Guide to the Betty Jane Powell family papers

Amanda Graham and Allison Higgins
Sacramento Room, Sacramento Public Library
828 I Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916) 264-2976
Fax: (916) 264-2884
Email: sacroom@saclibrary.org
URL: http://www.saclibrary.org
Copyright 2017
Sacramento Public Library. All rights reserved.


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.