This collection contains a single scrapbook compiled by William Nicholas "Will" Connolly (1905-1987), containing photographs taken between 1905 and approximately 1955 and some newspaper clippings. The vast majority of the photos date from 1912 through 1922 and show Will Connolly, his family, and his friends. Most of the photographs were taken around his hometown of Petaluma and in other Sonoma County locations, including Rio Nido and the Russian River. The scrapbook also contains photos were taken in Marin County and feature images of Dillon Beach, Muir Woods, and Mount Tamalpais--including the Mount Tamalpais & Muir Woods Railway. In addition, the album contains clippings from 1925; several loose photos dated from 1943 to 1955; an undated and unidentified cabinet card; and a clipping from the San Francisco Sunday Examiner & Chronicle's California Living magazine of October 26, 1969.

William Nicholas "Will" Connolly was born on August 15, 1905, in San Rafael, California, to Anne Fisher McDonough Connolly (1864-1934) and Michael D'Arcy Connolly (1861–1917). He was one of five siblings, including his sisters, Mary Josephine Connolly (1893-1961) and Nora F. (Frances) Connolly (1895- ), and brothers John J. Connolly (1897-1960) and Michael R. (Raphael or Rafael M.) Connolly (1902-1932). While Will was a young child, his family moved from San Rafael to Bodega, California, and later, to Petaluma, where he attended the Petaluma schools and St. Vincent's academy. His father passed away in 1917 and by 1920, the family had relocated to San Francisco, where he lived for the rest of his life. After graduating from the University of San Francisco, he became a well-known sportswriter for the San Francisco Chronicle, and in 1939, married Margaret Agnes Malone (born in Portland, Oregon on November 27, 1910; died in San Francisco, California, on June 23, 2003). They had three children together--Edna Connolly Cole (1920-1990), Joan Frances Connolly Dixon (1935-1987), and William Phillip "Bro" Connolly (1943-2009). He died on June 22, 1987, in San Francisco, California, at the age of 81, and was buried in the Mount Olivet Catholic Cemetery in his hometown of San Rafael.

1 scrapbook

Collection does not circulate and may be photocopied or photographed by arrangement only.

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