Overview of the Collection
Access
Administrative Information
Biographical Note
Scope and Content
Indexing Terms
Overview of the Collection
Title: Clara Bradley Burdette Papers
Dates (inclusive): 1843-1954
Collection Number: mssBurdette papers
Creator:
Burdette, Clara Bradley,
1855-1954.
Extent:
Approximately 50,000 pieces in 163 boxes.
Repository:
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.
Manuscripts Department
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2129
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
Abstract: This collection contains papers related to the life, activities,
and family of Southern California social, business, and philanthropic leader Clara Bradley
Burdette (1855-1954). It includes materials on various women's clubs and societies,
especially the General Federation of Women's Clubs, California Federation of Women's Clubs,
and Alpha Phi Sorority. There are also materials related to Mills College, Syracuse
University, California College in China, the Southwest Museum, Trinity Baptist Church in Los
Angeles, including manuscripts and sermons by Robert Jones Burdette, and the Republican
party.
Language: 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]. Clara Bradley Burdette Papers, The Huntington Library, San
Marino, California.
Provenance
Gift of Florence A. Walker, 1955 and 1962.
Biographical Note
Clara Bradley Burdette (1855-1954) was a Southern California social, business, and
philanthropic leader. She attended Syracuse University, where she was a founder of Alpha Phi
Sorority in 1872. After the deaths of her first two husbands, Nathaniel Milman Wheeler and
Col. Presley C. Baker, she married Robert Jones Burdette (1844-1914), a humorist and
lecturer who moved to the ministry after his marriage to Clara in 1899. He founded the
Trinity Baptist Church in Los Angeles, and Clara became a leader of women's societies and
was founder and first president of the California Federation of Women's Clubs in 1900. She
was active in Republican politics (particularly in Herbert Hoover's campaign for the
presidency), and she was a trustee of Syracuse University, Mills College, California College
in China, Pasadena Hospital, and the Southwest Museum.
Scope and Content
The collection consists of letters, manuscripts, diaries, documents, scrapbooks, and
photographs related to the life, activities, and family of Clara Bradley Burdette.
It
includes materials on various women's clubs and societies, especially the General Federation
of Women's Clubs, California Federation of Women's Clubs, and Alpha Phi Sorority.
There are
also materials related to Mills College, Syracuse University, California College in China,
the Southwest Museum, Trinity Baptist Church in Los Angeles, including manuscripts and
sermons by Robert Jones Burdette, and the Republican party.
Significant persons represented
in the collection include: Susan B. Anthony (5 pieces), Robert Jones Burdette (948), Harry
Chandler (16), Herbert Hoover (37), Lou Henry Hoover (18), Carrie Jacobs-Bond (23), Melville
De Lancy Landon (5), Charles Fletcher Lummis (65), John Steven McGroarty (10), Ralph Palmer
Merritt (77), Harrison Gray Otis (25), Aurelia Henry Reinhardt (96), James Whitcomb Riley
(23), and Caroline M. Seymour Severance (11).
Indexing Terms
Subjects
Burdette, Clara Bradley, 1855-1954.
Burdette, Clara Bradley, 1855-1954 -- Family.
Burdette, Robert J. (Robert Jones), 1844-1914.
Alpha Phi (Sorority)
California College in China.
California Federation of Women's Clubs.
General Federation of Women's Clubs.
Mills College.
Republican Party (U.S. : 1854- )
Southwest Museum (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Syracuse University.
Trinity Baptist Church (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Women -- Societies and clubs -- California -- Los Angeles.
Women civic leaders -- California -- Los Angeles -- Archives.
Los Angeles (Calif.) -- History -- Sources.
Forms/Genres
Diaries -- California.
Letters (correspondence) -- California.
Personal papers -- California.
Photographs -- California.
Scrapbooks -- California.
Alternate Authors
Anthony, Susan B. (Susan Brownell), 1820-1906.
Burdette, Robert J. (Robert Jones), 1844-1914.
Chandler, Harry, 1864-1944.
Hoover, Herbert, 1874-1964.
Hoover, Lou Henry, 1874-1944.
Jacobs-Bond, Carrie, 1862-1946.
Landon, Melville D. (Melville De Lancey), 1839-1910.
Lummis, Charles Fletcher, 1859-1928.
McGroarty, John Steven, 1862-1944.
Merritt, Ralph Palmer, 1883-1963.
Otis, Harrison Gray, 1837-1917.
Reinhardt, Aurelia Henry, 1877-1948.
Riley, James Whitcomb, 1849-1916.
Severance, Caroline M. Seymour (Caroline Maria Seymour), 1820-1914.