Collection context
Summary
Background
- Scope and content:
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The Howell Family collection contains photography, news articles and other ephemera. This collection primarily focuses on documents pertaining to the life of Margaret “Peggy” Howell, her father Capt. Harry Pence, and life in La Jolla and San Diego through the 20th century. The Pence family had a storied life with Capt. Pence commanding the U.S.S. Mcfarland(1921-1924) and Peggy co-founding the “Friends of County Animal Shelters”. The collection sees the family from early 20th century in Charleston, S.C. to their home in La Jolla, C.A. with Peggy returning to La Jolla after getting married and working for a time at the China desk in the CIA. This material pertains to the history and heritage of La Jolla, C.A.; it’s people, places and events. A container list is included in the PDF and HTML versions.
- Biographical / historical:
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The La Jolla Historical Society inspires and empowers the community to make La Jolla’s diverse past a relevant part of contemporary life. The La Jolla Historical Society’s Collections encompass over 80 years of actively collecting archival material, books, maps, scrapbooks, ephemera, fine art, newspapers, street and land use files, business and personal documents and historic and archaeological artifacts. The Society boasts over 20,000 photographs, over 1000 postcards, 400-plus architectural drawings and approximately 200 oral history recordings. Collecting was initiated by Howard Randolph and volunteers on the historical committee of the Library Association of La Jolla. The Collection began by gathering photographs and documentation in the late 1930s, which later became the nucleus of the La Jolla Historical Society’s Collections. The Society was created in 1963. Through many moves in location the Society continued collecting and expanding. Accumulated Collections took on its current construct in 2010 after the renovation of the La Jolla Historical Society’s campus of structures in central La Jolla, which consists of the 1904 Wisteria Cottage and 1940s Balmer Annex used for exhibits and programming, and a 1909 cottage used for business and research offices. The late Ellen Browning Scripps’ 1916 automobile garage was also renovated and now houses the Collection in a modern collections storage facility. Materials are housed in archival boxes, sleeves, envelopes and other archival-safe materials and are cared for according to standards and best practices of the museum profession. In 2016, the Society initiated new PastPerfect Museum Software to manage and catalog its Collections and in 2018 started using the Online Archive of California to upload searchable information from its Collections to enable improved public access. The Society will continue these processes and look forward to utilizing new opportunities to collect, preserve and share the history of La Jolla.
- Acquisition information:
- DB031
About this collection guide
- Date Prepared:
- 1898-2011
- Date Encoded:
- This finding aid was produced using Record Express for OAC5 on July 14, 2025, 2:54 p.m.
Access and use
- Restrictions:
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The Collection is open for research. Contact the La Jolla Historical Society.
- Terms of access:
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The La Jolla Historical Society holds the copyright to any unpublished materials.
- Preferred citation:
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Howell Family Collection. La Jolla Historical Society
- Location of this collection:
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7846 Eads AvenueLa Jolla, CA 92037, US
- Contact:
- (858) 459-5335