Conditions Governing Access
Conditions Governing Use
Processing Information
Preferred Citation
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Arrangement
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Scope and Content
Biographical / Historical Notes
Separated Materials
Title: Louis and Dolores Strahlmann Papers
Identifier/Call Number: MS 239
Contributing Institution:
San Diego History Center Document Collection
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
6.5 Linear feet
(14 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1783-1986
Abstract: This collection consists of the personal papers of Louis and Dolores Strahlmann, as well as research materials they collected
in the 1920s-1930s regarding nineteenth century stagecoach lines and the Vallecito stagecoach station.
Language of Materials: Collection materials are in English, German, and Italian.
creator:
Strahlmann family
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
The San Diego History Center (SDHC) holds the copyright to any unpublished materials. SDHC Library regulations do apply.
Processing Information
Collection processed by Samantha Mills on February 28, 2013.
Collection processed as part of grant project supported by the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) with generous
funding from The Andrew Mellon Foundation.
Preferred Citation
Louis and Dolores Strahlmann Papers, MS 239, San Diego History Center Document Collection, San Diego, CA.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Accession numbers 970115 and 2002.029.
Arrangement
Collection is arranged into series:
Series I: Strahlmann Family Papers
Series II: Dolores Strahlmann Personal Papers
Series III: Louis Strahlmann Personal Papers
Series IV: Louis Strahlmann Academic Papers
Series V: Louis Strahlmann Military Papers
Series VI: Louis Strahlmann Medical Papers
Series VII: Louis and Dolores Strahlmann Research
Series VIII: Anza-Borrego Park Expansion
Series IX: Stagecoach Exhibits
Series X: Subject Files
Items within each series are arranged by subject.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Dolores Strahlmann's Diary #5 is detached from binding, Diary #11 has several pages detached from the binding, and Diary #2
and #3 have smudged pencil text.
Scope and Content
This collection consists of the personal papers and research materials of Louis and Dolores Strahlmann. Personal papers include
financial and legal documents, club memberships, and correspondence. Dolores’ papers include eleven of her diaries and several
fiction manuscripts. Louis’ papers include some of his academic papers from Harvard, military papers from his service in the
Army, and medical papers from his service in Boston, MA and San Diego, CA. Louis’ papers also include pamphlets and emergency
procedures for members of the local World War II Civilian Defense group. Several papers come from other members of the Strahlmann
family, including Edward Strahlmann, Louise Strahlmann, Hermann Strahlmann, Edmund Mayer, and Max Mayer.
Research materials relate to the history of San Diego County, stagecoach lines, and the Vallecito stagecoach station, and
include correspondence with pioneering stage drivers, their descendants, and other researchers, as well as numerous research
notes and some original nineteenth-century documents donated directly to the Strahlmanns.
This collection also contains correspondence related to the controversial expansion of Anza-Borrego Park, correspondence related
to the restoration of the Vallecito stagecoach station, exhibit cards from a presentation of Strahlmann research materials
hosted by the San Diego County Parks and Recreation Department, and finally a series of subject files containing pamphlets,
publications, maps, and other items that were of interest to the Strahlmanns.
Biographical / Historical Notes
Louis Strahlman was born in 1892 to Edward Strahlmann and Louise (Mayer) Strahlmann, both natives of Germany. Edward Strahlmann
(1840-1933) was a prominent pharmacist in San Diego and co-founder of the Strahlmann-Mayer Drug Company. Louis obtained a
medical degree from Harvard in 1917 and then served in the United States Army Reserve as First Lieutenant of the Medical Section
through World War I. In 1924 he became a surgeon for the San Diego Police Department, eventually obtaining the rank of Chief
Police Surgeon. He served the department until 1946, at which point he retired to devote his full time to private practice.
He was a member of numerous medical associations, including the San Diego County Medical Society, the California Medical Association,
and the American Medical Association. Louis was also active in the Exchange Club, the San Diego Historical Society, the Imperial
Highway Association, the Public Lands Protective League, and the San Diego Police Post of the American Legion, and was a medical
contact for San Diego’s Civilian Defense network during World War II. Additionally, he was a member of the German culture
societies Orden der Hermann’s Söhne (Order of the Sons of Hermann) and Nordamerikanischer Turnerbund (North American Gymnastic
Union). He died on May 12, 1952.
Dolores Strahlmann was born Dolores M. Akers in Washington on March 17, 1892. Her parents were William Akers and Emily L.
(Pier) Akers. Dolores came to Southern California in her youth to enter the movie industry. By 1920 she was writing screenplays
for La Carmen Productions and newspaper briefs as a special correspondent for the Hollywood motion picture studios. She found
occasional work as a dancer or movie stand-in, and by the mid-1920s she was a conductor at the Southern Studio of Dancing
in San Diego. She wrote screenplays and Western pulp stories under the names Dolores Brown and Dolores Lopez. Later she was
active in the Women’s Auxiliary of the San Diego County Medical Society, the Public Lands Protective League, and the San Diego
Historical Society. Dolores died on May 23, 1972.
Louis and Dolores married on August 14, 1926. This was Louis’s first marriage and Dolores’s second. They owned a ranch in
Mission Valley, but their primary residence was at 211 West Laurel Street. Through the 1920s and 1930s, they conducted extensive
research into the history of San Diego County, stagecoach lines, and the Vallecito stagecoach station. Dolores corresponded
with numerous pioneers, their descendants, and other Western researchers and wrote the bulk of their research notes. They
collected original artifacts from many of their correspondents and briefly used their home as a museum. As a result of their
research they were able to spearhead the restoration of the Vallecito stagecoach station, which was reopened as a museum in
the Anza-Borrego State Park.
Separated Materials
Photographs were previously separated to the SDHC Photograph Collection.
Ephemera, newspapers, and other printed materials were previously separated to the SDHC Ephemera Collection, SDHC Newspaper
Collection, and SDHC Printed Materials Collection, respectively. Photocopies of the front page of the separated materials
remain in this collection.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
American Medical Society.
Exchange Club.
Harvard University.
Imperial Highway Association.
Massachusetts Medical Society.
North American Gymnastic Union.
Order of the Sons of Hermann.
Public Lands Protective League.
San Diego (Calif.). Police Dept.
San Diego County (Calif.). Parks and Recreation Dept..
San Diego Historical Society.
Strahlmann family
Strahlmann, Dolores
Strahlmann, Louis
Sun Dial Motion Picture Company.
United States. Office of Price Administration.
Advertising
Anza-Borrego Desert State Park (Calif.)
Boston (Mass.)
Brochures
Civil defense
Clippings (Books, newspapers, etc.)
Correspondence
Diaries
Dogs -- Pedigrees
Emergency public utility services
Gold mines and mining
History -- Research
Maps
Medical appointments and schedules
Medicine
Military orders
Military regulations
Museum exhibits
Pony express
Propaganda
Receipts (Acknowledgements)
San Diego (Calif.)
Stagecoach lines
Stagecoach stations
Surgeons
Vallecito Station (Calif.)
World War, 1939-1945