Finding Aid for the Sarah Bixby Smith Correspondence LSC.0223
Finding aid prepared by Chris Marino with assistance from Megan Hahn Fraser in the Center for Primary Research and Training
(CFPRT), July 2011; machine-readable finding aid created by Caroline Cubé.
UCLA Library Special Collections
Online finding aid last updated 2011.
Room A1713, Charles E. Young Research Library
Box 951575
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575
Business Number: 310-825-4988
Fax Number: 310-206-1864
spec-coll@library.ucla.edu
Contributing Institution:
UCLA Library Special Collections
Title: Sarah Bixby Smith correspondence
Creator:
Bixby Smith, Sarah
Identifier/Call Number: LSC.0223
Physical Description:
1.0 Linear Feet
(2 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1871-1935
Abstract: Sarah Hathaway Bixby Smith (1871-1935) was a writer and activist. Her works include:
A Little Girl of Old California (ca.1920),
My Sage-brush Garden (1924),
Adobe Days (1925),
Pasear; a second book of California verse (1926),
Wind Upon my Face (1930),
Milestones in Los Angeles: being a brief narrative of Los Angeles through five decades (ca. 1933) and
The Bending Tree (1933). She was significantly involved in women's groups such as the Friday Morning Club and the American Association of
University Women. The collection consists primarily of correspondence and also includes announcements, invitations, photographs,
and family keepsakes.
Physical Location: Stored off-site. All requests to access special collections material must be made in advance using the request button located
on this page.
Language of Material: Materials are in English.
Restrictions on Access
Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance using the request button located
on this page.
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
Property rights to the physical objects belong to UCLA Library Special Collections. All other rights, including copyright,
are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright
and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Sarah Bixby Smith correspondence (Collection Number 223). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles
E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Gift of the Smith Family.
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Processed by Chris Marino with assistance from Megan Hahn Fraser in the Center for Primary Research and Training (CFPRT),
July 2011.
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UCLA Catalog Record ID
Biography
Sarah Hathaway Bixby Smith was born to Lewellyn Bixby and Mary Hathaway Bixby in August 1871, in San Justo Ranch near San
Juan Bautista, California. She graduated with a bachelor's degree from Wellesley College in 1894 and was an advocate for women's
independence and higher education. She was married twice, first to Arthur Maxson Smith in 1896, and then in 1916 to Paul Jordan
Smith, whom she later divorced. From both marriages combined she had five children: Maxson, Bradford, Rodger, Janet, and Lewellyn.
Her works include:
A Little Girl of Old California (ca.1920),
My Sage-brush Garden (1924),
Adobe Days (1925),
Pasear; a second book of California verse (1926),
Wind Upon my Face (1930),
Milestones in Los Angeles: being a brief narrative of Los Angeles through five decades (ca. 1933) and
The Bending Tree (1933). She was the vice president of the America Association of University Women, as well as the president of the Friday
Morning Club. She was also a trustee of Scripps College and a member of the Claremont School Board. In the early 1930s she
was a delegate to the Pacific Relations Conference in Shanghai. She died in 1935 at the age of 64. At the time of her death
she was in the process of writing another book on the history of southern California.
Scope and Content
Collection consists primarily of correspondence in the form of letters, telegrams, and postcards related to writer Sarah Bixby
Smith and her family. The collection also includes announcements, invitations, photographs, and family keepsakes.
- Smith, Sarah Bixby.
A little girl of old California. Los Angeles, 1920.
- Smith, Sarah Bixby.
Milestones in Los Angeles: being a brief narrative of Los Angeles through five decades. 1933.
- Smith, Sarah Bixby.
Poems selected for Americanization classes. Los Angeles: Los Angeles City School, 1929.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Correspondence.
Women authors, American -- Archives.
Bixby Smith, Sarah, 1871-1935--Correspondence.
box 1, folder 1
Correspondence between Lewellyn Bixby and Mary Hathaway
1871-1878.
Scope and Contents note
Majority of correspondence is between Lewellyn and Mary Bixby. There are a couple of letters from Lewellyn and Mary to other
friends and family.
box 1, folder 2
Correspondence from Lewellyn Bixby to Sarah Bixby Smith
1876-1894.
box 1, folder 3
Correspondence from Sarah Bixby Smith to Lewellyn Bixby
1880-1892.
Scope and Contents note
Includes receipts from boarding school, report cards and general correspondence between Sarah and her father Lewellyn.
box 1, folder 4
Correspondence from Sarah Bixby Smith to Lewellyn Bixby
1893.
Scope and Contents note
General correspondence between Sarah and her father Lewellyn.
box 1, folder 5
Lewellyn Bixby's Estate
1897-1925.
Scope and Contents note
Contains legal documents concerning Sarah's father's estate.
box 1, folder 6
Correspondence from friends and family concerning the death of Sarah's mother and father
1882-1896.
box 1, folder 7
Correspondence from Martha Hathaway to Sarah Bixby Smith
1882-1928.
Scope and Contents note
This folder includes two letters from Martha Hathaway to Sarah's first husband Arthur Smith.
box 1, folder 8
Correspondence from Sarah Bixby Smith to Martha Hathaway
1923-1924.
Scope and Contents note
Majority of correspondence is from Sarah to her aunt Martha, when she was visiting London.
box 1, folder 9
Correspondence from Maxson, Bradford, and Lewellyn to their Mother Sarah Bixby Smith
1905-1935.
Scope and Contents note
Includes a letter written from Maxson to his sister Janet.
box 1, folder 10
Correspondence from family to Lewellyn, Bradford, Roger and Maxson Smith
1902-1912.
Scope and Contents note
Majority of letters are from Arthur Maxson Smith Sr. to his sons Lewellyn, Bradford, Roger, and Maxson.
box 2, folder 1
Invitations and Announcements
1896-1935.
Scope and Contents note
Mostly consists of the wedding announcements of Sarah's children, plus her own to Paul Smith.
box 2, folder 2
Correspondence from family/friends to Sarah Bixby Smith
1881-1894.
Arrangement note
Arranged chronologically.
box 2, folder 3
Correspondence from family/friends to Sarah Bixby Smith
1900-1924.
Arrangement note
Arranged chronologically.
box 2, folder 4
Correspondence from family/friends to Sarah Bixby Smith
1925-1935.
Arrangement note
Arranged chronologically.
box 2, folder 5
Correspondence from Paul Smith to Sarah Bixby Smith
ca. 1934.
box 2, folder 6
Adobe Days Finances
1932.
Scope and Contents note
Two reports outlining the number of books published and sold per month during 1932.
box 2, folder 7
Press Clippings
ca. 1930-1935.
Scope and Contents note
Press relating to the American Association of University Women, Sarah's published poetry, and her death.
box 2, folder 8
Photographs and keepsakes
undated.
Scope and Contents note
Photographs of Sarah, her first husband Arthur, and their children; also a family tree of Sarah's paternal relatives, the
Bixbys.
box 2, folder 9
Autograph Book
undated.
Scope and Contents note
An autograph book signed by Sarah's family and friends.