The History Center of San Luis Obispo County has opened Who Was Ethel Cooley? The hands-on exhibit is based on dozens of scrapbooks Miss Cooley (1905-1995) kept for decades that were donated by her niece. Credit goes to new Executive Director Steve Schmidt and the collections department, which sifted through boxes and curated insightful pages. Books are open for visitors to page through.
Cooley, SLO High School’s longtime dean of girls, captured the moments that shaped our town: Mission Plaza’s 1969-70 transformation (when a street still cut through it), the Obispo Theater fire, civic clubs, student life, correspondence, and the everyday scenes that would otherwise vanish.
Former students remember her as a force of nature, pantsuit, brooch, and all, who demanded effort and then made sure young people had real opportunities. That spirit also powered a postwar “peace project.” In 1948, she helped launch a partnership with Stuttgart, Germany. What began with care packages became a yearlong student exchange between SLO High and EberhardLudwigsGymnasium.
The first student arrived in 1953, and the German School Committee program has continued ever since. Today it runs under Rotary Youth Exchange through the Rotary Club of San Luis Obispo de Tolosa. Hundreds of lives have been touched on both sides of the Atlantic through one of the oldest student exchanges in the country.
At a time when global understanding feels fragile, Cooley’s legacy is a reminder that each of us can build community, page by page, student by student. The exhibit runs through Feb. 13. Recently, the History Center lost county funding and relies more than ever on memberships and donations. Visit, bring a friend, and consider supporting the place that safeguards our community’s shared memory.
Amy Kardel
SLO
This article appears in Feb 5-12, 2026.