The Mayo Hayes O'Donnell Collection

Although Mayo Hayes was born in Tulare, when she and her husband moved to Monterey in 1925 she began her activities on behalf of the city. Her tireless half century of work to preserve the history of Monterey earned her the title, “Mrs. History”. She was credited with saving many historic structures from destruction. For many years, she served as the unpaid executive secretary of the Monterey History & Art Association and was an important leader and lifetime honorary director of the association.

She was a historian and journalist who wrote the column “Peninsula Diary” in the Herald for many years. She also wrote a history of old adobes. The board of the Monterey History & Art Association voted in 1967 to establish a library in recognition of her contributions to the city and the library, consisting of historical works on California, copies of her newspaper columns, her collection of books and personal correspondence now reside in her namesake library.

Mayo Hayes O'Donnell Research Library's holdings include a complete collection of the "Peninsula Diary" articles. The collection is contained in four volumes organized by topic. The volumes have numbered dividers that correspond to the numbers on the table of contents pages below. The Peninsula Diary collection is available for research purposes at the Library. A downloadable copy of the index is here: peninsula diary topical index.