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In Focus, the Annual Publication of the CCMA

In Focus History, by Michon Mackedon
his article excerpted from In Focus Volume 20:
Happy 20th birthday, In Focus. Sharon Lee Taylor and I were your midwives in
1987, but over one hundred nurturers and nannies have helped you grow -- museum staff writers; professional writers (whose works we have reprinted); writers of all ages and backgrounds from the community; visitors to the museum with roots in Fallon; oral historians; photographers. Birthdays are good times for reflection and assessment. What did we set out to do? What have we accomplished? Where do we go from here?

Twenty years ago, I wrote a sentence that might serve as an informal Mission Statement. Ideally In Focus “will over the years present perspectives on Churchill County through records of the lives of its people and views of the extraordinary landscape within its boundaries.” Sharon and I were both taken by the idea of the camera as logo and motif.

We wanted to capture the panoramic view at times, and zoom in on small details at other times. And, Sharon was visionary in her insistence that we always include photographs, as many as we could afford to print. We also established templates for the sections of the journal, to help keep on us on track with balance and variety. We created Shadow Catcher, a Native American term for the camera, to showcase photographers and their work; Sharp Focus, to present a single topic in a structured or academic way; Pioneer Portraits, to highlight biography, reminiscence, or oral history; Native American Perspective and Scientific Perspective, to feature topics which fit those respective banners; and, we added a few years later, Creative Focus for poetry, fiction, or other imaginative work.

What have we accomplished? You, the reader must be the ultimate judge of success or failure, but I can brag that the list of topics we have covered is a long one. Showcased photographers include Mary Walker Foster, Albert Alcorn, Ernest Blair, Laura Mills, Helen Kent, Clyde Mathewson, Mary Freeman, and Ernie Mack. The list of mining towns, ranching places, stage stops, and geologic features explored in print reads like a dictionary of county place names: Hazen, Dixie Valley, Lahontan Dam, Bernice, Rawhide, Stillwater, Sand Mountain, Buckland Station, Soda Lake, Maine Street, Lincoln Highway, Oats Park, and the tantalizingly titled “Watering Holes”of the county. We have held true to our promise to deliver portraits of pioneers, among them Delia Brown, Anne Berlin, L.C. Schank, E.C. Best, Carl Dodge, Elmer Huckaby, and Frank Woodliff, and of pioneer families, among them Cooke, Lucas, Kirn, Corkill, Berney, and Hanifan.

We’ve printed stories about courtships, road trips, atom bombs, honey bees, Native American lore, school buses, schools, mining women, scribbling women, clothing, architecture, archaeology, fashion, and, in this edition, floods. We have also designed two “anniversary” editions, one celebrating the millennium, a second celebrating the centennial anniversary of the Newlands Project.

What’s next? We hope, more years of innovative and fresh perspectives. We view our journal as a collage of photographs, pioneer stories, analyses of events and places, and Native American views which, when assembled by the reader, yields a complex and singular view of our valley. And, we hope to add new voices to the collage. How often I hear someone say that they have great memories or intimate knowledge of a local event or place but don’t know how to “get it down.” But, I have yet to read one of these humble contributors without experiencing the growing delight of meeting . . . another budding author!

Sharon Lee Taylor, director of the Churchill County Museum 1978-1991
When I came to the Museum in 1978, the board asked me to work to bring the Museum up to the standards of an accredited Museum. In the first few years we emphasized projects like copying the museum’s collection of some 3,000+ photographs and protecting the originals; working with the County to repair the museum facility, and the board also wanted to have changing exhibits to attract more local visitors and to increase participation in the Churchill County Museum Association.
Myrl Nygren, the Museum Treasurer, and I worked on a grant with the Nevada Humanities Committee in 1982 that resulted in a traveling exhibit of our own, which, once displayed in Fallon, traveled throughout the state, and was also on display at the Legislature.

The exhibit was called “Shadow Catchers, Photographer’s Views of Churchill County from
1867.” It was becoming clear that the photographs were an important asset for the museum that would allow us to reach a larger audience.

The board and I had discussed having a publication similar to the Nevada Historical Society Quarterly, but annually. In 1987, board member Susan McCormick suggested that I might want to ask Michon Mackedon, well-regarded English teacher at Western Nevada Community College, if she would consider editing the journal. She was so positive that I was excited! I went to visit local artist Vic Williams and asked if he would draw one of Mary Foster’s old cameras for the cover, as Mary’s work had been featured in the Shadow Catchers exhibit.   

The idea was to follow the photographic theme, with everything from tilting to a simple graphic on each section page. I was the technical editor, so I got everything ready, and, working with our new computer, did the typesetting and photography for each issue. Then volunteer Loree Branby (later a museum staff member), did the lion’s share of the typing and helped with the proofing. She, Michon, and I worked some long hours, but the results were worth it.

In Focus is one of the things I am most proud to have been involved with. I always felt that it could become the heart and soul of the museum. The journal’s continued success for so many years is a testament to the hard work of many people who came to believe, as I did, how important the history and photographs of Churchill County would be to future generations of residents. Congratulations on your 20th Anniversary!”