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