A Project of
the San Diego County Commission on the Status of Women and Girls,
the Women's Museum of California,
SDSU Women's Studies Department, and UCSD Women's Center.
Jane Booth
2012
Historian
Jane Booth's passion for photography and commitment to archiving and preserving the photographic history of San Diego are what made her the 2015 Women's Hall of Fame Historian inductee. Jane's husband, Larry, began his career by preserving historic photographs and transferred his collection to the San Diego Historical Society at which time he became the society's photographic curator. Soon after, Jane joined the Historical Society first as a volunteer and later as the photographic archivist. Jane was shocked at how long the women's suffrage movement struggled to make headway and became determined to showcase women who were ahead of their time. Thus, through her work as the Historical Society's photographic archivist, she highlighted the history of women in San Diego by organized thousands of images into collections and made a vast array of photographs easily accessible to the public.
While Jane was known for her dedicated work as a photographic archivist, she also is an accomplished artist in several other mediums. At age 50 she obtained her Master�s in Applied Arts from SDSU and became known nationally for her stunning silver and glass jewelry. Jane invented a way to use Pyrex glass to make beads and other parts. She had a talent for working in wood and at weaving on her loom on which she created whimsical dolls among other things.
After Jane retired in 1994, she continued to volunteer at the Historical Society. While she would not have called herself a feminist, her pioneering drive, her pragmatic outlook, and her work to preserve women's history would have proved otherwise. Her love and dedication in protecting not just San Diego's history but also women's history have made her a true Guardian of Women's History.