On Feb. 12, 1948, The Auburn Journal informed readers that the Placer County Board of Supervisors were perturbed with a Life Magazine article in the Feb. 2 issue that focused on the 100th anniversary of the gold discovery in California. Placer County staff, private businesses and residents worked with Life Magazine staff while they were in the county taking photographs and doing research for the article.
The Placer County gold collection was made available to photograph as was gold in the Placer County Bank, yet “Auburn” or “Placer County” were never mentioned while other gold country towns and counties were. It was an affront the Placer County Board of Supervisors could not ignore.
The board directed that a letter be sent to Life Magazine expressing their outrage that gold mined in Placer County was exploited by the publication without mention of the county.
Thanks to this article in The Auburn Journal, we acquired the Feb. 2, 1948, Life Magazine to compare the Placer County gold collection as it was in 1948 to what it is today. The collection is on display in the treasury room on the first floor of the Historic Courthouse in Auburn and the magazine is now a part of the Museum Divison’s collection.
Photo: Scan of the photograph of gold in the Life Magazine article, published in the Feb. 2, 1948, issue. The gold in this image contains specimens from the Placer County collection and the Placer County Bank collection.
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