Daily: 10 A.M.–5 P.M.
Closed on Tuesdays
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
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Manuscripts
The collection includes correspondence between three generations of the Michel and Bartholomew families, ranging from 1847-1913. Both families were highly educated, literate, and interested in politics, which is apparent in many of their writings. The earliest letters were written by Mary Eletra Loveridge to Robert B. Michel during their courtship in 1847. Mary specifically writes of her interest in Emanuel Swedenborg, her religious disagreements with her mother, her loneliness and lack of female friends, of her love of books, and of multiple local deaths from cholera. Other courtship letters include those between Mary M. Michel and James Bartholomew in the early 1880s. James writes of Ben Butler (1884 Presidential nominee for the Greenback-Labor Party), his political disagreements with his father, his anxiousness to get married, and the need for him to travel to California as soon as possible. Later letters written to Mary after their marriage recount his 1893 travels through London, Paris, Vienna, and parts of Germany, as well as his return to the United States aboard the ship Alaska. Mary writes of her love of books, her thoughts on the 1884 election, and notes on a variety of friends and family members. In letters written from California to her sisters Annie and Elizabeth from 1884, Mary writes of her first impressions of California, reminiscences of their childhood, her first experience with an earthquake on April 19, 1885, the hardships of being a doctor's wife, and candid descriptions of neighbors and acquaintances. Later letters to her daughter Eleanor Bartholomew focus on family and community activities and the experiences of her son Robert. The collection also includes a long series of letters written from Eleanor Bartholomew to her brother Robert, both while she was at school in Brooklyn and when she was attending Bryn Mawr. In addition to notes on family and school acquaintances, Eleanor's letters cover a wide variety of topics, including descriptions of Brooklyn and her busy college schedule. Other notable items in the collection include a letter from William A. Michel to his brother Robert written in 1853 when William was traveling through Council Bluffs and Jefferson City aboard the Polar Star steamship on his way to California; a few photographs of Mary Michel Bartholomew, Mary Eleanor Bartholomew, and an unidentified Michel man; a cookbook kept by Robert Michel's sister Elizabeth Michel Blair probably in the 1830s and 1840s; and some Confederate printed money collected by Robert Michel in Mississippi.
HM 75509
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Manuscripts
Binders: These binders were created by Forrest Coggan himself. They contain photographs, manuscripts, blue prints and designs, letters, etc. The binders has four sub-series: Forrest Designs, Photos-Career, Words-Career, and Correspondence. These binders cover Forrest's childhood, his experience in the US Army, his dance career, and his work as a designer, etc. (1923-2006). The binders have an index. The Correspondence series contains letters between Forrest and his family (chiefly his mother Blanche Coggan), other dancers, ex-students, authors, professors, and dance departments at universities in the United States.
mssCoggan
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Manuscripts
This collection contains correspondence and ephemera from John Muir and his family. The family members represented in the collection are John Muir, his parents, his seven siblings, two of his sisters-in-law and two of his nieces. The letters largely deal with family affairs, and give a detailed account of the family's daily life. Many of the letters mention John and his activities at different points in his life. They often discuss Muir's location, his publications and the family's trips to California to see him, his wife Louie, and their two daughters, Wanda and Helen. Several of John Muir's letters are written from Yosemite Valley; these letters give detailed accounts of Muir's activities at Yosemite as well as physical descriptions of the valley. Correspondence: All but one letter (John Muir to Anne Gilrye Muir, HM 57467) are addressed to Daniel H. Muir Jr., or his wife Emma Kinaston Muir (eleven letters are addressed to Daniel H. Muir, Jr. and Emma Kinaston Muir). One-third of the letters are written by John Muir's mother Anne Gilrye Muir. One letter is written by E. C. Love, a friend of the Muir family. The correspondence includes the following members of the Muir family (list shows relation to John Muir and number of items written by each family member): Joanna Muir Brown, sister (6); Anna G. Galloway, niece (1); Sarah Muir Galloway, sister (16); Mary Muir Hand, sister (7); Anna Muir, sister (4); Anne Gilrye Muir, mother (68); Daniel Muir, father (6); Daniel H. Muir, Jr., brother (1); David G. Muir, brother (9); John Muir (28); Katie Muir, sister-in-law (1); Margaret Muir Reid, sister (1); and Anna Reid Waterman, niece (1). Ephemera: The ephemera consists of six folders and contains calling cards, a Christmas card, envelopes, wedding invitations, mementos from John Muir, and miscellaneous printed ephemera, including newspaper clippings.
