Down The Rabbit Hole: The Women of Talmadge #3

Because it is Women’s History Month, I wanted to get back to my series entitled, Down the Rabbit Hole: the Women of Talmadge. My first story was about the first resident and proprietor of the Talmadge Tavern, Alma Staggs. My second story was about Doris Wells/Fleming/Hansson. Since sharing those two stories I have updates and pictures to share. It appears some rabbit holes have more trails that are impossible not to go down. Reports on these two extended digs are coming soon.

This third trip down the rabbit hole takes place at 4534 Norma Drive, built in 1939. While exploring the Lot and Block Accessors books for this address, the name Adam M York appeared as the original owner. While researching further, Adam turned out to be Adah M. York, a 54-year widow and single mother of two who was a member of the Osage Indian Tribe in Oklahoma. She and her children are listed in the U.S., Indian Census Rolls from 1933. Her husband James F. York died in 1934 at the age of 52 and was not Osage. Adah and James were married in Oklahoma in 1905.

As I dug deeper, I realized that Adah and James had no occupation in the 1930 U.S. Census. I also discovered after she was widowed, she remained a housewife and never remarried. According to Adah’s obituary, she was very active in the San Diego Woman’s Club, Big Sister League, PTA, and Mary Star of the Sea Roman Catholic Church. Her name appeared frequently in the social pages of the San Diego Union and Evening Tribune newspapers. I even found a picture of her in the Evening Tribune from March 3, 1953. She was helping to sponsor the San Diego Woman’s Club card party called, “An Ornithologist’s Dream.” Adah is age 65 in the picture. 

As I learned about Adah, I wondered how a member of the Osage Nation ended up in Talmadge Park Estates Historic District. I also wonder about Adah and James’ lack of employment and Adah’s devout Catholic faith. So, I did what I always do and called my historic district mentor, Priscilla Berge. It just so happens; Priscilla has knowledge in American Indian studies. She immediately sent me an article, entitled, How the Osage Nation became Catholic: The hard truths in ‘Killers of the Flower Moon.’ Recently, there has been interest in the Osage Nation due to the release of the Academy Award nominated film “Killers of the Flower Moon.” Not surprising, the article on the film had a lot of parallels to Adah’s life journey.

Here is a brief summary of the article. By 1872 the Osage Nation had been pressured by white settlers to leave Kansas and move to the rocky soil of northeastern Oklahoma. Oil deposits were found on the land, making the Osage people very wealthy. In the movie, a white guardian was authorized to manage the money of a female Osage tribe member. This was due to the Office of Indian Affairs deciding that Osage members who were considered “incompetent” to handle their own wealth needed a white guardian. There is no evidence to suggest that Adah husband, James, served this supervisory function for her, but the 1920 U.S. Census did say Adah and James were living off her “oil account.”

Adah’s Catholic faith was common for Osage tribe members. As the movie depicts, many Osage were converted by Catholic missionaries and boarding schools, starting around1820. Many Osage mixed their Catholicism with their Osage beliefs.

When Adah moved into Talmadge Park Estates, her son, John, was age 18 and her daughter, Sally Ann, was age 12. According to the 1940 City Directory, John was a salesman at the Catholic Charities Thrift Shop. That same year, John, now Jake, moved to Hawaii as part of the 251st Air Defense Artillery Regiment, which was a regiment of the California National Guard that was sent to protect Pearl Harbor in January 1941. It is very likely Jake was in Honolulu when Pearl Harbor was attacked in December 1941. Jake never moved away from Honolulu. He lived there with his wife and 3 children until his death in1999. He came home to visit his mother in February 1947, which was documented in the San Diego Union newspaper.

Adah lived at 4534 Norma Drive until the mid-1950s. By the1960s she was living at 3314 Bayside Walk on Mission Bay. She literally lived in a house on the Bay, overlooking the Bahia Resort until her death in 1973.