A Pair of Sisters Preserve Mountain View's History

Yearbooks as far back as 1920, newspapers as far back as 1903, photos, autograph books and information on haunted houses. You can find all of these things in the History Center of the Mountain View Public Library.

You can also find the women in charge of the center, 92-year-old Barbara Kinchen and her twin sister Betty.

"They know everything," said library intern Jeneen Nammar.

Kinchen started working at the History Center after taking some things there while cleaning her mother’s house in 1973. Betty starting working there a few years ago, after a few volunteers left.

She remembers a time when the center used to be a just a caged-off section of the library called the Pioneer Room.

Much like the city of Mountain View, it has grown since then.

Barbara recalls when the town moved from El Camino Road, along a stage route, to near the railroad when it was built.

She said a big change came to Santa Clara County after World War II, when it went from agricultural to industrial.

"The town has grown from a small town surrounded by orchards to a city surrounded by industry," she said.

Barbara saw the city limits expand and shopping centers pop-up around town.

She also saw the History Center acquire more materials, including collections from the city library and the Mountain View Historical Association, and other donors.

According to Kinchen’s daughter, who comes in once a week to drive her to the library, the center also has a collection of postcards from as early as 1904.

Her mother found them at a garage sale, she said.

"People give us maps, postcards, collections of various kinds," Kinchen said.

The twin sisters, whose mother was born in Mountain View in 1889, have stayed together for most of their lives.

"We answer to each other's names," said Barbara.

Both graduated from San Jose State University in 1942 and became dieticians.  

According to Kinchen, San Jose State had a large home economics department in the 1930s and 1940s.

Then she taught at Mountain View High School from 1960 to 1970 while Betty was a housewife.

"The kids called me 'Mrs. Kitchen," she said.

The man who hired her was her geometry teacher when she went to school there, she said.

Barbara calls the History Center her home.

"All kinds of people come in and visit with us," she said.

Many people come in just for that reason.

Kinchen said now that they have a website, people call in from all over the place looking for information.

There are file cabinets full of it in the back room of the History Center.

Google offered to computerize it all for them, but the library declined, said Kinchen.

The Mountain View Library History Center is located on the second floor of the Mountain View Library. It's open every Tuesday from 1-5. 

This article was produced through a collaboration of PatchU and the School of Journalism & Mass Communication at San Jose State University. PatchU is a Patch Media initiative to build strong relationships with colleges and universities across the country. The mission of PatchU is to connect students and faculty to opportunities at Patch.  

For more information, email PatchU@patch.com or follow us on Facebook.

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