Name/Title
Laguna Honda Hospital - Geraldine McCowan - Self PortraitDescription
"Mama G,” as Geraldine is known around Laguna Honda Hospital, greets everyone with a wide smile and they all smile back. Born in Texas in 1942, she admits being spoiled by her brother and sister as the baby. Her father owned a large farm and she grew up feeding the fifty goats and caring for the vegetable garden and fruit trees. The family also raised chickens and hogs, sharing the "mess of meat" with their neighbors after butchering the hogs.
Mama G graduated from high school in 1959 and stayed on the farm plowing, hoeing, cutting trees and working on cars. In 1962, she came to California to visit her mother and ended up staying, supporting herself by babysitting and later cleaning the Officer’s Quarters in The Presidio.
In later years, she studied at City College and became a library technician. During her eight years working at the San Francisco Main Library, Mama G loved meeting and helping out the patrons. She has a daughter and son, ten grandchildren and two great grandchildren. She paints, sculpts and creates ceramics and has begun painting a series of Mexican masks.
