Register of the Sargent (Shirley) Papers, 1950-1971

Processed by Daryl Morrison; rev. by Don Walker; machine-readable finding aid created by Don Walker
Holt-Atherton Department of Special Collections
University Library, University of the Pacific
Stockton, CA 95211
Phone: (209) 946-2404
URL: https://www.pacific.edu/university-libraries/find/holt-atherton-special-collections
© 1998
University of the Pacific. All rights reserved.



Register of the Sargent (Shirley) Papers, 1950-1971

Collection number: Mss150

Holt-Atherton Department of Special Collections

University Library

University of the Pacific

Contact Information

Processed by:
Daryl Morrison; rev. by Don Walker
Date Completed:
1994; 1998
Encoded by:
Don Walker
© 1998 University of the Pacific. All rights reserved.

Descriptive Summary

Title: Sargent (Shirley) Papers,
Date (inclusive): 1950-1971
Collection number: Mss150
Creator: Shirley Sargent
Extent: 1.25 linear ft.
Repository: University of the Pacific. Library. Holt-Atherton Department of Special Collections
Stockton, CA 95211
Shelf location: For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the library's online catalog.
Language: English.

Administrative Information

Access

Collection is open for research.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Sargent (Shirley) Papers, Mss150, Holt-Atherton Department of Special Collections, University of the Pacific Library

Biography

Shirley Sargent (b. 1927) is a publisher and author who writes both fiction and non-fiction for adults and children. Many of her works focus on the history of Yosemite National Park or use Yosemite as a setting. When she was nine years old, her father, jobless because of the Depression, brought his family there while he worked as an engineer during construction of the modern Big Oak Flat and Tioga roads. Although confined to a wheel chair since age fourteen by a rare crippling disease, Sargent received an A.A. from Pasadena City College (1947) and worked for eleven years as head teacher at a Nursery School (1948-1959) in Pasadena, Calif. Since 1961 she has lived just outside Yosemite National Park on her Flying Spur Ranch. Sargent founded the Flying Spur Press with author Hank Johnston to gain more effective financial control of her publications. She is the recipient of a number of awards including: Honorable Mentions in the Dodd, Mead Prize Competition (1955) for Pipeline Down the Valley and the James D. Phelan Award (1964) for Galen Clark, Yosemite Guardian; and Awards of Merit from the Conference of California Historical Societies (1971) and the California Historical Society.
Her works include: Pipeline Down the Valley(1955); The Heart-Holding Mountains(1961); Wawona's Yesterdays(1961); Galen Clark, Yosemite Guardian,(1964);Pioneers in Petticoats (1966); John Muir In Yosemite (1972); Yosemite and its Innkeepers (1976); The Ahwahnee: Yosemite's Classic Hotel(1977); Yosemite's Historic Wawaona(1979);and, Yosemite, the First 100 Years, 1890-1990(1988). Sargent also writes a weekly column for the Mariposa Gazette.

Scope and Content

This collection contains some fifty of Shirley Sargent's published and unpublished book drafts as well as correspondence, primarily to and from her editors.

 

BOX 1: SHIRLEY SARGENT EARLY WRITINGS

 

1.1: BIOGRAPHICAL

 

-"Yosemite's Free-Wheeling Historian" by Ursula Vilss, Los Angeles Times. n.d.

 

1.2: "A CENTURY OF SIGHTSEERS" [typescript, c200 pp.]

 

1.3: "JESSIE BENTON FREMONT'S MARIPOSA COUNTY MEMORIES" [ed. and annotated from her unpublished letters and from her book Far West Sketches; typescript, 151 pp.]

 

1.4: CORRESPONDENCE REGARDING FREMONT BOOK, 1968-1970

 

-16 letters

 

-Index to Mother Lode Narratives [3 pp.]

 

1.5: "GALEN CLARK" [early draft; typescript; c150 pp.]

 

1.6: "THE HEART-HOLDING MOUNTAINS" [typescript; 223 pp.]

 

BOX 2: SHIRLEY SARGENT LATER WRITINGS

 

2.1: CORRESPONDENCE RE "JOHN MUIR IN YOSEMITE"

 

-April 14, 1971. Shirley Sargent to Ted

 

-May 21, 1971 to Hank [Johnston]

 

-May 30, 1971 to "Old Buddy" [Hank Johnston].

 

-6/2/71 From Hank Johnston, Queen Beach Printers, Long Beach Cal.

 

-6/3/71 From Hank Johnson, Queen Beach Printers, Long Beach, Cal. to "Shirl"

 

-6/8/71 To Old Buddy [Hank Johnston from SS]

 

-"JOHN MUIR IN YOSEMITE" [manuscript copy; c200 pp.]

 

2.2: "THE NEIGHBORLY REPORTER" [c6000 words; Chapters I -III; 27 pp.]

 

2.3: "PIONEERS IN PETTICOATS" [manuscript copy; 129 pp.; notes]

 

-Picture credit list with note 3/19/66 from Shirley to Mary

 

2.4: "RANGER IN SKIRTS" [novel; 202 pp.]

