Opening Hours
Daily: 10 A.M.–5 P.M.
Closed on Tuesdays
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
Rare Books
Trip to California : from the diary of a busy woman
Image not available
Rare Books
Image not available
Daily: 10 A.M.–5 P.M.
Closed on Tuesdays
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
Image not available
Manuscripts
The diary chronicles Margaret's travels from June 10 to August 27, 1911, primarily in Northern California. The first week of the journal details her trip alone by train from Niagara Falls to California, with descriptions of Niagara Falls and sites in Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona including Cripple Creek, Albuquerque, and the Grand Canyon; some entries include observations of local Native Americans. The rest of the journal consists of descriptions of travels by train and car in California. Locations visited in Southern California include Los Angeles, Pasadena, Venice Beach, Pomona, and Santa Barbara. After June 23, Margaret was based in the Bay Area town of San Rafael with multiple excursions to San Francisco and around Northern California. Her entries describe people met and interacted with, travel methods, homes and architecture, local landmarks and history, flora and landscape, missions and churches, and weather. There are frequent mentions of Aunt May and Uncle Will, who met her in Pasadena and possibly lived in San Rafael; Aunt May, and occasionally Uncle Will, usually accompanied her on her excursions to San Francisco and around California. Entries regarding San Francisco mention Ethel Barrymore plays, the Cliff House restaurant, Golden Gate Park and its zoo and Japanese Tea Garden, Chinatown, and the effects of the 1906 earthquake. She briefly describes attending a women's suffrage event (an Equality Tea) on August 4 and rally on August 25 and mentions a suffrage amendment on the ballot that year in California. Sites traveled to in Northern California include St. Helena and the Chabot estate vineyards; the Guerneville area and the Russian River; Santa Rosa, including a visit to Luther Burbank and his gardens; a fruit farm in Los Gatos; and Eureka and other areas in Humboldt County. The journal also includes a draft or copy of a letter from Margaret to her mother written in San Rafael and dated August 27. The final nine pages of the diary are additional notes on travels in Humboldt County, many of which are crossed out. There are also several pages of loose notes, two envelopes, and a receipt. The journal is unbound and is handwritten in ink on loose paper.
mssHM 84033
Image not available
Manuscripts
Two diaries, one documenting Mortimer Chester's first trip to California in 1912 and his permanent move there in 1914, and another describing his experiences with the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in the Sierra Nevada mountains during the Depression. His travel diary chronicles two cross country trips from Boston and demonstrates how he became convinced to move to California. Chester's account of the CCC camps describes camp operations, living conditions, and the character of the workers there. Photographs are undated but depict people and buildings, and some are labeled with locations, including Texas, Arizona, and Utah. Other photos are most likely of the CCC camps in the Sierra Nevadas, and depict snow removal and camp personnel, including a group of Black workers.
mssChester
Image not available
Manuscripts
Written to his father and mother by T.J. Ables, this manuscript is an account of Ables' overland journey from Boonville, Missouri to California by way of the Oregon Trail. He arrived with friends after a journey of five months and two days, having departed Boonville on May 7. He writes of his slavery discussions with locals while in Kansas, his travels through Nebraska, and how he inscribed his name on Independence Rock. In Utah, his party's cattle were driven off by hostile Indians, and Ables and his companions pursued the Indians, eventually recovering thirty-six head. This was the only direct encounter Ables had with the Indians, but he heard of many others, including one woman who survived a scalping. Typescript copy.
mssHM 16763
Image not available
Manuscripts
This manuscript is Nevins' account of his journey from Illinois to California via the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads, and then by steamboat through the Panama Canal to New York. Much of it is description of the countryside, towns, and inhabitants he visits en route. He arrived in San Diego, CA, on February 21, 1874, and prospected for three weeks without success, then boarded the boat. Upon reaching Panama, there was a delay, as the ship Nevins was to take was being repaired; he writes "The waiting here is very irksome. I fear the folks at home will be anxious about us." Dated January 10 through April 1. Also included is 15-page typescript of the original.
mssHM 26339
Image not available
Manuscripts
Hogue began his trip to California in July 1875 from Belmont, Ohio. He traveled through Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, and Nevada by railroad. He talks about the Missouri River, Cheyenne, Mormon villages, Fort Bridger, the Humboldt River Valley, and hundreds of Chinese workers he sees along the way. Hogue arrived in Sacramento and then he proceeded to travel to San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Carpinteria, and Ventura. While in California, Hogue purchased land. He returned to Ohio in January 1876. The volume also contains several entries from another trip Hogue took in 1882.
mssHM 82444