Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
Allie Prescott Correspondence: Finding Aid
mssHM 74433-74480
View entire collection guide
Search this collection
Table of contents
Title: Allie Prescott Correspondence
Dates (inclusive): 1870-1891
Collection Number: mssHM 74433-74480
Creator: Prescott, Allie.
Extent: 48 items.
Repository:
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.
Manuscripts Department
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2129
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
Abstract: This collection contains correspondence of Los Angeles schoolteacher Allie Prescott to her family in Massachusetts between
1870 and 1891.
The letters in the collection deal primarily with family history and Prescott's struggles with loneliness, teaching, and living
in Los Angeles.
Language: English.
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services
Department. For more information, contact Reader Services.
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to
quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such
activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is
one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
[Identification of item]. Allie Prescott Correspondence, The Huntington Library,
San Marino, California.
Purchased from Dawson's Bookshop, March 9, 1956.
Sometime before 1870, Allie Prescott (born circa 1847) left her native Massachusetts to start a new life in Los Angeles, California.
She travelled alone,
leaving behind a large family in Boston. Prescott soon became a public schoolteacher and fell in love with the young city’s
sunny climate,
abundant fresh produce, and mix of cultures. Deeply religious, Prescott’s letters include mention of several Los Angeles area
churches:
Methodist, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, and Unitarian. Finally, while the motivations behind Prescott’s move are unknown,
her letters indicate that she was sending money home to help support her mother.
The correspondence of Allie Prescott consists of 48 handwritten letters addressed primarily to her mother and her sister,
Emma.
They are arranged chronologically from Jan. 11, 1870 to Apr. 4, 1891. Six undated letters have been placed at the end of the
collection.
The letters in the collection deal primarily with Prescott family history and Allie Prescott’s struggles with loneliness,
teaching, and living in Los Angeles. The letters include descriptions of wildfires, oil wells, Chinese and Mexican cultures,
and churchgoing. In addition, the collection includes anecdotal information concerning late 19th century fashion.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
Huntington Library's Online Catalog.
Prescott,
Allie.
Chinese -- California -- Los
Angeles.
Mexicans -- California -- Los
Angeles.
Women -- California --
Correspondence.
California -- History
-- 19th century -- Sources.
Los Angeles (Calif.)
-- Church history.
Los Angeles (Calif.)
-- Description and travel.
Letters (correspondence) -- California
-- 19th century.