Collection Guide
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Irish (John Powell) Papers
M0033
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Table of contents
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
Title: John Powell Irish Papers
Creator:
Irish, John P. (John Powell)
Identifier/Call Number: M0033
Identifier/Call Number: 1441
Physical Description:
2 Linear Feet
(4 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1882-1923
Open for research. Note that material must be requested at least 36 hours in advance of intended use.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Mrs. Frances I. Hus, Daughter of J.P. Irish, 1928
John Powell Irish (Colonel), editor, attorney, farmer, law-maker, and official was born in Iowa City, Iowa, January 1, 1843.
He was educated in the primitive public schools of the frontier. As a young man, Irish was a school teacher and then was admitted
to the bar in Iowa before he entered journalism as a profession. For twenty years he was editor of the
Iowa State Press. In Iowa he was three times elected a representative to the state legislature, 1869-1872. He married Annie Fletcher in 1872.
In 1880 he moved to California where he later was editor of the Oakland
Times and the
Alta California.
Politically, Irish was a "Gold" Democrat and he spoke on economic and financial questions, centering on the sound money and
the gold standard viewpoints. In California, Irish became concerned with the treatment of people of Japanese descent living
in the United States and he wrote, spoke and acted on the behalf of these people for many years. He founded and organized
the American Committee on Justice to further this cause.
John P. Irish was appointed naval customs officer of the Port of San Francisco, 1894, and he was thereafter known as "Colonel"
Irish. For twenty-five years Irish was a director of the California Blind Directory Home. He died on October 6, 1923, from
an accidental fall when attempting to board a moving streetcar in Oakland, California.
Page from library catalog:
https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/4082742
[Identification of item] John Powell Irish Papers, M033, Dept. of Special Collections, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford,
Calif.
The collection was originally processed by Robert W. Stevenson in 1961; it was reprocessed in 1994 by Christy Smith.
The major portion of the Irish Papers is the correspondence of John Powell Irish. Included in the collection are the correspondence
received by Irish; (not complete) eight items of a biographical nature written by Irish about members of his family and close
friends; several legal papers; a scrapbook of editorials; and a book of Irish's speeches, addresses and briefs. In addition,
there are articles written by Irish on subjects with which he was closely associated at one time or another during his life.
Of primary interest in the collection are the articles and correspondence written on political subjects such as the Japanese
in California, free coinage, woman suffrage and prohibition.
While Special Collections is the owner of the physical and digital items, permission to examine collection materials is not
an authorization to publish. These materials are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study. Any transmission
or reproduction beyond that allowed by fair use requires permission from the owners of rights, heir(s) or assigns.