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Ella YoungGodmother of the Dunites
Ella Young (1867-1956) is a fore-mother of California’s ecological, spiritual, and aesthetic culture. An immigrant, mystic, beloved eccentric, Young is a quintessential Californian. Since her death at age 89, she has been largely forgotten. The Ella Young Society, sponsored by the History Center, is promoting her life and legacy. Born in Co. Antrim, Ireland, Ella Young emigrated to the US in the 1920s, eventually settling in Oceano. By the end of her long life, she had lectured at Berkeley, partied with bishops, chanted rituals at Shasta, debated with vegans, ridden horses with millionaires, picnicked with laureates, and hunted fairies at Point Lobos. Her best photographic portraits, like the one above, were created by her friend Ansel Adams, a genius she recognized and promoted early in his career. |
Few people confirmed my sense of life as a heroic adventure calling for qualities of fierce strength and noble endurance, gentleness toward the weak, and passionate reverence for beauty, in particular the beauty of the living earth—until I met Ella Young.
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Elsa Gidlow, Druid Heights, Mill Valley
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No one who met Ella Young ever forgot her. Young's contemporaries were deeply moved and inspired by her passionate reverence for the “beauty of the living earth.” You may not have heard of her. If you want to learn more, visit the website of The Ella Young Society, an informal group of volunteers with a passion to promote the life and legacy of Ella Young.
The History Center has partnered with the Ella Young Society to raise funds that would create The Druidess, an audio documentary about her, created by local radio producer Ben Purper. If you would like to support this project, you can make a contribution through the History Center at the link below.
To join a mailing list to receive Ella Young news, sign up at EllaYoung.org.
The History Center has partnered with the Ella Young Society to raise funds that would create The Druidess, an audio documentary about her, created by local radio producer Ben Purper. If you would like to support this project, you can make a contribution through the History Center at the link below.
To join a mailing list to receive Ella Young news, sign up at EllaYoung.org.
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Ella Young was a fantastic being.… She had an indescribable force or magic about her.
Rosalind Sharpe Wall, UC Berkeley student in the 1930s, Big Sur historian
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