Guide to the Gibson Family Papers
Marianne Carden; Sean Heyliger
African American Museum & Library at Oakland
659 14th Street
Oakland, California 94612
Phone: (510) 637-0198
Fax: (510) 637-0204
Email: aamlo@oaklandlibrary.org
URL: http://www.oaklandlibrary.org/locations/african-american-museum-library-oakland
© 2013
African American Museum & Library at Oakland. All rights reserved.
Guide to the Gibson Family Papers
Collection number: MS 6
African American Museum & Library at Oakland
Oakland, California
- Processed by:
- Marianne Carden; Sean Heyliger
- Date Completed:
- 06/24/1995
- Encoded by:
- Sean Heyliger
© 2013 African American Museum & Library at Oakland. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Title: Gibson Family papers
Dates: 1887-1980
Collection number: MS 6
Collection Size:
1 linear foot
(2 boxes)
Repository:
African American Museum and Library at Oakland (Oakland, Calif.)
Abstract: The Gibson Family Papers encompass materials relating to six family members: Audrey
Gibson Robinson; Charles Nelson Gibson; Lucinda Ray Gibson; Lois Gibson; Maude E. Gibson; and Frederick D. Robinson. Papers
consist of clippings, biographical information, a scrapbook, photographs and assorted items such as postcards and poems collected
by members of the Gibson family. Arranged by name of family member and thereafter by format and date.
Languages:
Languages represented in the collection:
English
Access
No access restrictions. Collection is open to the public.
Access Restrictions
Materials are for use in-library only, non-circulating.
Publication Rights
Permission to publish from the Gibson Family Papers must be obtained from the African American Museum & Library at Oakland.
Preferred Citation
Gibson Family papers, MS 6, African American Museum & Library at Oakland, Oakland Public Library. Oakland, California.
Biography / Administrative History
The Gibson family can trace its roots back to the pioneering days of California. Charles Nelson
Gibson was born in Sacramento in 1879. His parents, William Henry Gibson and Lucinda Ray
Gibson, became part of the African American community of West Oakland in the late nineteenth
century. William Gibson obtained a position as a dining and club car waiter on the Southern Pacific
Railroad in 1898 and worked for the railroad for thirty years. Lucinda Ray was a descendent of
Nelson Ray, a slave who obtained his freedom in 1864 and came out to California to mine for gold.
Through his profits, Ray acquired enough money to pay for his wife and childrens freedom and
settled in Placerville, where he worked as a carpenter and blacksmith. The Ray family
moved to Sacramento sometime prior to 1877.
Charles Nelson Gibson followed in his father's footsteps and worked for Southern Pacific
Railroad for forty-one years, from 1913-1954. He was often called upon to work in private
railway cars of Southern Pacific officials. In 1901, he married his wife, Maude, and they had three
daughters, Thelma, Lois, and Audrey. Gibson's civic activities included membership at the First
African Methodist Episcopal Church of Oakland, the Retired Railroad Men's Club, and several
masonic lodges. His daughter Thelma Gibson Radden became a director for the Detroit American
Red Cross District, while his daughter Lois received medical training and worked in Oakland as a
surgical chiropodist. Audrey Gibson Robinson also worked in Oakland as kindergarten teacher at
Thornhill School. She married Frederick D. Robinson, a police officer from Washington D.C., in 1941 shortly before he would
leave to fight in World War II. Frederick D. Robinson died in combat in Italy in 1944. Audrey became very active at the Oakland
Museum, serving as Docent Chairman for the History Department and as Vice President of Administration for the Cameron-Stanford
House
Preservation Association.
Scope and Content of Collection
The Gibson Family Papers encompass materials relating to six family members: Audrey
Gibson Robinson; Charles Nelson Gibson; Lucinda Ray Gibson; Lois Gibson; Maude E. Gibson; and Frederick D. Robinson.
