Collection Guide
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National League of American Pen Women, Sacramento Branch records
MS0184
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Table of contents
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
Center for Sacramento History
Title: National League of American Pen Women, Sacramento Branch records
Identifier/Call Number: MS0184
Physical Description:
9.35 Linear Feet
(9 boxes, photo archives, and 1 oversized folder)
Date (inclusive): ca. 1925-2017
Container: 1
Container: 2
Container: 3
Container: 4
Container: 5
Container: 6
Container: 7
Container: 8
Container: 9
Container: 4:G:1, Drawer A
Container: 10:07
All requests to publish or quote from private manuscripts held by the Center for Sacramento History (CSH) must be submitted
in writing to the archivist. Permission for publication is given on behalf of CSH as the owner of the physical items and is
not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the patron. No permission
is necessary to publish or quote from public records.
The collection is open for research.
[Identification of item, prepared according to standard citation style such as MLA, ALA, or Turabian], MS0184, National League
of American Pen Women, Sacramento Branch records, Center for Sacramento History.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated by Gloria Givens in 2003 and by the National League of American Pen Women in 2019 (accession #2003/051 and 2019/051).
Taliyah Shaver, 2023
The National League of American Pen Women (NLAPW) was founded in 1897 in Washington, D.C. and is the oldest women's art organization
in the United States, with a history of over 120 years. After being excluded from male-only organizations in the 1800s, three
women decided to establish a club that promoted women writers, artists, and composers. Those women were the original founders
of the National League of American Pen Women, Marian Longfellow O'Donoghue, Margaret Sullivan Burke, and Anna Sanborn Hamilton,
who then grew their organization to seventeen founding members in total. Fellow creatives were ecstatic about the Pen Women
and their mission, and in one year membership had grown to over 50 members across the United States. In 1921, the National
League of American Pen Women was fully established as an organization and had 35 branches in various states. Now, the National
League of American Pen Women has more than 1,600 members across the United States and over 80 branches where they have supported
upwards of 55,000 women creatives.
The Sacramento Chapter of the National League of American Pen Women was established in 1925 with 28 founding members. The
Sacramento Chapter has an 88 year history in the region and is responsible for organizing several events, providing scholarships,
and promoting women in their artistic endeavors. The Sacramento Chapter has also sponsored a handful of activities in the
Northern California region, including exhibitions and competitions for members, writing workshops, poetry, essay, and music
contests, and award luncheons. Over the years, the members of the Sacramento Chapter of the NLAPW, including Emma Allebes,
Marion Tinling, Edna Mae Burnam, Frances Riemer Burt, and more, have become known for their contributions to the arts. Emma
Allebes was a textile artist and founding member of the California Pioneer Heritage Art Exhibit Committee. Marion Tinling
was a famed author of women's history. Edna Mae Burnam was a pianist, composer, and had published several piano learning materials,
named the Dozen a Day series, that have sold more than 25 million copies in multiple languages. Additionally, Frances Riemer
Burt organized art shows and displays, served on and chaired various committees, wrote and produced plays, and taught both
child and adult art classes that heavily influenced the Sacramento arts. The Sacramento Chapter hosted two regional conventions
for the National League of American Pen Women in 1967 and 1971. In 1978, the Sacramento Chapter was involved with hosting
the National Biennial Convention for the National League of American Pen Women, where Frances Riemer Burt was chair of the
convention.
The collection is composed of the NLAPW Sacramento Chapter's scrapbooks, photographs, musical works, publications, membership
invitations, member Christmas cards, correspondence, newspaper clippings, meeting minutes, programs, and reports, poems and
art, legal files, scholarship letters, sponsored events, member information, and business administrative records from several
positions within the NLAPW Sacramento Chapter, namely secretary, historian, and treasurer. The collection also consists of
materials from the NLAPW Headquarters in Washington, D.C., such as newsletters and one publication. Additionally included
in the collection are oversized materials and one artifact. The date range of the collection is 1925-2017, with the bulk of
materials dating from 1990-2010.
An artifact in the collection has been separated from the archival material. It includes the gavel of the NLAPW Sacramento
Branch President.