Orrin M. Peck papers

This collection consists mainly of the personal correspondence of Orrin M. Peck (1860-1921) and his sister, Janet M. (Janet Moore) Peck (b. 1878). As an artist Orrin was in contact with and befriended many other artists of the time, and the collection contains correspondence from Edwin Austin Abbey (1852-1911), Pablo Casals (1876-1973), John Drew (1853-1927), Neville Lytton (b. 1879), Carl von Marr (1858-1936), Lillian Nordica (1857-1914), Joseph Pennell (1857- 1926), and John Singer Sargent (1856-1925), as well as references to Sir Hubert von Herkomer (1849-1914).

As the Peck family moved in the various social circles of the elite in San Francisco, the letters often discuss the political environment in the city during the 19th and 20th centuries as well as national politics during this same time period. Thus there is correspondence from Frances Folsom Cleveland (1864-1947), John James Ingalls (1833-1900), Henry C. Ide (1844-1921), and Lou Henry Hoover (1874-1944). References may also be found regarding Enrique Loynaz del Castillo (1871-1963), James D. Phelan (1861-1930), Lillie Hitchcock Coit (1843-1929), and John D. Spreckels (b. 1853).

Orrin M. Peck and Janet M. Peck were quite social, with Orrin spending many evenings at the Bohemian Club and Janet throwing dinner parties, they associated with a variety of people such as Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell (1857- 1941), Charles A. Dana (1819-1897), Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930), William Randolph Hearst (1863-1951), Lou Henry Hoover (1874-1944), William Orton Tewson (1877-1947), and Frances Evelyn Maynard Greville, Countess of Warwick (1861-1933). An additional note, many correspondents refer to Janet as "Jen, Jenny, or Jennie."

There are 119 letters in the collection from Phoebe Apperson Hearst, which span the dates of 1885-1917. These letters discuss her philanthropy in the fields of art and education, life in California, her son William Randolph Hearst, her travels to different countries in Europe and Asia, and national politics.

Throughout the collection correspondents make numerous references to the San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906, to the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, and to their opinions and activities in regards to World War I and II.

Lastly two letters contain references to Henry E. Huntington (1850-1927), one from a man with the last name Deven written to Orrin M. Peck in 1906 in regards to his art and literary collections and the other from Margaret H. Peck dated August 30th, but with no year, in regards to his developments in Pasadena, California.