Cora Vernon Lee

Quick Facts

Significance:

Wrote Death Valley: A Guide, first guidebook aimed at tourists, Writing made possible by the Federal Writers’ Project

Date of Birth:

09/27/1887

Date of Death:

03/25/1952

Born Cora Louise Slusher in 1887, Cora’s early life was spent embracing her artistic pursuits. Her parents were divorced, so she lived with her mother and younger brother in San Francisco. She graduated from Oakland Polytechnic School in 1906 and went to live with her father in Los Angeles, where she attended USC. There she met her husband Arthur Garfield Vernon, another artist and the love of her life. They were married in 1910, and a year later moved to Great Britain to study art for Arthur, but Cora too greatly benefited from this trip. The Vernons did not become major names in the art world, but they both had paintings on display in the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in 1916, demonstrating a level of skill that extended beyond a hobby. When they moved to Los Angeles in 1918, both of the Vernons listed “artist” as their occupation. 

In 1919, her husband passed away from diabetes, an event that seemed to scar her for the rest of her life. She threw herself into her work, moving out to New York to work for the Delineator, a prominent women’s fashion magazine. She was promoted to Art Editor and met writer Bourke Lee. The two were married in February of 1928 in Washington DC and she accompanied him on his trips to research new books. Before writing two books on Death Valley, the Lees spent two years traveling throughout the region. They met Death Valley Scotty and became acquainted with the desert and how to survive it. While the couple survived the desert, they could survive marriage with one another. Lee filed for divorce in Las Vegas in 1934, citing “extreme cruelty” from Cora, though Lee was also know to be a habitual drunk, according to L. Burr Belden.  

On her own once again, Cora took advantage of her knowledge of California. In 1937, the Federal Writers Project hired her to help write the California state guide as part of the push to employ artists through the Great Depression. Her expertise regarding California and her talent for writing led to the California guidebook to be “primarily her work” and it was recognized as one of the best in the FWP guide series. Following her success with the California guide, the FWP asked Cora to write the guide for the newly established Death Valley National Monument.  

Death Valley: A Guide was a guidebook for guidebooks. Cora was the primary author again, demonstrating her understanding of the region, its people, and how best to navigate it after traveling throughout the area for two years. Not only did Cora have the cooperation of park staff, she also promoted the businesses in DEVA; this both helped tourists see DEVA as hospitable and endeared the business owners to this guide. One of the most useful sections of the guidebook, even today, is the automobile tours. She laid out a variety of paths to explore DEVA from the comfort of your car, a novel concept that tied in well with the growing automobile culture in Los Angeles. Most of the photographs featured throughout the guide were also taken by Cora, tying her artistic sides together into an exemplary guide.  

The success of Death Valley: A Guide led to her promotion within the Federal Writers Project administration. By 1940, she was the Sacramento District Supervisor and still a dominant writer for guides produced by the FWP. By the end of 1940, however, Congress held hearings to investigate the Works Projects Administration, and specifically the FWP of California, to determine if there were any Communist infiltration in the governmental organization. While she was never convicted of anything, she ended up moving back to LA to quietly write technical reports, such as one for a Navy torpedo bomber. In 1952, she passed away in Santa Monica at the age of 64.