn and Mrs. Enloe planted eucalyptus trees along Chestnut. (25:07-30:52)... Conley's family wasn't involved in oil development in Los Cerritos, but they owned stock in oil companies. Conley went to Washington Junior High and, when her family moved to Claremont, attended Claremont High School. The rest of her family, including her children, attended Long Beach Poly. Conley graduated from UCLA with a teaching certificate during the Depression and it was hard to find work. A sorority sister's dad found her a teaching job in Visalia. There she rented a room from a woman who's son lived in San Francisco. The son happened to live with Lauren Conley. Conley met her future husband when he came home to visit his friend's mother. After teaching in Visalia for 2 years, Conley moved to Long Beach where Mr. Conley's mother also lived. When the Bank of America, for which Mr. Conley worked, transferred him from San Francisco to Los Angeles, they met again, married and moved to Los Cerritos. During WWII, they moved in with her mother along with several other relatives and their kids whose husbands and fathers were in the service; housing was hard to find in Long Beach during WWII. Mr. Conley wasn't drafted because he was too old. They continued to live with Conley's mother until she died in 1949. Then the house and sold and they moved into their own place nearby. Conley was president of the Junior Charity League when WWII broke out in 1941-1942. End of tape *** File: cbmconley2.mp3 (0:00-4:17)... Many men were drafted, joined the military or worked in other defense related jobs. Many women joined volunteer organizations to help with the war. Conley and her sister, Baba Graham, whose husband was a Long Beach City Council member, were "Gray Ladies" at the Long Beach Naval Hospital. At the time of the interview, the hospital had become a Veteran's hospital. Conley wrote letters and went shopping for the men in the hospital. It seemed like she walked 5 miles everyday in the hospital. She and Virginia Benedict had a small recording device that they used to record messages for the men to send to their loved ones. Men all seemed to want to sing "Bseame Mucho" for their girl friends and wives back home despite their lack of singing talent. There was a rationing board in Bixby Knolls, but she doesn't remember how they got rationing books. (4:17-8:58)... Many women she knew went to work at the Douglas Aircraft plant. Others worked at the Naval Station or other places. As president of the Junior Charity League, she was asked to attend many meetings. The United Service Organization (USO) and similar groups asked the Charity League to help out. With 2 children at home, she was often too busy to attend meetings. Marian Boyce, Gus Walker's sister, was vice president and often went to meetings in her place. Many Sunday nights, the Charity League had parties for Naval officers at the Pacific Coast Club. Members of the Charity League were expected to perform a regular number of volunteer hours each week. The Junior Charity League later changed its name to the Junior League when the members joined the national organization. (8:58-12:51)... The Junior Charity League started a Dental Foundation that operated a clinic. She served on the board for 16 years. Later the clinic became part of Long Beach Memorial Children's Hospital. Originally it was located in a building at 8th and American, and later moved near Long Beach City College on Walnut just north of Pacific Coast Highway. The organization had 2 bungalows which expanded the clinic's space. Some other women associated with the clinic included Betty Bixby, Vivian Davis, whose husband owned a furniture store, Dolly Fowler, Virginia Benedict, Joyce Paul and Barbara London who ferried P-38 airplanes from Long Beach to the east coast during WWII. Mrs. London was still selling airiplanes near the Long Beach airport at the time of the interview. London and Norma Craig helped organize and flew in the Powder Puff Derby. (12:51-13:50)... Conley, at the time of the interview, was a member of the California Heights Methodist Church. Her Townsend grandparents were members of First Methodist Church at 5th and Pacific. Her family lived nearby on the corner of 5th and Cedar. Methodist dignitaries visiting Long Beach stayed at her grandparent's home. (13:50-18:01)... Conley's grandfather, Stephen Townsend, came to California after receiving his engineering degree in Ames, Iowa. He first came to Pasadena and Conley's father was born there. Her grandfather started the first horse drawn trolley line on Fair Oaks and she believes he graded Orange Grove Avenue. His family later had a farm nearby and her father's older sister went to the Los Angeles Normal School. A cousin told her that grandpa Townsend and another man ran a van and storage business but the other man ran off with the money and grandpa was forced into bankruptcy. His family then moved to Tulare in the San Joaquin Valley where he managed a large farm when he father was about 10 years old. Her aunt, who as a school teacher at the time, didn't like working at the Buzzard's Roost school, so when the family had saved enough money to pay their debts, they moved back to Long Beach. Conley's grandfather later became mayor of Long Beach after going into construction and real estate business with Conley's other grandfather Campbell. Townsend was involved in many real estate developments in Los Angeles and Orange counties. His family farmed where Seaside Hospital was later built, near Magnolia and 14th. In return for selling property for the hospital, he received shares in the hospital rather than cast. (18:01-22:19)... Townsend became president of the Long Beach Hospital Association, which was involved in the development of Seaside Hospital. Conley's father, V. Ray Townsend, was one of the first doctors at the hospital and was its Secretary for many years. Grandfather Townsend was involved in the beginning of Buffum's department store and Farmers and Merchants Bank. The Townsend family visited Long Beach several summers, but didn't move here until about 1895. At the time, Long Beach had a Tabernacle and Chatauqua meetings. Townsend donated a block of land near Locust and and American Avenue to the Methodist Church. Later Van de Water became a younger partner in Townsent-Van de Water Company. They developed some land near Newport and in Coast Mesa where a church tower was dedicated to Townsend. She remembers her family going on many picnics and only later realized many of them were probably designed to let grandfather check out real estate. (22:19-23:55)... Conley remembers that Townsend's anniversary was in October. They owned the Nutwood Ranch in Garden Grove where Disneyland was later built. Because they had such a large house there, they invited many friends from the Methodist Church to an anniversary party. Family members arrived early to help prepare food. They had 2 large pits, one for cooking meat and the other for roasting corn. Everyone roasted ears of corn holding them over the pit. She also remembers her cousins K. Nissen and Frances Cord and her sister scooped out large pumpkins and filled them with many fruits, especially grapes. There was always so much to do to prepare for the Townsend's anniversary parties and they always seemed very special. (23:55-27:53)... Conley's other grandparents, the Campbells, constructed a building with shops on the ground floor and apartments above at the corner of 5th and Pine. It was torn down to make way for Long Beach Plaza shopping mall. Later the Campbells moved into a house near the Townsends. She remembers going to the Campbells for Christmas dinner in the daytime, then going across the street for for an evening dinner at the Townsends. When the Campbells first moved to southern California, they lived on a ranch near Artesia. After some years, they moved to Long Beach. Her parents were V. Ray Townsend and Ada Campbell. Both of them attended the University of California. Grandfather Townsend wanted Vinton, her father, go to into real estate with him, but her father chose to enter the USC medical school where he earned his medical degree. (27:53-30:52)... When Conley was younger, everyone spend a lot of time at the beach. Several families including the Townsends and Van de Waters, built a 2 block long pool near 36th Street in west Newport Beach that was filled with water from the ocean. It was a salt water pool whose depth rose and fell with the tide. It eventually became "silted up." As a result the pool ended up holding sharks and small stingrays. Children also played along the beach in Long Beach and took swimming lessons at the Long Beach Plunge. The beach, in those days, had wonderful waves and the Virginia Hotel was near the Plunge. The Hotel was "awfully fancy" and Conley's family seldom visited it. End of tape
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