The papers include Charles Gibson's notes on family history, as well as biographical
clippings and photos. Lois Gibson's involvement in the Xi Alpha chapter of Zeta Phi Beta sorority
is documented in a scrapbook she compiled of clippings noting chapter events and national news.
This scrapbook also contains a few photos of Lois and her friends. Materials on other family
members are present in the form of clippings, photographs, biographical sketches, and postcards. The collection also contains
an eight page journal maintained by Lucinda Ray Gibson during a cross-country trip by rail in 1924, Frederick D. Robinson's
war letters to Audrey Gibson Robinson shortly before his death in Italy in 1944, and 335 photographs and negatives of the
Gibson family.
Arrangement
Series I. Audrey Gibson Robinson
Series II. Maude Gibson
Series III. Charles Nelson Gibson
Series IV. Lucinda Ray Gibson
Series V. Frederick D. Gibson
Series VI. Lois Gibson
Series VII. Photographs
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in
the library's online public access catalog.
Railroad travel--United States.
World War, 1939-1945--African Americans.
Zeta Phi Beta Sorority.
African Americans--California--East Bay--History.
Other Finding Aids
Black Women Stirring the Waters Collection, African American Museum & Library at Oakland
Audrey Gibson Robinson
Series Scope and Content Summary
Includes biographical sketch, correspondence, financial and legal documents, YMCA programs, and artifacts.
Arrangement
Arranged by format and date thereafter.
Box 1:1
Biographical sketch
1965 and undated
Box 1:2
General correspondence
1961-1965
Box 1:3
Pension correspondence
1943-1970
Box 1:4
Financial documents
1967-1980
Box 1:5
Legal documents
1915-1980
Box 1:6
Y.M.C.A. programs
1931-1932
Box 1:7
Necklace and ring
undated
Maude Gibson
Series Scope and Content Summary
Includes poems written by Maude Gibson, will, and postcard.
Arrangement
Arranged by format.
Box 1:8
Will of Maude Gibson
circa 1960s
Charles Nelson Gibson
Series Scope and Content Summary
Newspaper clippings and funeral arrangements related to Charles Nelson Gibson.
Arrangement
Arranged by format.
Box 1:11
Newspaper clippings
1947-1972
Box 1:12
Funeral arrangements
1964-1967
Lucinda Ray Gibson
Series Scope and Content Summary
Consists of journal maintained by Lucinda Ray Gibson during a cross-country trip by rail in 1924.
Box 1:13
My trip east [railway travel journal, 8 pp.]
1924
Frederick Dovington Robinson
Series Scope and Content Summary
Includes war correspondence to Audrey Gibson Robinson, address books, wallet, and badges.
Arrangement
Arranged by format.
Box 1:14
World War II correspondence to Audrey Gibson Robinson [46 pp.]
1944
Box 1:16
Assorted artifacts
circa 1940s
Lois Gibson
Series Scope and Content Summary
Includes scrapbook of newspaper clippings and photographs related to the activities of the Zeta Phi Theta sorority.
Box 1:17
Zeta Phi Theta sorority scrapbook
1939-1940
Photographs
Series Scope and Content Summary
21 photographs and 313 negatives of family and friends of the Gibson family.