mssHM 57349-57497
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Manuscripts
This collection contains correspondence, photographs, and ephemera of Polish-American actress Helena Modjeska and members of the family of Ludwik Opid, dating from 1869 to 1982. Though not biologically related to the Opids, Modjeska referred to them as family. The bulk of the materials consists of correspondence, in Polish, between members of the Opid family in Poland and Ludwik Opid in Los Angeles, California, dating from the 1910s to 1940s. While most of the materials post-date Modjeska's death in 1909, there are some materials created by or related to Modjeska including two handwritten actor's sides for two plays Modjeska starred in the mid 1880s and 17 letters by Modjeska, dated 1902-1909. There are also photographs of her Southern California homes and portraits of her, as well as 31 theater-related fabric and crepe sashes, chiefly with Polish lettering and dating from the 1890s to early 1900s. These sashes presumably were presented to Modjeska in towns where she was performing. The correspondence chiefly consists of letters from Opid family members to Ludwik Opid in Polish; the largest group is a set of 98 letters from Marianna Popielecka to her brother Ludwik (1912-1949). Correspondence to Ludwik also includes: 5 letters from Helena Gocowa (1923, 1946-1947); 10 letters from his younger sister Helena (Opid) Kozutska (1912, 1946-1948); 8 letters from his brother Adam Opid (1914, 1928-1930); 2 letters from his nephew Adolf Opid (1931-1932); 1 letter from his brother Bolesław Opid (1906); 1 postcard from his son, John Opid, and daughter-in-law Eleanor Opid (1926); and 6 letters from his mother Kunegunda Opid (approximately 1900s-1910s?). Within the correspondence series, there are also 2 letters from Modeska's husband Karol Chłapowski (Count Bozenta) (1908 and 1911); 1 letter from J. Kruszyńska (1888); 1 postcard possibly from Ralph Modjeska (1905); 1 letter from Mary Opid to Stefeni (1899); and 11 letters and 1 document by Ludwik's father, Adolf Opid, including letters to Helena Modjeska (1869-1870s and undated) and letters to his mother, Jozefa Bendow. There are 75 photographs in the collection chiefly consisting of snapshot photographs of the Opid family, both in Poland and California, as well as 14 images of "Arden," Modjeska's estate, near Santa Ana, California and 6 portrait photographs of Modjeska at various ages. There are also newspaper clippings about Modjeska both from Polish and Los Angeles newspapers, some later pieces of ephemera, correspondence, and printed items related to the history of Helena Modjeska.
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Manuscripts
This small group of correspondence primarily consists of 25 letters from Cornelius MacLain Stoneman's mother, Mary Oliver Hardisty, his sisters, Katherine "Kitty" and Adele, and his brother, George Stoneman. The letters concern family and social life. Stoneman's mother frequently writes about monetary issues. For instance, in a letter dated January 31, 1888, his mother writes, "Our ranch has big money in it for some of us - it is only a question of time & endurance & as we have kept it through all this time of depression, I guess we can mosey along still further..." In another letter written in 1892, Stoneman writes about suing George Stoneman, "Father cannot sue for divorce, but I can - for he has practically deserted me&" There is a letter from Francis J. Thomas to Walter Percy in Birmingham, Alabama, where he introduces Percy to Cornelius McLain Stoneman. There is also a wedding invitation for Rufus William Burnham and Marion Barnes Bennison in 1887. The letters were also accompanied with transcripts from the donor. The transcripts are located at the end of the collection in chronological order.
mssStonemanFamilyletters
mssModjeska