Harris S. Allen Ina D. Coolbrith collection
Finding aid created by San Francisco History Center staff using RecordEXPRESS
San Francisco Public Library. San Francisco History Center
2018
San Francisco Public Library
100 Larkin Street
San Francisco, California 94102
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Title: Harris S. Allen Ina D. Coolbrith collection
Dates: 1882-1929
Collection Number: SFH 542
Creator/Collector:
Allen, Harris Stearns, 1870-1947
Extent: 2 folders
Repository:
San Francisco Public Library. San Francisco History Center
San Francisco, California 94102
Abstract: Press clippings, one photograph, and two letters to Harris S. Allen
Language of Material: English
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Harris S. Allen Ina D. Coolbrith collection . San Francisco Public Library. San Francisco History Center
Biography/Administrative History
Ina D. Coolbrith was a California poet and associate of writers Harte, Stoddard, Twain, Bierce, and others. In 1915 she was
named the state’s first poet laureate by the California legislature. Her niece, Ina Cook, cared for her in her later life,
and was working on a biography of Coolbrith when Cook died. Coolbrith was a client of Harris S. Allen, who had owned and
managed Allen’s Press Clipping Bureau in San Francisco since 1894.
Scope and Content of Collection
Two folders include press clippings about Coolbrith and her poetry, dating 1882-1929. Some of these may have been given by
Coolbrith to Harris S. Allen; a note from Coolbrith to Allen dated August 9, 1907 makes a vague reference to this. A few
items were given by Ina Cook to Allen, documented in a letter from Cook to Allen, 1928. This letter includes Cook’s 1924
photograph of Coolbrith and her cat in her San Francisco residence. An inventory of the two folders, possibly compiled by
a book dealer, is included.
Poets laureate--California
Women poets, American—California—Biography
Women poets, American—19th century—Biography
Coolbrith, Ina D. (Ina Donna), 1842?-1928
Cook, Ina Lillian, 1863-1932
Allen’s Press Clipping Bureau (San Francisco, Calif.)
California--Poetry