Box 2:1
Reproduction from an oval portrait of a 1 year old boy wearing a small locket on a chain around his neck [001]
circa 1880
Box 2:2
Thelma, Audrey, and Lois Gibson stand posed against painted brick wall [002]
circa 1958
Box 2:3
Portrait of Virginia S. Gibson dressed in nurses uniform and cap [003]
circa 1940
Box 2:4
Charles Nelson Gibson stands posed wearing a dark colored kilt and white collared matching dark jacket, and holds a cap in
his left hand as he stands with one leg crossing another [004]
1887
Box 2:5
Thelma M. Gibson, infant, stands in wicker chair dressed in christening dress and a small ribbon in her hair [005]
circa 1900
Box 2:6
Portrait of Thelma Gibson, R.N., Norfolk, Virginia [006]
1937
Box 2:7
Oval portrait of Lucinda Ray Gibson wearing high collar dress [007]
circa 1890
Box 2:8
Charles Nelson Gibson standing on sidewalk near fire hydrant wearing traffic patrol cap [008]
1955
Box 2:9
Portrait of Maude Gibson wearing high collar dress and string of long beads [009]
1902
Box 2:10
Portrait of Dr. Lois E. Gibson Oubre wearing dark colored blouse and large white collar [010]
1930
Box 2:11
Oval portrait of William Henry Gibson dressed in vested suit and small bow tie [reproduction] [011]
circa 1900
Box 2:12
Portrait of Mrs. George R. Cashen wearing high-collar, lacey white blouse with horseshoe pin [reproduction] [012]
1908
Box 2:13
Two separate views of ferryboats at piers; showing the passage of several years [013]
undated
Box 2:14
Portrait of Audrey Gibson Robinson wearing white straw hat and light-colored plaid jacket [014]
circa 1975
Box 2:15
Ferryboat sails across the bay to San Francisco, skyline in background [015]
circa 1930
Box 2:16
Charles A. Gibson [?] sitting with banjo (glass plate negative) [016]
undated
Box 2:17
Lois Gibson portrait (infant) [017]
undated
Box 2:18
Portrait of Audrey Robinson [018]
undated
Box 2:19
Thelma Gibson, 5 month old [019]
1903
Box 2:20
Grand Lodge, Portland, Oregon (11 negatives)
1954
Box 2:21
Blooming rose (1 negative)
undated
Box 2:22
Home of Lois Gibson (5 negatives)
undated
Box 2:23
Mitzu; Stanley and Lois; Watkins and Betty; Stanley and dog (11 negatives)
1950
Box 2:24
At the beach (12 negatives)
undated
Box 2:25
Jone Francis; Backyard in San Jose; Me and Jone; George and Jone (33 negatives)
1951
Box 2:26
Unidentified portraits (3 prints/39 negatives)
circa 1920s
Box 2:27
Grand Lodge, Portland, Oregon; Sacramento Grace and Dad; Delaney and Auntie Jeff; Rosa Morton (17 negatives)
circa 1962
Box 2:28
Jeri and [illegible]; [illegible] and Sweeney; Jeri and I; Sacramento Convention Grand Lodge (6 negatives)
1963
Box 2:29
Running of Del.; me, hostess; Susan [illegible]; Jone Francis (8 negatives)
1961
Box 2:30
Car door (1 negative)
1964
Box 2:31
Unidentified photographs (23 negatives)
undated
Box 2:32
Roses of 6148; Picture of Nell; San Jose old home (16 negatives)
1959
Box 2:33
San Jose; Jone and picnic of [illegible] (3 negatives)
undated
Box 2:34
Marysville and Rose Garden; Rose Davis (10 negatives)
undated
Box 2:35
Francis and her car (1 negative)
1961
Box 2:36
Honeymoon home; New York houses; flower garden; Piedmont (22 negatives)
undated
Box 2:37
Bakersfield chickens; San Diego Grand Lodge (9 negatives)
1954
Box 2:38
Cousin Osborne; F.D. and Emma Robins (4 negatives)
undated
Box 2:39
Backyard group (3 color negatives)
1964
Box 2:40
Neighbor's house (6 negatives)
1964
Box 2:41
Family picnic (12 negatives)
1956
Box 2:42
Aunt Katie, Audrey, June, and Caroline (5 negatives)
1963
Box 2:43
1958 reunion (10 negatives)
1958
Box 2:44
4th of July picnic (11 negatives)
undated
Box 2:45
Easter (8 negatives)
1959
Box 2:46
Faucet's picnic (7 negatives)
1961
Box 2:47
Fishing; New York trip; Edwin Faucett party; Ogden (17 negatives)
undated
Box 2:48
Audrey Gibson Robinson, 3 months and high school graduation
1915, 1933
Box 2:49
Frederick D. Robinson
1936