A California Travelogue: Maria Montessori Visits the Golden State

Between April and December 1915, Maria Montessori and her son, Mario Montessori, spent time in California. Historical accounts of this period have emphasized Montessori's participation in San Francisco's world's fair, the Panama-Pacific International Exposition (PPIE), and identified this event as the crux of her travels. The following text and accompanying images provide an account of the Montessoris' travels from Italy to California, where they visited Los Angeles, Oakland, Pasadena, San Diego, and San Francisco. This travelogue attempts to highlight some less-documented aspects of their travels to Southern California (i.e., San Diego and the Los Angeles area) in 1915, and show that some of the areas, buildings, and establishments they visited are still in existence today.