Santa Fe Living Treasures – Elder Stories


The grandson of philosopher William James and great-nephew of author Henry James, William ("Bill") James was born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1913. "I lived in New EnglandÑMassachusetts and New HampshireÑfor the first years of my life," he said. "I went to a lot of different schools, which maybe was a mistake because you never got continuity." He attended Le Rosey School in Switzerland, the Lenox School in Massachusetts, Exeter in New Hampshire, and graduated from the Fountain Valley School in Colorado Springs. "I never was anywhere where I felt so at home and comfortable as in the Rocky Mountains. I loved it. I came down to Santa Fe twice to visit--in 1931 and 1932Ñto see what it was like." Bill also studied art at the Boston Museum School of Fine Art and at the American Academy in Rome.

Julie was born Juliana Holden in 1913 in Old Bennington, Vermont. "My mother, Florence, was a housewife and mother," she said. Her father, Clarence Holden, founded the Bennington Scale Company, but the business folded. "Despite the business setback, we had a wonderfully secure childhood. The world was a different place in those days."

Please see Volume 1 for complete text.
Photo ©1997 by Joanne Rijmes