 By June 1855 the Institute had enough reliable income to rent a room on the fourth floor of the express building That was owned by Sam Brannon. We won't get into him, but He's the character anyway Once we had a place to put them the book donation started pouring in and a visitor to the new digs described It as being very comfortable with 400 books and a growing collection of scientific curiosities Including samples of California minerals. What else would you put in your case, right? Everyone's coming here to see the minerals Petrified Oregon pine and an eagle's leg and claw of monstrous size now This eagle apparently was shot while carrying off a sheep Must have been huge Alright a course of lectures was also planned and on November 2nd 1855 Colonel Edward Dickinson Baker delivered the first on the dignity of labor at musical Hall This was just up the street that away at Montgomery. It's the largest venue in the city The newspapers the next morning described it as one of the largest gatherings ever assembled in the state The future of the Mechanics Institute indeed looked bright That same year. There were two other lectures, but let me tell you about Edward Dickinson Baker. He was An amazing guy an outspoken abolitionist and a good friend of Abraham Lincoln Lincoln named one of his children after him He was a lawyer and some of his famous cases involved The escaped slave Archie Lee and the notorious Charles Cora He definitely Lived his life in a principled way and when Lincoln when the Civil War broke out. He led a contingent of men from California to the front before that he became a senator for Oregon, but He led these men from California to the front and he died valiantly at the Battle of Balls Bluff in 1861 We held a special Memorial for him Meanwhile in steps this guy James Lloyd Lafayette Warren Colonel Warren He was the editor of the California farmer and a fierce booster for California He believed California was gonna be the the best especially because of its agricultural promise and And the smart people that were coming to California He's one of the most important figures in our early days He wrote about us every day in his paper He made connections for us at the state Capitol and he believed in our capacity to do great things Mr. Warren had for years California hadn't been around for years But he was thumping the tubs for an industrial fair that would showcase that would show off the state's industrial potential And he looked to us to host one Why? Because other mechanics institutes in other states were doing just that hosting industrial fairs boost Supporting the local industry Unfortunately, we were broke and there was no way we could do it Warren didn't lose heart though He invited the mechanics Institute to participate in the 1856 State Fair Held on the farm of mr. Jeremiah Miller in San Jose We sponsored the mechanical department and as entries flowed in to be displayed at the fair We accepted them and arranged for their transport to San Jose We were so successful at this that we investigated the idea of holding our own fair the following year The question was where are we gonna get the money? We were having trouble getting our members to pay for those stocks that they bought They only had to pay 10% down so They didn't feel that they needed to follow through The Institute's finances were in fact so dire that we rationed candles and Our librarian Peter Bartel Dexter offered to work for free Setting I might say a very very bad precedent for people like me Relief came in the form of a talented beautiful and wildly popular stage actress named Mrs. Julia Dean Hain She was on an extended tour of the state and had a benevolent heart She did other benefits for other outfits and she was especially moved by our plight She offered the proceeds from one of her engagements at the Metropolitan and the receipts from her performance as Madeleine the belle of the Faux-Berg Netted the Institute over a thousand dollars, which in today's money would be roughly thirty thousand dollars So here's the headline in the next or that evening's news Victory victory a bloodless battle fought and won a glorious era just begun This is mr. Warren talking Always super excited We speak of the triumph of labor The article goes on for nearly two columns Gushing over mrs. Haines generosity and the state's bright future because now we are out of debt We definitely had the support of the state especially the legislature. They wanted to see Industry happen to you and there is absolutely no doubt that we would not be here today if it wasn't for Julia Dean Hain the Institute could now move forward with its dreams and One of them was to host its own industrial fair, but that was gonna have to wait a while. It first needed a building So they advertised for someone to design the plans. This is December 1856 January 1857 The architect had to be satisfied with receiving three hundred dollars in Institute stock in lieu of payment Luckily two of our members followed through What was ultimately decided upon was this design by architects Ruben Clark and Henry Kennet sir Clark was a little bit later. He helped design He was tasked given the task to design San Quentin the state prison and he also was one of the architects involved with the state capital That particular project caused him to go mad and he died in Stockton Stockton's insane asylum Anyway, that's in the future. They made us this beautiful building beautiful drawing Now the problem was we couldn't afford a lot and we wouldn't for another five years At the same time plans were being laid for the first industrial fair Which will be covered in another lecture Stay tuned All right Our mechanics Institute is one of the few surviving in the world that operates upon its original model of providing Educational opportunities a fantastic library and a world-renowned chess club It's one of the oldest libraries in the West and one of the first truly public Institutions in the San Francisco Bay Area Anyone could be a member at any time. There never were any restrictions on membership Anyway, it has you our members to thank for that What will we be like in the coming decades? With vision strong leadership and your championship we can only get better now in Honor of our 160th year. I Challenge you to do three things. I Want you to tell three four as many friends as you have about the Institute because that is what we are Successful at doing and bringing in new members. I Ask that you give what you can to support our operations. You all pay 95 a year It costs us a thousand dollars per member per year to put on our operations And I think you all recognize that there is no place No place that you can get the services that you get here and above all I Ask that you be just and fear not I'm serious Thank you Well, I had you wrapped. I wish I could have gone on about the industrial fair next time We'll plan something else because the first industrial fair is very exciting Trust me Do you have any questions? Yes a Monthly lecture. Well, I would love to do that because I am excited to be researching the role of women in the mechanics Institute There were no founding mothers you'll note in that list that's because there weren't any women here No, there were hardly any women here and they were using our library, but the man of the house took out the membership Yes, I'd love to another question No, let's have cake. I hope you got a chance to look at it Thanks