From memoirs to fiction, poetry and White House ornaments, the creations of several local women are being recognized by the Rancho Bernardo History Museum in its community showcase.
Through May, museum visitors can view the National League of American Pen Women exhibit, which features works by eight women who presently or used to live in Rancho Bernardo and Poway.
They all belonged to the Pen Women’s Palomar Branch that met in RB for nearly 20 years before disbanding in 2006 after Faith Frances Berlin, president of the group, could no longer lead it due to health reasons.
Former member Nancy Canfield, whose book “Home Kids: the Story of St. Agatha Home for Children” is displayed, suggested the exhibit after having all the organization’s materials stored in her Rancho Bernardo home’s garage for nearly two decades.
“I’ve read every page of the collection, including the notebooks,” Canfield said of the items she saved from being thrown away.
As a member of the Rancho Bernardo Historical Society, Canfield said she could not bear to think of the members’ published books and the chapter’s scrapbooks, newsletters and other items being lost forever. At the time, the RB museum had limited storage and exhibit space, so she decided her garage would be the place for safekeeping until the museum could preserve them in its archives.
The national Pen Women organization was formed in 1897 so female journalists with professional credentials could gather since they were not allowed to join male-only professional organizations. It later expanded membership to include women writers, artists and composers so they too could be recognized for their talents, according to its website.
Former Poway resident Mary Lenore Quigley has three books in the exhibit: “God Danced,” “By Fools Like Me: Heart Songs in verse” (a book of poetry) and ”Indelible Ink: A Memoir.”
“God Danced,” the first of her four published books, the fictional book was inspired by her childhood in West Virginia.
“It is about two young girls who befriend a young woman who had cancer,” Quigley said. “She played the violin to entertain our neighborhood at night.”
Quigley, who started writing as a child, said she was inspired when she had to memorize and recite “Trees” by American poet Joyce Kilmer. She is now working on “Can I Have this Dance?” It is a book of poetry, with half of the verses written by her late husband, Patrick, who died 1 ½ years ago.
Quigley, who now lives in San Marcos, said she was happy seeing the exhibit and the recognition the organization gave to women who often were discouraged from achieving in the literary and artistic world.
Ruth L. Weiss Hohberg’s first book, “Getting Here: An Odyssey Through World War II” is also in the exhibit. It is the first in a trilogy she wrote about her life that included growing up in Berlin and later Vienna, fleeing the Nazis and making a new life in the U.S. with her family in late 1938 when she was 10 years old.
In all, Hohberg has written eight books.
“All tend to be autobiographical, often with bits and pieces I have observed in my fellow humans,” Hohberg said, noting some have been about her travels throughout Europe.
“It feels good being recognized,” she said about the exhibit. She joined the Pen Women shortly after moving to Rancho Bernardo in 2000.
While interested in writing about what she knew, Hohberg said she was hesitant to start until after joining a Rancho Bernardo-based writers group.
“I thought it was too selfish to write about me,” Hohberg said, noting it was due to her upbringing and the culture she was raised in. “In the society I came from, it was not appropriate to be self-centered.”
But in the writers group, led by Faith Frances Berlin (also the Pen Women chapter’s last president), members had to share each week what they were working on, received feedback and encouraged to write on a regular basis.
“(Members’ feedback) was that they wanted me in my story,” said Hohberg, whose initial chapters were more historically based and less autobiographical.
Canfield’s “Home Kids: the Story of St. Agatha Home for Children” includes not only the home’s history since its founding by the Sisters of Charity, but her experiences. She lived at the orphanage in Nanuet, New York, during the mid-1960s from ages 13 to 16 with four of her siblings after their mother died. Of the nine children in her family, five were there, relatives took in three and one was old enough to join the military, she said.
“It was always interesting to me, especially the buildings … as every one was different,” Canfield said of her time at St. Agatha. “They went back to 1884.”
She said St. Agatha Home for Children was “very successful at raising kids.” It closed in 2005 and the property was sold.
Canfield said she started writing because “it helps you to understand people and why they behave the way they did.”
She has also had other works published, including short stories for various “Chicken Soup for the Soul” books.
Though published in 2006, Canfield’s “Home Kids” is still being noticed. Her book won a 2025 International Impact Book Awards honor in the historical memoirs, inspirational category. The award ceremony will be held in late April in Phoenix.
And it has also gotten attention from some in Hollywood, who have expressed interest in using the book as the basis of a movie about the orphanage.
Among other items in the exhibit are two books of Haiku by Elizabeth Yahn Williams. Her Japanese poetry has been recognized by Haiku North America and the Southern California Haiku Group.
Faith Frances Berlin’s first of four novels, “The Lion Next Door,” is featured. Her writing spanned from radio jingles and country music to short stories, juvenile horror and mainstream novels.
“Heart of a Mother” features some of Sheryl L. Roush’s stories in addition to contributions by others reflecting on motherhood.
Lillian Belinfante Hertzberg’s non-fiction book “Artemisia: An Outrageous Woman” is about Artemisia Gentileschi, a 17th century Italian artist.
In addition, there are three ornaments released by the White House Historical Association. Marilyn Grame was on the creative team that designed the annual Christmas ornaments.
One from 2005 has an image of the White House; a 1998 ornament has an eagle in white on top of a red, white and blue shield; while the 2003 ornament features a boy on a rocking horse along with other images of toys and the White House.
“I think it’s great how many interesting people there were in RB,” said Susan Humason as she viewed the exhibit.
Humason, who has worked in book publishing for 40 years in the RB and Mira Mesa communities, said several locals came to her when they wanted to publish their works.
“It’s too bad the organization is not around (in RB) anymore,” she said.
Also featured are items from the National League of American Pen Women, including an August 1998 newsletter from the Palomar Branch that met in The Remington Club and later at the Rancho Bernardo Library.
The exhibit can be seen for free in the Rancho Bernardo History Museum at Bernardo Winery, 13330 Paseo del Verano Norte. Hours are noon to 3 p.m. Thursdays and 1 to 5 p.m. Fridays to Sundays.
