Collection Guide
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Helen L. Markell and Esther V. Martin Sacramento Bee and KFBeeK Players collection
MS0095
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Table of contents
Dates: 1944-1998
Bulk Dates: 1950-1990
Collection number: MS0095
Creator:
Markell, Helen L. (1914-2005)
Creator:
Martin, Esther Virone (1918-2012)
Collection Size:
0.5 linear feet
(1 box)
Repository:
Center for Sacramento History
Sacramento, California 95811-0229
Abstract: The collection documents Helen L. Markell and Esther Virone Martin's work for the
Sacramento Bee and involvement with the KFBeeK Players. Material includes Markell's published columns and reader responses from the 1970s,
and draft columns from the 1990s; items related to Eleanor McClatchy; Martin's photographs and ephemera; KFBeeK Players productions
photographs and ephemera; history booklets documenting the Sacramento Civic Theater; and material pertaining to the
Sacramento Bee's employee library, Beeline Book Alley. Items date from 1944 to 1998, with the bulk from 1950 to 1990.
Languages:
Languages represented in the collection:
English
Collection is open for research use.
All requests to publish or quote from private manuscripts held by the Center for Sacramento History (CSH) must be submitted
in writing to csh@cityofsacramento.org. 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.
[Identification of item and/or item number], [box and folder number], Helen L. Markell and Esther V. Martin
Sacramento Bee and KFBeeK Players collection, MS0095, Center for Sacramento History.
Donated by Joanne Virone, niece of Esther Virone Martin (accession number 2012/023)
Processing and finding aid by Alex Guilbert, 2012. Finding aid edited by Kim Hayden, 2021.
Biography / Administrative History
Helen L. "Marki" Markell was born in Portland, Oregon on March 15, 1914. Markell worked with Eleanor McClatchy at KFBK radio
and the
Sacramento Bee. She participated in the KFBeeK Players and directed many of their shows. She also operated the
Sacramento Bee's Beeline Book Alley, a library and reference center for the staff of the newspaper. She wrote numerous columns for the
Sacramento Bee from the 1970s into the 1990s. She passed away in Sacramento on July 3, 2005.
Esther Virone Martin was born in Sacramento on July 7, 1918. She worked as private secretary to Eleanor McClatchy at the
Sacramento Bee from early 1940s into the 1960s. She participated in the KFBeeK Players. She was married to Emil Martin until his death in
1991. She was very close friends with Markell and became executor of her estate. She acquired the material in this collection
upon Markell's death. Martin passed away on January 23, 2012.
Scope and Content of Collection
The collection documents Helen L. Markell and Esther Virone Martin's work for the
Sacramento Bee and involvement with the KFBeeK Players. Material includes Markell's published columns and reader responses from the 1970s,
and draft columns from the 1990s; items related to Eleanor McClatchy; photographs and ephemera from KFBeeK Players productions;
history booklets documenting the Sacramento Civic Theater;
Sacramento Bee employee newsletters; photographs and ephemera; and material pertaining to the
Sacramento Bee's employee library, Beeline Book Alley. Items date from 1944 to 1998, with the bulk from 1950 to 1990.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in
the library's online public access catalog.
Sacramento Bee (Newspaper)
KFBK
Sacramento (Calif.)--Theater
McClatchy, Eleanor, 1895-1980
Sacramento (Calif.)--Journalism
Sacramento (Calif.)--Publishing