Title: Fanny Hodges Newman Collection

Dates: 1857-1958

Collection Number: MS.006

Creator/Collector:

Extent: 4 boxes, 2.5 linear ft.

Repository: San Diego Public Library

Abstract: Fanny Hodges Newman was born in Michigan in 1862, the daughter of Lathrop S. and Helen Hodges. In 1882 she married Dr. Henry P. Newman in Chicago. They had two children, Willard H. and Helen, and moved to San Diego in 1906. Fanny Hodges Newman published three volumes of poetry: Adventures in 1910, Out of Bondage in 1913, and Hearts Allied in 1917. Dr. Henry P. Newman, a prominent surgeon, was founder of the International Congress of Gynecologists and Obstetricians and for ten years was Treasurer of the American Medical Association. Dr. Newman died in 1936 and Fanny H. Newman died in 1946. This collection contains family correspondence, poetry and prose, business records, photographs, and publications of other writers important to the poet Fanny Hodges Newman and her family.

Language of Material: English

Collection is open for research.

San Diego Public Library can only claim physical ownership of the collection. Users are responsible for satisfying any claims of the copyright holder. Permission to copy or publish any portion of San Diego Public Library's collection must be given by the San Diego Public Library.

Fanny Hodges Newman Collection. San Diego Public Library

This collection contains family correspondence, poetry and prose, business records, photographs, and publications of other writers important to the poet Fanny Hodges Newman and her family. Fanny Hodges Newman was born in Michigan in 1862, the daughter of Lathrop S. and Helen Hodges. In 1882 she married Dr. Henry P. Newman in Chicago. They had two children, Willard H. and Helen, and moved to San Diego in 1906. Fanny Hodges Newman published three volumes of poetry: Adventures in 1910, Out of Bondage in 1913, and Hearts Allied in 1917. Dr. Henry P. Newman, a prominent surgeon, was founder of the International Congress of Gynecologists and Obstetricians and for ten years was Treasurer of the American Medical Association. Dr. Newman died in 1936 and Fanny H. Newman died in 1946. One of the highlights of the collection is an 1857 stock book from a store in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, where Dr. Newman was born, which provides an interesting slice of the social history of the period. Also of interest is a letter of recommendation sent to Dr. Willard H. Newman’s wife, who was a San Diego Public Library Commissioner in 1946, from the Oregon State Library for Clara Breed to be named San Diego City Librarian. The collection contains many letters to Dr. Willard H. and Mrs. Newman from their son Henry (Hank) while he was a student at UC Berkeley (1939-1941). Hank attended many intercollegiate sporting events and reported on them to his father. Among them are comments about Jackie Robinson, the first African-American to play baseball in the Major Leagues, and Louis Zamperini, an Olympic track star and prisoner of war, and subject of the book and movie Unbroken. The date and donor of the collection are unknown.