By John Graham
When I was a graduate student working on a Masters in the Arts, with an emphasis on California history, I was able to buy Junipero Serra’s heart preserved in a jar of formaldehyde.
An old California family knew of my work and contacted me about a possible purchase. I immediately liquidated cash from my fellowship monies and acquired the heart, which I possess to this day.
Father Serra is the Franciscan padre who founded the California Mission system. He died in 1784 and his heart was taken from his body and placed in a jar of brandy.
From the El Fornio Historical Society Web site:
“The fate of Padre Serra’s heart of was not unique to him alone. Within the next twenty years, nearly fifty-percent of the padres who passed away had their hearts removed under mysterious circumstances.
“Through much investigation, the Franciscans were able to surmise the cause of such radical acts: the Mission Indians, it was revealed, had established a secret network throughout the California mission system whose very charter was the removal of as many of the hearts of the deceased padres as was possible.
“It was the price the padres would pay for their work. Knowing that a body which was not intact would forever be restless in the afterlife, the Indians removed and hid the hearts from as many of the padres as possible.
“It was not until the early part of the following century that Padre Serra’s heart turned up on the mission steps, preserved in a jar of brandy.”
Luckily, it has survived through the many decades of California’s history to come into my possession. I have put it to good use.
Several times a year I bring the heart out in public–at arts and crafts and neighborhood festivals–to display and garner conversation amongst California’s diverse citizens.
Small children peer wide-eyed through the red veil I have laid over the glass jar and whisper to one another. Adults of varying backgrounds enquire pertinently. Others are adamant for answers that seem vague and point fingers.
Some become enraged and need to be pulled away from the exhibit by their spouse. Very infrequently, someone of California Indian descent comes upon the heart in the jar and sees it for what it is.
They begin discussing the California Mission system with a growing number of onlookers, explaining to them what Junipero Serra and the padres did in Alta California.
This person will most often answer the most important question, “Why do I have Junipero Serra’s heart in a jar?”
When all is said and done, the answer this person has given to the crowd is so spot on that I give them a free T-shirt that says, “I Saw Junipero Serra’s Heart in a Jar” with a likeness of the good padre set next to the declaration.
John Graham is the director and curator of the El Fornio Historical Society, www.elfornio.com.
Tags: art as intervention, DIY Library
