Conditions Governing Access
Biographical Note
Scope and Contents
Preferred Citation
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
Sacramento Public Library, Sacramento Room
Title: Betty Jane Powell family papers
Identifier/Call Number: MC 25
Physical Description:
7 Linear Feet
(14 Archival Boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1848-2005
Abstract: Betty Jane Powell (1921-2012) was a long-time resident of the Sacramento area who worked many years for Sacramento City Unified
School District and contributed thousands of volunteer hours to local service organizations and libraries. This collection
of correspondence, business records, photographs andother material documents the history of her family in Omaha, Nebraska;
Dixon, Illinois; and Sacramento, California (bulk) from the 1850s through the 2000s.
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research.
Biographical Note
Betty Jane Powell (1921-2012) was a long-time resident of the Sacramento area who worked many years for Sacramento City Unified
School District and contributed thousands of volunteer hours to local service organizations and libraries. The only child
of James Clinton Powell (1888-1968) and Armeda Powell (1886-1976), she was born on April 26, 1921. Her father, James Clinton
Powell, was the son of Omaha Superior court judge Clinton N. Powell (1853-1902) and Mary A Powell (b. 1856). He was a native
of Omaha, Nebraska, but lived in the Sacramento area for 55 years, working 43 of those years for Crane Company. Mary A. Powell's
parents were James A. Hawley and Mary A. (Gardner) Hawley of Dixon, IL.
Armeda Powell, Betty Jane's mother, was born to Vandella (Della, 1859-1903) and James S. Conover (1853-1916) on August 10,
1886. She had two sisters, Lulu and Kathryn, and a brother, George, who was a long-time executive and district manager for
Hale Bros. department store. Kathryn (1901-1988) married Hiram P. ALbert (1893-1965).
Betty Jane Powell grew up in the Curtis Park neighborhood. She attended Sierra School and graduated in the spring of 1939
from McClatchy High School; the fall of that same year, she entered Sacramento City College. From 1947 to 1980, she served
in an administrative position for the Sacramento City Unified School District. She was also a member of the Westminster Presbyterian
Church and enjoyed traveling the world on cruise ships. Betty Jane was an active member of many local associations and contributed
thousands of volunteer hours to USO Travelers Aid, the State Capitol Docent Association, Sutter Hospital Auxiliary, Sutter
Resource Library, Sacramento Public Library's Sacramento Room, the Sacrramento Philharmonic Association, and the California
State Library Foundation. She died on October 18, 2012 at the age of 91.
Scope and Contents
This collection of correspondence, business records, photographs and other material documents the family of Betty Jane Powell,
both Powell and Conover families, 1848-2001. Half of the collection is comprised of textual material documenting the Powell
family history back to James A. Hawley (his is primarily masonic ephemera), and also includes Clinton N. Powell's ephemera
from railways and the Trans-Mississippi International Exposition (1898), and Mary A. Powell's address and prayer books. Conover
family papers include Vandella Conover's memo book of dress measurements (1895). Correspondence with family can be found
in James Clinton Powell's papers, along with records from Crane Company, while correspondence and wedding ephemera comprise
most of Armeda Powell's papers. Betty Jane Powell's papers consist of correspondence, academic records and ephemera from
schools attended, as well as employment and volunteer records.
Photographs make up the rest of the collection and include studio portraits and views of the Powell and Conover families (ca.
1860s-2001). There are many images of the Powell family in Dixon, IL and Elk Grove, CA. Conover family images primarily
picture locations in and around Sacramento, the bulk of family posed in front of their homes and on camping trips. Of particular
interest to Sacramento history are albums from James C. Powell and Hiram P. Albert, which contain images of Elk Grove and
the Crane Co. exhibit at the California State Fair (Powell album); and views of Mather Field, the 1922 Days of '49 celebration,
notable Sacramento sites like Sutter's Fort and McKinley Park, and camping trips to the Sierra foothills (Albert album).
About half of the portraits are identified and picture many Powell and Conover family members.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Betty Jane Powell family papers, MC 25, Sacramento Room, Sacramento Public Library, Sacramento,
California.