Guide to the Sawtelle Family ScrapbookMC 77

Language of Material: English

Contributing Institution: Sacramento Public Library, Sacramento Room

Title: Sawtelle Family Scrapbook

Identifier/Call Number: MC 77

Physical Description: .25 Linear Feet 1 Archival Folder

Date (inclusive): 1919-1951

Abstract: A scrapbook comprised of newspaper clippings, handwriting and ephemera that describe the Sacramento life of the Sawtelle Family: Eugene, Grace and their daughter, Rosemary.

Eugene Norman Sawtelle was born in 1892 in San Francisco, California. At the age of two, his family moved to Sacramento where, during his youth, he spent hours boating on the Sacramento River and was integral in founding the city's yacht harbor. He was also an employee of the Tahoe Steamship Company, prior to starting a career as a draftsman and cartographer for the California State Division of Water Resources, a position he would hold for 27 years. In 1919, he married Sacramento-born Grace Elliot. The two eventually settled in the Land Park neighborhood of Sacramento. Grace gave birth to Rosemary Sawtelle in 1925. Rosemary attended Sacramento schools and after earning her degree from Sacramento State College, she went on to become a teacher at Bret Harte School. Eugene died in 1951, Grace died in 1968 and Rosemary died in 1996.

Newspaper clippings tracking wedding engagements, professional/academic accomplishments and social activities make up the bulk of the scrapbook. Of considerable note are several pieces of ephemera, including an invitation to a dinner honoring Charles A. Lindberg (Eugene's fourth cousin) at the Hotel Senator on September 17, 1927 and a proposed seal, created by Eugene, for California's Department of Public Works. Additional items of meaning include programs for Harkness School and Sacramento Grammar School. Issues of the Tea Bee for 1917/1918 for the Colfax School for the Tuberculosis may indicate that Eugene, actually an associate editor of the publication, suffered from tuberculosis during that stretch of time. Handwritten entries would show that contents were added by both Grace and Rosemary. Contents are not kept in a traditional scrapbook, but a spiral bound composition book, within which items are attached by blue and tape. Loose items exist and are held in Mylar sleeves.

[Identification of item], Sawtelle Family Scrapbook, MC 77, Sacramento Room, Sacramento Public Library, Sacramento, California.