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Jefferson Memorial Lectures History The Jefferson Memorial Fund was established in 1944 by the will of Elizabeth Bonestell in her name and the name of her husband, Cutler L. Bonestell. The lectureship was founded to support the study and promotion of an enlightened adherence by young people to the basic principles of American democracy as embodied in the Constitution. Cutler Bonestell's ancestors emigrated from Holland around 1715 and settled on the Hudson River in New York. His father Louis was in his early twenties when the news of gold in California reached the Atlantic. It prompted the young man to embark on an arduous journey to California via Mexico. Louis arrived in San Francisco on August 18, 1849. Disillusioned with the prospects of getting rich quickly at a Colma mine, he tried out several careers, including publisher of the newspaper Wide West. In 1851, Louis Bonestell married Mary Libby, a native of Maine who had moved to the West Coast a year earlier and became one of the first public school teachers in San Francisco. The couple had three children: Blanche, Chesley, and Cutler. Louis retired at the age of 92 as a successful paper manufacturer. It was not just his contributions to San Francisco business and cultural life that made the Bonestell family prominent. The accomplishments of Cutler's nephew, Chesley, made them world-famous. Chesley Bonestell, Jr.'s paintings of planets were said to have looked liked snapshots taken by a “space-traveling National Geographic photographer.” They won him the title of “Father of modern astronomical art” and inspired many space enthusiasts, including Carl Sagan. Cutler and Elizabeth Bonestell felt strongly that the past should be remembered and learned from. The Jefferson Memorial Lectures ensure this by enabling young minds at the University of California to become familiar with the legacy of Thomas Jefferson and to continue to explore the values inherent in American democracy.
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