Doris Richmond

From Palo Alto Wiki

Doris Richmond was born in Nashville, Tenn., in 1919. She moved with her husband, Cole, a graphic artist, to San Francisco in 1949, but never unpacked, preferring the more rural setting of Palo Alto. After raising four children, Richmond embarked on a 25-year career as a research librarian for the Palo Alto library system, retiring at age 70 in 1991. Cole Richmond passed away in 2006. The couple had a longtime association with the Palo Alto NAACP chapter and the University African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. Doris contines to live on California Avenue, where she and Cole had lived since 1949.

In 1997, Richmond was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Senior Coordinating Council in Palo Alto.

[edit] Memories

Richmond's memories were printed during the Palo Alto Centennial in 1994.

"Everything was very impressive. The people were friendly, so much like home. There were at least 25 elementary schools and you never locked your doors. Now it has grown from Foothills Park to the tidelands.

"Mostly I remember the plank sidewalks on California Avenue. Most of the stores were owned by families and everybody knew everybody else. Of course a lot of the streets didn't go through like they do now. There were two trains that ran from San Francisco to Los Angeles (on the CalTrain tracks) and they stopped in Palo Alto to pick up passengers. Everybody would take their kids down to meet the daylight train."