 

2.5: "WAWONA" [manuscript, early draft]

 

2.6: "WAWONA" [revised draft]

 

2.7: "YOSEMITE TOMBOY" [manuscript copy; children's fiction; 110 pp.]

 

2.8: CORRESPONDENCE REGARDING "YOSEMITE TOMBOY," 1953-1968. [letters from editors]

 

2.9: CORRESPONDENCE with Ruthie Clarke c.1972

 

BOX 3: SHORT STORIES

 

3.1: [Untitled] "I'm going to join the Woman's Club, Marie Meredith... [2100 words, 5/4/50, 2nd draft, 6 pp.]

 

3.2: "THIS IS A STINKER!" [7/18/50, 11 pp.]

 

3.3:[Untitled] "Arch Ritter, a short, wiry man..." [6/3/51, 11 pp.]

 

3.4: "THE TREASURER" [c3500 words; 1/13-2/8/50; 11 pp.]

 

3.5: "FANCY FIGURES" [2/4/50 3rd draft, 5 pp.]

 

3.6: "THE SWEET PEA" [2100 words. 4th draft 6/10/50, 6 pp.]

 

3.7: "SECURITY-MINDED." [about 2000 words. 7 pp.]

 

3.8: "I END UP A MONKEY!" [565 words, 3 pp.]

 

3.9: "WHAT A CHARACTER!" [1180 words, 5 pp.]

 

3.10:"MAMA'S LITTLE HEART MURMUR" [2100 words. 10/29-11/8/50? 6 pp.]

 

3.11:"THE STATION WAGON" [3200 words 1/7-27/50. 7 pp.; 2 copies]

 

3.12:"LEVIS" [about Levi Strauss; 3120 words 3/25/50. 2nd draft, 8 pp. (2 drafts); attached Magazine clipping "Fashions" on Levi Strauss]

 

3.13:"PADDLEBOARD DICK" [2600 words 1/14-2/7/50. 3rd draft. 8 pp.]

 

3.14:"SAUL" [2nd Draft 7/9/50. 4 pp.]

 

3.15"THE RECORD" [2200 words. 3/28/50 6 pp.]

 

3.16:"THE RUNAWAY" [920 words. 4pp.]

 

3.17:"ME AND DANNY" [5 pp.]

 

3.18:"SOMETHING TO FIGHT FOR" [754 words, 2nd draft, 3/17/51, 3 pp.]

 

3.19:"LAST DAY" [1550 words, 9/9/51-3/6/52,5 pp.]

 

3.20:"NATION DODGER" [1300 words, 2/25/51, 3rd draft, 4 pp.]

 

3.21:"...NOW MY SON" [1380 words, 2/26/51, 2nd draft, 4 pp.]

 

3.22:"TWENTY-ONE!" [2700 words, 3rd draft, 1/16/51, 8 pp.]

 

3.23:"VISITOR'S DAY" [1440 words, 3rd draft, 12/10/50, 4 pp.]

 

3.24:"THE HOUSE THAT WANTED TO BE A HOME" [600 words, 2 pp.]

 

3.25:"SOLDIER'S RETURN" [3400 words, 5th draft, 12/18/51, 9 pp.]

 

3.26:[Untitled] "When the doorbell rang..." [3300 words, 5/12/51 9 pp.]

 

3.27:"ELLY'S ORCHARD" [700 words 2nd draft 7/13/50. 2 pp.]

 

3.28:"A PET FOR ALLISON" [700 words, 10/24/5?, 2 pp]

 

3.29:"THE MOUSE GIRL" [700 words, 9/29/50, 2 pp.]

 

3.30:"DAUNTLESS DAN" [760 words, 1/19/52, 2 pp.]

 

3.31:"THE TALKING HOUSE" [1450 words, 10/21/50, 4 pp.]

 

3.32:"STOP THE PRESSES" [590 words, 10/2/?, 2 pp.]

 

3.33:"TRUTH DOESN'T PAY" [360 words, 9/23-12/16/51, 2 pp.]

 

3.34:"SPRING" [2300 words, 2nd draft 9/7/50, 7 pp.]

 

3.35:"DOUBLE IDENTITY" [3600 words, 2nd draft, 8/12/50, 10 pp.]

 

3.36:"GREMLIN" [1150 words, 2nd draft, 10/4/51, 4 pp. Picture of car labelled "Gremlin" attached]

 

3.37:"HORSETAIL 28 DEGREES" [1440 words, 2nd draft, 10/30/50, 4 pp.]

 

3.38:"HAPPY NEW YEAR, FOLKS!..." [750 words, 5/5/53, 5 pp.]

 

3.39:"REAL GONE" [755 words, 4/21/53, 2 pp.]

 

3.40:"FAMILY FIREWORKS" [750 words,1/26/52,3 pp.]

 

3.41:"WHO'S TRICKING WHOM?" [1800 words, 3 copies, 4/3/50, 7 pp/ 5 pp./7 pp.]