Los Angeles Flower Festival Society Records
Finding aid prepared by Xiaofei Wang.
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical
Gardens
Manuscripts Department
The Huntington Library
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2191
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
© 2008
The Huntington Library. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Title: Los Angeles Flower Festival Society
Records
Dates: 1885-1891
Collection Number: mssFlower Festival
Creator:
Los Angeles Flower Festival
Society.
Extent:
114 items in 1 box
Repository: The Huntington Library,
Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens. Manuscripts
Department
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2191
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
Abstract:
This collection contains correspondence,
festival and fair programs, newspaper clippings, photographs, a notebook, a list of
donations, and other documents about the Flower Festival Society, a women's association in Los Angeles, California, dating
from 1885 to 1891. The records provide a
unique perspective to view California women’s history and leisure activities at the
end of the nineteenth century.
Language of Material: The records are in English.
Access
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader
Services.
Administrative Information
Publication Rights
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material,
nor does it charge fees for such activities.
The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with
the researcher.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item]. Los Angeles Flower Festival Society Records, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Provenance
Purchased from Dawson’s Book Shop, March 26, 1958.
Historical Note
The Flower Festival Society was a Los Angeles women’s association active in the late
19th century. In 1885, it was established to “give the protection and comfort of
home life at a reasonable rate to working women, also to furnish situations to those
seeking employment, and engage in such benevolent work as the Board may agree upon,”
as the constitution of the Society stated. The Society's Advisory Board was composed
of the presidents of several local non-governmental organizations such as the Los
Angeles YMCA.
Mrs. R. M. Widney was the founding and only president of the Society.
In 1889, the position of president was replaced by a three-member executive
committee without Widney. Miss Mary E. McLellan served as the Financial Secretary
when the Society was founded. Since 1885, each April the society would host a flower
exhibition, which was named the “Flower Festival” from 1887. As one of the managers
of the 1888 Flower Festival, McLellan was in charge of inviting important guests to
the Festival’s opening ceremony. From 1889 to 1891, members of the Society also
organized the Annual Chrysanthemum Fairs. While the first and the third Fair were
held in October, the second Fair in 1890 commenced on October 29 and closed on
November 7.
Scope and Content
This collection contains records of the Flower Festival Society, a women's association in Los Angeles, California, dating
from 1885 to 1891.
The records include correspondence, festival and fair programs, newspaper clippings,
photographs, a notebook, a list of donations, and other documents about the Flower
Festival Society. The records provide a
unique perspective to view California women’s history and leisure activities at the
end of the nineteenth century. In addition, newspaper clippings about the
Chrysanthemum Fair include some women’s favorable perceptions of Japanese and
Chinese art and culture.
Subjects in the records include Arrowhead Springs (Calif.), Chinese Art objects,
Chinese culture and civilization, Chrysanthemums – China, Chrysanthemums – Japan,
Japanese Art objects, Los Angeles times, Southern Pacific Transportation Company,
and the YMCA of the USA.
Arrangement
The folders are arranged in chronological order. The items in each
folder, whenever possible, are also arranged chronologically.
Indexing Terms
Corporate Names
Los Angeles Times
(Firm)
Los Angeles Flower
Festival Society -- Archives.
YMCA of the
USA.
Southern Pacific
Transportation Company.
Subjects
Art objects, Chinese.
Art objects, Japanese.
Chinese culture &
civilization.
Chrysanthemums -- China.
Chrysanthemums -- Japan.
Clubs -- California -- Los Angeles --
Archives.
Clubs -- California -- Los Angeles --
History -- 19th century -- Sources.
Flower shows -- California -- Los
Angeles.
Women -- Societies and clubs --
California -- Los Angeles.
Geographic Areas
Arrowhead Springs
(Calif.)
Los Angeles (Calif.) --
History -- 19th century -- Sources.
Genre
Ephemera California Los Angeles 19th
century.
Letters (correspondence) California Los
Angeles 19th century.
Photographs California Los Angeles 19th
century.
Programs California Los Angeles 19th
century.
Reports California Los Angeles 19th
century.
Box 1
Los Angeles Flower Festival Society Records
Folder 1
Flower Festival Society Rules. 3 items.
1885
Folder 2
Handwritten Speech. 1 item.
after 1885
Folder 3
Correspondence. 4 items.
1886-1888
Folder 4
Simpson Tabernacle and Chrysanthemum Fair. 23 items.
(1886-1895)
Folder 5
Letters to Mrs. R. M. Widney. 6 items.
1887-1888
Folder 6
Flower Festival Programs. 6 items.
1887-1890
Folder 7
Letters to Mary E. McLellan. 14 items.
1888
Folder 8
Notebook by Mrs. R. M. Widney. 1 item.
1888
Folder 9
Newspaper Clippings. 43 items.
1888-1891
Folder 10
Photographs of the First and Third Annual Chrysanthemum Fair. 12
items.
1889-1891
Folder 11
List of Donations. 1 item.
undated
