The girl with the crazy brother

You might also be interested in

• Image not available

  Hannah Penney Green letters to John Witham Penney

  Manuscripts

  In her letters to her brother, Green talks about her difficult life: she does a variety of jobs to earn money, she often worries about money and obtaining her husband's pension (she hired a lawyer), family problems, moving often for work, etc. She also talks about vising a tin mine near Perris and, in her last letter, she describes her experience with the San Francisco earthquake of 1906.

  mssGreen letters

• Image not available

  American portraits 1979-1989

  Rare Books

  "After emigrating to the United States from Poland, Leon Borensztein took a fly-by-night job as a traveling portrait photographer, visiting homes and businesses across the country and making portraits for working-class clientele in the style of the Sears Portrait Studios. During these sessions, Borensztein would set up a generic backdrop behind the subject, while moving the camera back far enough so that the camera captured glimpses of the subjects’ personal spaces or belongings. The resulting body of work provides a rich sociological document; individually, these are some of the most compelling and touching portraits of their time. Leon Borensztein is an internationally renowned photographer whose work has appeared in Life, Harper's, The New York Times Magazine, and Vogue International. His photographs can be found in the collections of major museums such as the Art Institute of Chicago, Bibliotèque Nationale, Paris, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. The recipient of a Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship, Borensztein lives and works in Oakland, California"--Publisher's description.

  653234

• 

  Remembrances in the life of Charles Edmund Richardson [microform]: approximately 1934

  Manuscripts

  Microfilm of a typescript autobiography of Charles Edmund Richardson, edited and typed in approximately 1934. It opens with recollections of the early life of Richardson's mother Mary Ann Darrow Richardson (1818-1872), including her conversion to Mormonism while stuck in Salt Lake City on the way to Oregon (despite her early fears of "dreadful Mormons"). He also writes briefly of his father, Edmund Richardson (1816-1874). The autobiography then recalls Richardson's early life in Manti and Springville, and includes many anecdotes of his childhood and school days as well as family life. It also covers his work at the Shoebridge Mill and in the mining camps, his learning Spanish at St. John for missionary work while teaching school, traveling along the Rio Grande, studying law and moving to Mexico, the "depredations of Texas outlaws" around Canyon Creek, Indian attacks near Wilford, and many anecdotes about life in Mexico. Portions of the document were written by Richardson's wife Sarah Louisa Adams ("Sadie") and his brother Sullivan Calvin "Sullie" Richardson. The second portion of the microfilm includes an autobiography of Sullie Richardson (1861-1940). Sullie also includes a variety of childhood anecdotes, including his school experiences, his father's work in the Nevada mines, and other family stories. He also describes traveling through Provo Canyon, encounters with Indians near Prescott, confrontations at Fort Defiance, working on the railroad near Rio Puerco, working for the water service in Brigham City, moving to Mexico and meeting President Diaz, teaching school, working on the Arizona Eastern Railroad, and moving to Thatcher, Arizona.

  MSS MFilm 00188

• Image not available

  Photograph of Alice Jones MacMonnies as a young girl

  Manuscripts

  The correspondence in the collection almost entirely consists of letters sent to Alice Jones MacMonnies from about 1917 until 1929. The bulk of the correspondence is from Alice's mother Georgina Sullivan Jones, and the letters focus on news regarding family members and acquaintances, including General John Pershing. Georgina writes of sculptor Prince Paul Troubetzkoy's commission to create a bust of Henry E. Huntington in 1917 and of her hatred of Troubetzkoy, and relates being angered by a discussion that rated Troubetzkoy and Auguste Rodin as the greatest living sculptors with no mention of MacMonnies. Other letters describe events related to World War I, such as the raising of funds for French orphans and news of a friend's brother who was killed in an "aeroplane accident" in France. An undated letter from Alice's nephew Gregory Jones (the son of her half-brother Roy) describes war conditions in St. Rhomble, France, and the "defiant" attitude of German prisoners-of-war toward the French and American soldiers. A series of 1925 letters recount Georgina's trip through Spain and France, and other topics covered throughout the correspondence include Georgina Jones Walton's play Light of Asia (1927), the Jones' mining interests in Alaska, Alice's interest in New York real estate, and memories of John P. Jones, whom Georgina wished had "lived to see the wonders that science has accomplished and what has been done in the film world" (1933). A few letters from Alice regarding the Jones estate before and after Georgina's death, including a notebook of property values from 1924, are also included. The diary volume was kept by Georgina Sullivan Jones during her 1896 European tour with Alice following her graduation from Bryn Mawr, and chronicles their voyage across the Atlantic on board the St.Paul of the American Line, as well as their travels through London, Paris, Berlin, Beyreuth, Munich, Innsbruck, Venice, Milan, Rome, and Zurich.The photographs of Alice MacMonnies and her sisters Georgina and Marion range from her childhood to adult years, including her 1896 class photo from Bryn Mawr College.

