Sacramento County
Biographies
ROLAND L. MCKERN
ROLAND L. MCKERN.--The advancement made in recent years in the art
of practical sign-writing is interestingly indicated by the increasing demand
for the high-grade work of Roland L. McKern, the widely-known commercial artist
of Sacramento. He was born at Dayton, Wash., on
September 12, 1885, the son of A. P. and Isabel Eccles McKern, who came to California from Arizona in 1897, settled in San Francisco, and are now living
at Berkeley. Being Westerners, familiar with the
conditions of a country in the making, Mr. and Mrs. McKern have been able to
assist in the development of the resources of the Coast, and they are entitled
to some of the honors gladly given pioneers.\ Roland
L. McKern attended the grammar schools in Washington and Arizona and the Santa Ana high school, and then he entered the service
of the telephone company in Santa Ana, and had risen to be installation man when he left there. His artistic
sense was quickened by his experience in the great artistic outdoors, and he
took up the work of a commercial artist, illustrator, etc., and learned his
trade thoroughly. He took a course in drawing and lettering in the
International Correspondence Schools of Scranton, Pa., and since then has
continued the study as a member of various art classes.
In 1917, he came to Sacramento, and for three years he was with Mr. Funk,
the outdoor advertiser in Sacramento,
until on August 1, 1919, he established a sign and picture
business which made him popular throughout and beyond Sacramento County, and he did much of the decorating of the
store-fronts during the recent celebration of “The Days of ´49.” He employed
several men, each thoroughly competent; and because Mr. McKern gave his
personal attention to every detail, assuming all responsibility and exercising
care for good work, he was remarkably successful. What “McKern, the Artist,”
could not produce, and on short notice, at the most reasonable rates, was not
worth going outside of Sacramento to try to get. In June, 1922, Mr. McKern was induced to accept the
position as head of the designing department of Foster and Kleiser, who had
taken over the interests of Mr. Funk and who cover the whole Pacific Coast as
outdoor advertisers. Since then Mr. McKern has given all of his time and talent
to his position, which gives him unlimited opportunity to exercise his talents
and originality. At his residence in North Sacramento he has erected a studio where he uses his spare time and exercises his
taste and ability in making pictorial backgrounds and theatrical scenery.
On November 1, 1912, and at Bellingham, Wash., Mr.
McKern was married to Miss Emma Louise Welch, a favorite daughter of the old Keystone State; and they now have four children, to
brighten their home life. Philip Ross and Mildred Louise are the elder; and
Alice Betty and Roland, Jr., the younger.
Mr. McKern
is a Democrat, but his support is given in the heartiest manner, and with no
partisanship, to local men and measures, for he believes in allowing nothing to
stand in the way of attaining the best for the community in which he resides
and prospers. He is active in civic affairs, and his influence makes for better
citizenship.
Transcribed by Vicky Walker, 8/23/07.
Source: Reed, G. Walter, History of Sacramento County, California With
Biographical Sketches, Page 971.
Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, CA. 1923.
© 2007 Vicky Walker.