Ina D. Coolbrith papers

The collection consists of correspondence and the personal papers of California poet Ina Donna Coolbrith (1841-1928). The materials primarily date after 1906, as many of her manuscripts and mementos were destroyed in the 1906 San Francisco fire. The papers include letters from personal friends about her health, birthday greetings, etc., fan letters from readers and admirers, requests for her poems and for permission to use them, materials related the publication of her writings, material related to lecturer and editor George W. James and the Coolbrith Home Fund, and materials concerning the Congress of Authors in San Francisco (1915), including letters from numerous authors in response to her invitation to attend the event. There are also a few occasional references to poetry in American for the period of 1906 to 1925. Unfortunately the present collection contains little of importance bearing on Coolbrith's relation with such literary figures as Bret Harte, Joaquin Miller, or George Sterling. There are two boxes of ephemera at the end of the collection.

Correspondents represented in the collection include: Gertrude Atherton (12 pieces), Albert M. Bender (3 pieces), Amanda (Mathews) Chase (3 pieces), Ina Coolbrith (19 pieces), Bio (Terrill) DeCasseres (3 pieces), Iza Duffus Hardy (14 pieces), George Wharton James (26 pieces), Charles Meeker Kozlay (3 pieces), Charles Fletcher Lummis (7 pieces), Edwin Markham (8 pieces), Edward F. O'Day (5 pieces), James D. Phelan (4 pieces), Charles Phillips (11 pieces), Don Carlos Pickett (6 pieces), Herman George Scheffauer (4 pieces), and Edmund Clarence Stedman (7 pieces).

Some notable letters include two November 1926 letters from Albert M. Bender concerning George Sterling's death; an August 21, 1912 letter from Amanada (Matthews) Chase describing a visit to Katharine (Tynan) Hinkson; a February 9, 1912, letter from Ina Coolbrith to George Wharton James mentioning "I told you Harte did not like Joaquin & that we disagreed with regard to his talent ...", as well as another February 9, 1912, letter from Coolbrith to Laurie Haynes Martin regarding Bret Harte's career; a September 22, 1921, letter from George H. Himes, telling of printing a book for Joaquin Miller in 1868; correspondence from George Wharton James regarding the Coolbrith Home Fund; and "Five Quatrains for my friend, Henry Meade Bland" by Edwin Markham (June 1, 1918).