Five years ago, I had the unique opportunity to step into the shoes of Tessa Kelso, an 1890s librarian in Los Angeles, as part of the Los Angeles Public Library’s “Historical Portraits Project” video series created by Standard Vision. Recently, the library revisited this project, sharing the video of my Tessa Kelso portrayal (on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok) along with my interview recorded after I left the really cool set.
Portraying Tessa Kelso was more than just donning period attire and cosplaying an 1800s librarian. The makeup artist paid meticulous attention to Kelso’s look (she wore little makeup) while also shadowing my face for black and white film. I was surrounded by 500 books pulled from the library shelves. The authentic late 1800s wardrobe was sourced from the historic Western Costume Company. Despite wearing this less-than-flattering outfit in the sweltering August heat, the experience was pretty cool.
Serving as the Los Angeles City Librarian from 1899 to 1895, Tessa Kelso’s leadership transformed the city’s library system. According to LAPL librarian Jim Sherman, Kelso increased library circulation from 12,000 to over 300,000 books, while library card holders grew from 132 to 20,000. Kelso also abolished subscription fees, which feels so outdated now but was a standard practice for the time.
Kelso’s passion for local history strongly resonates with my own love of Los Angeles history. In fact, my mom and I first wrote about Tessa Kelso (& other librarians) 12 years ago for a KCET article about Los Angeles Librarians Who Made and Saved History as we’ve long been inspired by LA’s librarians — past and present.
To learn more about the amazing Tessa Kelso, read LAPL’s Jim Sherman’s excellent post about this 1890s librarian on the LA Public Library blog.
Victoria Bernal 
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