Gloria Forsyth Papers MS-19

Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation. Presidio Research Center
215 East Canon Perdido St.
Santa Barbara, CA, 93101
(805) 966-5073
anne@sbthp.org


Title: Gloria Forsyth Papers
Identifier/Call Number: MS-19
Contributing Institution: Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation. Presidio Research Center
Language of Material: English
Physical Description: 1.0 folder 34 items
Date (bulk): Bulk, 1963-1972
Date (inclusive): 1940-1988
creator: Forsyth, Gloria Brooks

Conditions Governing Use note

All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Associate Director for Historical Resources. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation Research Center as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.

Conditions Governing Access note

Collection is open to researchers.

Biographical/Historical note

Gloria Brooks Forsyth was born December 23, 1923. Her father, Ralph Brooks, founded the Valley Club of Montecito. A Santa Barbara native, Mrs. Forsyth attended Stanford University during World War II, where she received a bachelor's degree in journalism and was the first female editor of Stanford's student newspaper, the Stanford Daily. Upon her return, Mrs. Forsyth worked at the Santa Barbara News-Press for several years as a society writer before publishing the children's novel Pelican Prill in 1956. She and her husband published the weekly magazine, This Week in Santa Barbara, into the early 1970s.
Mrs. Forsyth held numerous leadership positions in the Junior League, served on the boards of the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation and the Lobero Theatre, was president of the Garden Club of Santa Barbara and vice-president of the Montecito Trails Foundation. She also was involved with the Santa Barbara United Way, Crane Country Day School, El Presidio Gift Shop, Santa Barbara YMCA, Family Service Agency, Music Academy of the West, Visiting Nurses Association, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, All Saints Church, the Little Town Club, and Old Spanish Days.
Forsyth was active on the board of the Plans and Planting Committee of the Community Arts Association of Santa Barbara. Her home, Villa Allegra, in Montecito, was on the committee's garden tours for many years, and she worked closely with Pearl Chase on many projects. Forsyth was one of Pearl's Girls, who organized the yearly Pearl Chase luncheons to honor individuals involved in historic preservation, after Chase's death. She was a contributor to the video production My Friends Call Me Miss Chase, produced in 2008.
Mrs. Forsyth moved to Oceanside in the 1990s to be closer to family. She passed away at age 89 on January 10, 2013.

Related Archival Materials note

This collection complements the Pearl Chase Papers (MS-01) and the unprocessed Sue Higman Papers at the Presidio Research Center, both of which document the Plans and Planting Committee of the Community Arts Assn. of Santa Barbara.

Separated Materials note

1 colored photograph of Gloria Forsyth removed to the Photograph Collection.

Scope and Contents note

This collection consists of one folder of correspondence, notes, minutes and other miscellaneous publications related to Pearl Chase, several activities of the Plans and Planting Committee of the Community Arts Association of Santa Barbara, and Mrs. Forsyth's role as a member of the committee. Topics covered in these papers include: an article about Santa Barbara's civic pride and historic preservation, reprinted from Reader's Digest (1940); Santa Barbara Mission Historical park plantings and Mission Cemetery Garden tree work and replanting (1972); local garden tours in 1963; minutes of board meetings of the Plans and Planting Committee (1972-1973); planting around El Cuartel and rebuilding the Presidio (1973); and a press release and program from the Pearl Chase Luncheon (1988). The papers are in chronological order.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

Chase, Pearl
Community Arts Association of Santa Barbara. Plans and Planting Committee.
Santa Barbara Mission.
Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation.
Gardens--Santa Barbara (Calif.)
Historic buildings--California--Conservation and restoration.
Historic preservation--California--Santa Barbara County.