Here's a photo from a mid-20th-Century gathering of the Native Sons of the Golden West. (Click to enlarge.) The photo is on display in the Izaak Walton League cabin in Santa Ana, where the Santa Ana Parlor of the Native Sons currently meets..
The Native Sons were founded in 1875, and all members must be natives of California. Their goals include recognizing and preserving historic sites and buildings in our state. They also offer scholarships, do charitable work in their respective communities, host lectures, help other historical organizations, and of course socialize.
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There is also a Native Daughters of the Golden West group, but today women are also welcome to join the once all-male Native Sons. Like many fraternal organizations, the Sons had some exclusionary membership policies in generations past. But for many years now they have welcomed any patriotic soul born in California.
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I can recognize at least one Santa Ana Parlor member, printer and publisher J. J. Friis, in the photo above. I think I also see his dad, historian and attorney Leo Friis. Who else can you identify?
