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Henry Warren Johnson Papers: Finding Aid
mssJohnson, Henry papers
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Title: Henry Warren Johnson Papers
Dates (inclusive): 1898-1935
Bulk dates: 1922-1927
Collection Number: mssJohnson, Henry papers
Creator:
Johnson, Henry Warren.
Extent: 80 items in 1 box
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 documents relating to various aspects of retired Pasadena, California, physician Henry Warren Johnson
(1854-1942).
The bulk of the documents are notes for his manuscript, "The Story of Placerville Road," which chronicles his experiences
traveling around California in the 1920s.
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]. Henry Warren Johnson Papers, The Huntington Library,
San Marino, California.
Gift of Harriet L. Johnson on March 16, 1944, and June 29, 1946.
Henry Warren Johnson (1854-1942) was a retired doctor who traveled around California
and the Pacific Northwest in his automobile during the 1920s with his sister Harriet
“Hattie” L. Johnson. He was born in 1854 and raised in Berlin, New Hampshire, and
graduated from Harvard University in 1879 with a bachelor’s degree. From there, he
entered Boston University where he graduated in 1888 with an MD. He traveled to
Europe in order to do his residency in a Dublin hospital. By 1901, he returned to
Berlin and became the Chairman of the City’s Board of Education, with Hattie as the
city librarian. Afterwards, he and his sister moved to Pasadena, California, from
Berlin. They began to travel during the 1920s, while Johnson worked for the
Department of Agriculture under the authority of the Biological Survey making
regular reports about the number and types of birds he branded. He also held permits
from the State Fish and Game Commission and the State Ornithological Club. Towards
the end of his life, he took a class by Loye Miller at the University of California,
Los Angeles about birds. He also began several manuscripts about literature and
California history, publishing “A collection of genealogical tables of the reigning
houses of Europe from the 10th century to the present time,” through a local press
in 1940. He died at the age of 88 on October 19, 1942.
The documents relate to various aspects of Henry Warren Johnson’s life and work. The
bulk of the documents are notes for his manuscript, “The Story of Placerville Road.”
This manuscript, along with the accompanying notes and documents, chronicles his
experiences traveling around California, while narrating the history of California’s
modernization. Other documents in the collection relate to his other book projects,
his bird-banding expeditions, and his version of the history of the Post Office’s
entrance into California.
The correspondence is largely Henry Warren Johnson’s accounts of his automobile
trips in California and the Pacific Northwest. According to his letters, he and his
sister travelled to Morro Bay, Monterey, San Diego, Mammoth Lake, Bouquet Canyon,
and Sequoia Park, all of which are in California. He also vacationed near the
Columbia River in Oregon. The collection also includes several letters between
Johnson and J.J. Brockliss about the Brockliss Bridge in Nevada. The last bit of
correspondence relates to his political views about democracy, Roosevelt, and the
economic state of the world.
There are also two ephemera folders, one containing sketch maps for a manuscript and
the other comprising of various printed material such as tourists’ maps and
newspaper clippings.
This collection is arranged with manuscripts first, followed by correspondence and ephemera. The manuscripts and correspondence
are both arranged alphabetically.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
Huntington Library's Online Catalog.
Johnson, Henry
Warren.
Miller, Loye,
1874-1970.
Automobile travel --
California.
Birds -- California.
California --
Description and travel.
California -- History
-- 19th century.
Letters (correspondence) -- California
-- 20th century.
Manuscripts -- California -- 20th
century.
Maps -- California -- 20th century.
Notes -- California -- 20th century.