Blake Family Papers, 1881-1962

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Title:: Blake Family Papers,
Dates:: 1881-1962
Abstract:: Mainly correspondence of Anita Day (Symmes) Blake relating to the family ranch in Napa County and to her interest in horticulture. A few letters, mss. of writings, notebooks and clippings also concern Anson S. Blake, her husband, Edwin T. Blake and other members of the Blake, Stiles and Symmes families.
Extent:: Number of containers: 4 boxes, 1 carton, and 1 portfolio
Language:: English
Preferred citation:: [Identification of item], Blake Family papers, BANC MSS C-B 903, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

Biographical / historical:: Anson Blake was born in San Francisco in 1870. In 1891 he was graduated from the University of California at Berkeley and became secretary of the Oakland Paving Company owned by his father Charles T. Blake. From 1897, the year of his father's death, to 1913 he was president of the company and from 1904 until his retirement, he also served as president of Blake Brothers Company. In 1894 he married Anita Day Symmes, daughter of a prominent San Francisco merchant and a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, class of 1894. Their first home, located on Piedmont near Bancroft, was razed in the early 1920's in order to build the California Memorial Stadium. They then built a home on Rincon Road which they deeded to the University of California in 1957 and which is now the residence of the University president. The Blakes were interested in the University all of their lives. Mr. Blake's association with Stiles Hall (a gift from his grandmother) spanned more than fifty years. He received an honorary LL.D. degree in 1958, the year before his death. Anita Blake died in 1962.
Physical location:: For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.

Collection Guide Author:: Processed by The Bancroft Library staff
Date Prepared:: © 1997
Date Encoded:: Machine-readable finding aid derived from paper by means of scanning and OCR; OCR file edited for typographical errors before encoding; finding aid encoded by Xiuzhi Zhou. Date of source: ca. 1965.

Access and use

Restrictions:: Collection is open for research.
Terms of access:: Copyright has not been assigned to The Bancroft Library. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Public Services. Permission for publication is given on behalf of The Bancroft Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.

Preferred citation:: [Identification of item], Blake Family papers, BANC MSS C-B 903, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

Location of this collection:: UC Berkeley, Bancroft Library

University of California, Berkeley, The Bancroft Library

Berkeley, CA 94720-6000, US