History book, paintings donated to museum

Provided.

Painting by Helen McAllister as she imagined Rita Brown, who started the first Keene Cafe in the 1930s.

Helen McAllister, a local folk artist, moved to Tehachapi in 1990 when she retired from a career in behavior management. As soon as she arrived, she became interested in the history of the area and began painting familiar places around town.

Helen is now relocating to San Pedro to live with her daughter. She can't take 30 years of paintings and collections to her new home, so she has been donating items to local thrift shops and museums. Many of her paintings have already been given away during the last several years and may be found in places around Tehachapi. Some of these places include Tehachapi Railroad Museum, Keene Café, Tehachapi Community Church and One Fine Day Cafe. Each was gifted with the original oil painting of their location.

Helen has donated a book to Tehachapi Museum that was written by her late husband Melvin McAllister. He was a system engineer electrician when they married in 1989 and was happy to retire in Tehachapi. He too became interested in the history of the area, and Melvin was inspired to research and write about the road from Bakersfield to Tehachapi. The book he wrote is titled, "Tehachapi Pass" and covers highlights of the history of Keene between 1930 and 1950. Helen has also donated several paintings she made of members of the Brown family who were prominent in Keene in early days.

Helen was active in the Heritage League for several years. She especially enjoyed managing the Tehachapi Museum gift shop and often contributed to historical research. She is moving away but memories of her will last as long as the works of art she leaves to the community she will always love.