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McManus Family Trunk Collection
MS.2019.009
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Contributing Institution:
William Andrews Clark Memorial Library
Title: McManus Family Trunk Collection
Identifier/Call Number: MS.2019.009
Physical Description:
43 boxes
Date (inclusive): about 1890-1997
Abstract: Diverse materials documenting the lives of several different members of the McManus family, including Alice G. McManus Clark,
including clothing, textiles, photographs, newspaper clippings, and other papers, all originally stored in a large wooden
steamer trunk originally owned by Margaret McManus.
Language of Material:
English
.
This collection was acquired by the Clark Library in 2019 from a private collector in Northern California.
Previous to that collector's purchase, the McManus family trunk appears to have been owned by Margaret McManus and was then
inherited by Ethyl G. McManus, and later, Margaret "Peggy" McManus Brennan.
The McManus family trunk contains material documenting the lives of several different members of the McManus family, including
Alice G. McManus Clark and her niece Ethyl McManus, as well as descendants of Ethyl's brother, George. This collection includes
clothing, textiles, photographs, newspaper clippings, and other papers, all originally stored in a large wooden steamer trunk
originally owned by Margaret McManus and stamped "M.E. McManus."
The collection contains many textiles likely owned by Alice McManus Clark and other members of her family, which include day
dresses, evening gowns, stockings, furs, outerwear, undergarments and petticoats, dating from about 1900-1950, with the bulk
of them from about 1900-1920.
Paper-based materials in this collection include McManus and Brennan family photographs dating from the 1890s to late 1990s,
Alice McManus Clark's childhood autograph albums, papers related to travels by both Ethyl McManus and Margaret Hall McManus
(the wife of Ethyl's nephew George McManus), newspaper clippings related to Alice McManus Clark and William Andrews Clark,
Jr., and magazines documenting events in 20th century American history.
Andrew George McManus was born in Ireland in 1838, and emigrated to Boston around 1860. He married Catherine Hayes, the US-born
daughter of Irish immigrants John and Johanna Hayes, in Greenfield, Massachusetts in 1861. Soon after, Andrew and Catherine
moved across the country and first settled in San Francisco, then in Virginia City, Nevada; they would have children born
in all of these places. According to the 1910 census, Catherine would have 13 children, but only 3 of them – Margaret, Edward,
and Alice – would live to adulthood. Andrew died in Sacramento in 1911, and Catherine in 1915.
Catherine and Andrew's oldest surviving daughter, Margaret McManus, was born in San Francisco in 1867, and lived most of her
adult life in Sacramento, California. She never married and was a devout Catholic. She died in Marin County, California in
1958.
Andrew and Catherine's younger daughter, Alice Genevieve McManus, was born July 22, 1882 in Virginia City (some records give
Alice's birthdate as 1884, but based on the 1900 census and her 1902 marriage record, 1882 or 1883 appear to be more accurate).
By 1896, Alice was already publicly recognized for her beauty and poise: Nevada newspapers from the time record her election
by a poll of students as a "Venus." By 1902, Alice was 19 years old and living in Butte, Montana where she worked as a telephone
operator. In that year, she eloped in Butte with divorcé and fellow Virginia City native Marco J. Medin. Marco was a successful
merchant in Butte and Alice quickly became a popular figure in Butte social life, as evidence by the frequent mentions of
her and her clothing in Butte-area newspapers. After a November 1906 divorce from Marco, Alice and William Andrews Clark,
Jr. were married in May 1907 in Butte at the home of one of Alice's good friend, Grace McStay Carnochan. The Clarks moved
to Los Angeles in 1908, and in 1910, purchased of what was then called the McCan estate at 2205 West Adams Boulevard - the
same parcel the Clark Library occupies today. In addition to becoming socially active in Los Angeles, Alice also became involved
in charity work in the city, especially at the YWCA, and throughout World War I, she was deeply involved in Red Cross fundraising
and other efforts related to child refugees. Alice McManus Clark died November 17, 1918, at the age of 34, after being diagnosed
with colon cancer 8 months earlier.
Alice and Margaret's brother, Edward J. McManus was born in San Francisco in 1877, and married Stella Murphy in 1902 in Reno,
Nevada. He served at one time as Storey County Commissioner and spent most of his adult life in Reno, before resettling in
Sacramento in the 1950s. Edward and Stella's oldest daughter, Ethyl McManus was born in 1903 and, with her younger sister
Alice Catherine McManus (1906-2005) were educated at various private schools in both Northern and Southern California. Alice
(sometimes referred to as "Alice Jr.") was particularly close with their aunt, her namesake Alice McManus Clark. Ethyl attended
the University of Nevada, Reno, graduating in 1925, and spent most of her adult life living in San Francisco. She died in
Marin County, California in 1977.
Ethyl and Alice's brother, George Edward McManus, was born in 1907 in Nevada and in 1935 married Margaret Hall of Chicago.
They had 3 children: George E. McManus, Jr., Margaret "Peggy" McManus Brennan, and Leonard McManus.
** A family tree of the descendants of Andrew McManus and Catherine Hayes McManus compiled during the description of this
collection is located in Box 43/Folder 6.
Sources consulted:
* Vital records indexes and census records via Ancestry.com
* Montana and California state vital records, digital surrogates via Familysearch.org
* Obituaries and newspaper articles via Newspapers.com
Most of the textiles in this collection were described and photographed by Kathryn Brunet from Fall 2019 to Spring 2020. Additional
textile material and all paper-based materials were described and rehoused by Rebecca Fenning Marschall in February 2023.
Collection is open for research.
Consulting textile material requires the hands-on assistance of library staff; please contact the Clark Library (clark@humnet.ucla.edu)
to make a research appointment before requesting to view textiles.
Related Materials at the Clark Library
* William Andrews Clark, Jr. and William Andrews Clark Memorial Library Records, Clarkive.Pre-1934,
OAC Finding Aid
Subjects and Indexing Terms
family papers
Photographs -- United States -- 19th century
Photographs -- California -- 20th century
womenswear
Clippings -- 20th century