On Saturday, a new tour at Santa Ana’s Fairhaven Memorial Park & Mortuary will honor local women who defied the odds.

The March 8 “Women in History” event, on International Women’s Day, will feature golf cart tours of different gravesites around the cemetery. Attendees will get the opportunity to learn about these female trailblazers — such as Clara Cushman, the first female attorney in Orange County — who are all buried at Fairhaven Memorial.

The tour invites visitors to explore the lives and legacies of these women buried at the cemetery, and to “be immersed in the inspiring stories of fierce leaders, visionary artists, groundbreaking activists and influential pioneers who defied the odds and changed the course of history,” organizers said.

Among those featured in Saturday’s tour include “The Hiding Place” author Cornelia “Corrie” Ten Boom; aviator Bessica “Bessie” Raiche, who made the first accredited solo flight by a woman in the U.S.; and the first female deputy in the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, Dorothy Alice Chandler.

“We’re always trying to think of ways to bring the community to Fairhaven Memorial because there’s so much history,” said organizer Cynthia Adair. “I want people to know that these women are truly historic, groundbreak they were the first at doing something. My goal is for people to learn about 1 or 2 women they didn’t know about.”

Free, 45-minute golf cart tours around the cemetery will begin every hour at 10 a.m., with the last departing at noon, on Saturday, March 8. Attendees can meet in the Fairhaven Memorial lobby, 1702 Fairhaven Avenue, in Santa Ana.

To register: [email protected], 714-922-2953

Related Articles