Passion for the Past: San Diego's ‘History Lady' Jogs Memories for Seniors

Jeanette Alessio-Way, 73, gives presentations on historic events for audiences both young and old

A native San Diegan known as “The History Lady” is using stories of the past to spark interest in listeners young and old – and jog special memories that perhaps haven’t surfaced in years.

La Mesa resident Jeanette Alessio-Way, 73, is a history buff hired by nursing homes and schools across San Diego County and Southern California to present lively, one-hour lectures on historic events.

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At every presentation, she not only tells history, she shows history, bringing along a large haul of unique artifacts to help paint the picture for her listeners.

Her lessons span a wide range of topics and time periods. Her collection of historical memorabilia includes everything from snuff bottles from the 1800s to Native American headdresses.

As she tells her stories – especially at nursing homes and senior living facilities – The History Lady can often see her listeners taking special notice and connecting the dots.

Alessio-Way said she’ll never forget the time she brought an antique sled, the kind an adult would’ve pulled a child in, to a presentation at the Alzheimer’s unit at Fredericka Manor Care Center in Chula Vista.

“They had a lady who hadn’t spoken in three years and she said, ‘My father pulled me,’” Alessio-Way recalled.

Another time, she did a program for patients on hospice and got a memorable reaction from one very ill man.

“I took a shell that had been polished and I brought it in his room and I touched his face and he went, ‘Ohh,’” she said, smiling.

“This is how it is every day. It’s such a touching thing,” Alessio-Way told NBC 7.

She feels there's a type of healing that can come from delving into history.

“It’s medicine in a whole different way. When you come to my history program, you don’t leave the same way you entered.”

The History Lady said she gets equally unforgettable reactions from young students at her lectures, too. Instead of dozing off during her lessons, she said kids look at her artifacts and ask lots of questions.

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“I’ve seen them sitting slouched in a chair to sitting up straight and listening. If that doesn’t prove something, I don’t know what does,” she said.

Fittingly, there's a history behind how Alessio-Way actually became The History Lady.

Her path to the past began 20 years ago after her mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.

She cared for her mother for many years, but eventually had to place her in a nursing home in Lemon Grove. Alessio-Way said she visited her mother there every night there for four years. Her mother had stopped speaking, but Alessio-Way was determined to spend as much time with her as possible.

At that facility, she saw firsthand what seniors with Alzheimer’s endured on a daily basis – and what they were missing.

“When I would go at night and look at these people they would just share at each other; there was no stimulation,” Alessio-Way explained.

Suddenly, she had an idea.

“I thought, ‘What can I do to stir some interest?’ And, you know, I’m not a small person in stature, so I got two hula skirts to go around me, I got a coconut bra, which I wore on my blouse, my cousin’s surfboard and a ukulele and I did the history of Hawaii for one hour and nobody moved,” she said.

Still, this didn’t discourage her. At that moment, Alessio-Way said she felt as if giving these types of presentations was something she was meant to do, and thus, began her work as The History Lady.

The first place that hired her was the Sun & Sea Manor in Imperial Beach. To this day, Alessio-Way still lectures there.

“They don’t know my name because it’s a low-functioning community of 32 beds, but they say, ‘She’s the lady with the stuff, and she tells us stories,’” she said.

Alessio-Way said she never repeats a history lesson and stays inspired by living amongst history.

A visit to her home is more like a visit to a mini history museum -- a true treasure trove of artifacts.

Every corner, nook, table and shelf is covered in memorabilia. Of course, Alessio-Way knows the story behind each trinket.

“As you know, in the 1800s and before, people used snuff because there weren’t any deodorants and when something was not so nice to smell, they would put a little snuff in their nostrils or in the air and this was so that a woman could carry it with her and not be obvious,” she explained, holding up a snuff box and snuff bottle.

“This is such a find, you wouldn’t believe. And to think somebody gave it to me,” she added.

Alessio-Way said she finds many of her treasures at antique stores. Some, however, are donated to her program by people who strongly support her work.

“People believe in this so much, you cannot believe what people donate to this program. One of the gentlemen at one of the facilities, La Costa Glen, had a brother who was in the military and his brother went to Egypt and he bought that hookah pipe in 1935,” she said, pointing to the hookah.

“Things that people donate, they say, ‘You know, our children would throw it away, but I know that you’ll show so many people, and they’ll appreciate it.’ And it’s the truth. Every single thing that somebody has donated has touched someone,” Alessio-Way added.

Holding a vintage Hershey’s chocolate tin, she also shared this story:

“The month of September is the birth of Mr. Hershey, Milton S. Hershey. The fascinating part is that he didn’t start by making chocolate, he made caramels in Chicago. And nobody wanted caramels. And he and his wife lost a fortune. They got in the car, piled what they had left and drove to Pennsylvania and started making chocolates.”

With stories and artifacts galore, The History Lady shows no signs of slowing down.

She said her ultimate goal is to take her work nationwide, offering her presentations across senior living facilities, schools and home schooling programs.

To learn more about The History Lady's work, visit her website.
 

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