Within the Archives of the Indies in Seville, Spain, Harry Kelsey pored over stacks of historic paperwork detailing the Spanish conquests within the New World. He practically froze within the sixteenth century constructing as he taught himself the best way to decipher historical writing methods and skim Spanish.
“I was seated at a table wearing a scarf, overcoat and gloves with the fingers cut off so I could take notes,” Kelsey informed the Los Angeles Occasions in 1985.
The Pure Historical past Museum of Los Angeles County deliberate to exhibit a piece of California historical past, spanning from 1540 to 1940, and as chief curator of historical past, Kelsey volunteered to nail down how explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo constructed his sturdy ship. That approach the museum might fee a duplicate of the vessel.
The extra he researched, the extra Kelsey grew fascinated with the explorer credited with offering the oldest written document of mankind within the West Coast. And he stumbled upon paperwork pinpointing Cabrillo’s birthplace — some extent lengthy debated by historians.
“Many historians have said he was Portuguese,” Kelsey stated. “Perhaps successive writers have accepted as fact statements made in early chronicles. I discovered he was born in Spain, probably around 1498 or 1500.”
Years later, King Juan Carlos of Spain acknowledged the feat and awarded the historian. And it’s testomony to a long time of dogged work Kelsey pursued to study extra in regards to the world and share its intricacies. He printed quite a few books on historic figures comparable to English explorer Francis Drake and the early, unsung Spanish mariners who traveled the globe. He additionally performed a key function in serving to set up downtown Los Angeles’ Broadway Theater and Business Historic District.
Harry Kelsey takes a break in a Spanish plaza in 2005 to verify the next day’s itinerary.
(Matthew Kelsey)
“He was a great one for delving into the history,” stated Christopher Addé, supervisor of normal collections on the Huntington Library in San Marino. “He knew his stuff and made sure a fact was a fact. He challenged general concepts about various people because of the research he’s done, and that’s what a good researcher does.”
Kelsey died Jan. 28 at his Altadena residence surrounded by household. His son, Edward Kelsey, stated his father suffered from congestive coronary heart failure, prostate most cancers and lung illness. He was 93.
Kelsey’s fascination with studying doubtless stemmed from his mother and father, who have been lecturers. Kelsey, who was initially from Illinois, served within the U.S. Military and later pursued his curiosity in historical past through the use of his G.I. Invoice to return to high school, incomes his grasp’s and PhD in historical past in 1965 from the College of Denver.
Kelsey began at an insurance coverage firm to earn cash as a newlywed till he landed a task as state historian for Colorado. The historical past buff held related titles all through the U.S. till a grant allowed him to check out of California’s Huntington Library. There, Edward Kelsey stated his father knew he most well-liked Southern California’s impeccable climate to Michigan’s harsh winters and informed his spouse and eight youngsters about their upcoming transfer.
On the San Marino library, Kelsey loved leafing via its huge assortment of Western and European historical past.
“To be able to wander among the stacks and pick out what information you needed, it helped him a lot,” Edward Kelsey stated. “He said there was a lot of old, old documents — four or five or 600 years old — that he could only get what he needed by seeing them in person.”
Kelsey later started his function on the Pure Historical past Museum of Los Angeles. His work on Cabrillo’s ship led him to finally publish a biography on the explorer. He devoted eight years of analysis, touring to Spain typically to overview main paperwork.
Colleagues counseled Kelsey’s skill to deal with unique paperwork and manuscripts. They stated the historian excelled in translating sixteenth century Dutch and the logbooks of early European explorers.
“Harry made sure that someone was quoting a fact, he wasn’t going to quote it verbatim,” Addé stated. “He wanted to look at it from the beginning, with his own eyes, and own interpretation. He liked to get to the bottom of research.”
Earlier than Pope John Paul II canonized Father Junipero Serra, debate broke out within the Catholic group. Supporters argued it was solely a matter time for Serra’s sainthood, whereas others objected over his mistreatment of California natives. As we speak Serra, who based 9 of California’s missions, stays a controversial figure.
Kelsey, a religious Catholic, additionally weighed in.
“Father Serra was certainly a very human man,” he informed The Occasions in 1986. “He had lots of weaknesses, I suppose, but he had tremendous dedication and strength of purpose. . . . He was a man who devoted himself to the Indians and really tried to help them.”
Kelsey stated that life was arduous for California natives when Serra arrived, including that the concept that they “lived in a sort of pastoral Eden, in perfect peace with one another, is just the greatest malarkey. There’s absolutely no truth to it at all.”
Giles Mead, the late director of the historical past museum, grew keen on Kelsey’s method and ensured the historian would have a spot to proceed his work. The Mead Basis endowed an workplace on the Huntington Library and — for 50 years — awarded Kelsey grants to cowl his analysis bills. For years, Kelsey may very well be present in his workplace till the pandemic interrupted his routine.
Mead’s daughter, Parry Mead, stated her father was in awe of Kelsey’s “meticulous attention to detail.”
“Dad used to say, ‘Harry is the only historian I know whose footnotes exceeded the narrative in his books!’ ” she stated.
At a low level in Giles Mead’s life, Kelsey wrote virtually each day letters to his good friend. Utilizing their mutual love of canine, Kelsey spoke via his rescue pup, creating a novel voice to precise his feelings to his good friend. Parry Mead stated she believes the letters helped preserve her father alive.
Even after he retired, Kelsey continued pursuing his love of historical past. He traveled practically annual — generally twice in a yr — to stroll historic routes comparable to Spain’s Camino de Santiago, the place winding paths stretched from the coast to countryside hills. And identical to the European navigators he studied, Kelsey wrote letters to his family members about his adventures.
“One time he literally did have a St. Bernard find him because he got stuck in snow,” Addé stated. “He made kind of light of it, but he did say at the time it was really tough going.”
In his spare time, Kelsey loved refurbishing vintage vehicles in his storage. He restored a 1915 Dodge he as soon as drove in a Disneyland parade and constructed a duplicate of a 1920 Mannequin T Ford. Even in his remaining days, his youngsters helped him work on his Nineteen Sixties Chevy pickup.
“He was the sort of person you never thought would die ever because at 92ish, he was still talking about going on pilgrimage trips,” Addé stated. “And I’m thinking, ‘Well, I just want to get to 92.’ ”
Kelsey was most lately engaged on a brand new e book, translating the account of an individual who was on the ship with the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan when he was circumnavigating the world.
Kelsey is survived by seven youngsters, 17 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren. He was preceded in dying by his spouse and a son.
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