Date:
Location: United States
Join SAH/SCC as we reclaim women’s place in the early history of Disneyland! Cindy Mediavilla and Kelsey Knox discuss their book, The Women Who Made Early Disneyland: Artists, Entertainers, and Guest Relations (Lexington Books, 2024).
Although historians have begun to recognize the accomplishments of female animators, the women who contributed to the early success of Disneyland remain, for the most part, unacknowledged. Indeed, in celebrating the park’s 10-year anniversary in 1965, Walt Disney thanked “all. . . who have been a part of this thing,” even though hundreds of women had also been instrumental in designing, building, and operating Disneyland since before its grand opening in July 1955.
Some—artist Mary Blair, Imagineers Harriet Burns and Alice Davis, “Slue Foot Sue” Betty Taylor, and Disneyland’s first “ambassador,” Julie Reihm—eventually became Disney “legends.” The authors will focus on the work less-well-known talents of architect and former movie production designer Dorothea Holt Redmond and landscape architect Ruth Shellhorn, whom Walt hired four months before the park opened.
As described by former Disney Imagineering archivist Vanessa Hunt, “Cindy and Kelsey have written a book full of stories about incredible women that every Disney fan should know. Reading the stories about some of the women I was lucky enough to have met or even known brought smiles, laughter, and even some tears. While I know they all did what they did because they loved it, not to become famous, they all deserve to have the spotlight on them and their contributions. Hopefully, learning about these women will inspire some future artists, costume designers, landscape architects, and many other creatives to pursue what they are passionate about.”
Longtime SAH/SCC member Mediavilla is a retired lecturer from UCLA’s Department of Information Studies.is university archivist at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Mediavilla and Knox on Women of Disneyland—Sunday, August 24, 2025; 1-2:30 PM Pacific; $5. Go to https://www.sahscc.org/site/index.php?function=event_details&id=549 and pay via PayPal; Zoom link sent upon registration.