  HM 76243.

• Image not available

  Stephen Woodlin letters to family

  Manuscripts

  Set of 14 letters sent by Stephen Woodin to his family in Genoa, New York, from 1849-1853, while he was traveling to or living in California. The majority of the letters were written to his wife and children, and one to his brother George Woodin (HM 19382). In the first letter, Woodin describes his lodgings in Panama City, including the food available with prices and his observation of religious ceremonies. After arriving in California, Woodin mined for gold near the North Fork of the American river, and in the next four letters (HM 19370-19372, and HM 19382) he describes his travels from Sacramento to the gold fields, working at gold mining (he wrote to his brother that he averaging making $5 a day), his provisions and the costs of goods, and his surroundings and impressions of California. The remaining 9 letters (HM 19373-19381) were written from 1852-1853, beginning when Woodin was on his return journey to California. He writes of traveling from Aspinwall (Colon) to Panama City, where an American flag was displayed for the Fourth of July. He also notes that he encountered "Mr. Booth, a theatrical performer [and his] two sons," probably referring to Junius Brutus Booth and his sons Edwin Booth and Junius Brutus Booth, Jr. (HM 19374). From San Francisco he writes of keeping his hotel, which he liked "very well, all but the selling rum" (HM 19476), of his expenditures, of various steamers that arrived in the city, of duels and executions, including that of "three gamblers...what a pity it...won't be three hundred, for they are the greatest pests there is in this country" (HM 19378), of a Dr. E. White, who was lecturing on spiritual rapping and "making a perfect fool of himself in this business while his wife supports the family by working" (HM 19375), of widespread flooding in January 1853 (HM 19378), and of his favorable impressions of the Chinese in the city, noting that "the Chinese all go by the name of John here, they are a harmless, industrious set of people possessing a great deal of ingenuity and many of them are good businessmen and far more advanced in some of the arts and sciences than our own Americans" (HM 19380). He also writes of his wishes that his family could join him in California, and in April 1853 worries that his partner had left the business and Woodin did not know how to get out of it himself (HM 19379). The final letter was written in June 1853, when Woodin was recovering from a bout of typhoid fever (HM 19381).

  mssHM 19369-19382

• Image not available

  James Clarke letters to his family

  Manuscripts

  This series of letters were written by James Clarke to his family in Maine, mostly his brother and his wife, from California between 1854 and 1856. The letters will be described chronologically. HM 21248, written 1854, May 16, and addressed to "Dear Brother," writes of acquiring room and board in San Francisco. HM 21310, dated 1854, September 3, sees Clarke moving to Los Angeles in search of more money. He wishes to eventually purchase a lot of land outside the city and build on it. HM 21353 (dated 1854, May 31; the letter is incomplete, being the middle four pages only) describes his journey to San Francisco. HM 21244 (1854, October 7) is partly written from Santa Barbara, and is also addressed "Dear Brother." Clarke writes of his profits from farming, but he thinks he may have to relocate. The second part of the letter finds Clarke in a boarding house 130 miles outside of Santa Barbara, where he has found work as a carpenter. The next letter is dated 1854, October 7 and 12, and is written in Santa Barbara and Los Angeles (HM 21245). The first part, written in pencil, is addressed to "Mrs. James Clarke", and Clarke is leaving Santa Barbara for Los Angeles, where he hopes to find better fortune. In the second part, Clarke writes he has arrived in Los Angeles after a fifty-day overland journey, and that he hopes to remain there for the rest of the five years of his stay in the West. HM 21247, dated 1854, November 3 and addressed once again to "Mrs. James Clarke," Clarke writes he has sent "some half dozzen letters" home but has gotten nothing in response. The following letter (HM 21246) was written November 1854, and is addressed "Dear Family." Clarke is now also working in a vineyard, and describes the Los Angeles orange groves in detail, and speaks in glowing terms of California produce. HM 21351 is written to Clarke's brother, and dated 1854, December 6. In it, Clarke describes the produce of Los Angeles, as well as the "exceeding agreeableness" of the area's climate. HM 21352 is dated 1855, March 1, and is also addressed to Clarke's brother, and discusses his work in a vineyard. HM 21242 is addressed to "Mrs. James Clarke" and is dated 1855, July 22. He is concerned that the letters and money he is sending home is not making it there, as "every thing is unsettled in Cal. now." He would like to make more money, but says "there is no money to be had." He remains confident that his stay will be financially productive. HM 21243, written to his family on 1856, March 7, contains Clarke's report that after a year's hard work, he now has a house and lot in El Monte, which he calls "the Egypt of California." He is excited about the prospect of farming on his land.

  mssHM 21242-21248, 21310, & 21351-21353