McLean family papers, 1850-1950

View only results with digital items
Printable guide [HTML]
Request items

Online content

Online items

Summary

Title:
McLean family papers
Dates:
1850-1950
Abstract:
Papers of the McLean family of California. Includes correspondence and other papers of Edward McLean, his wife Sarah E. McLean, and three of the McLean children: Agnes, Fannie, and Francis. The bulk of the collection consists of Fannie McLean's correspondence, scrapbooks, subject files, and McAlpine Mine records.
Extent:
12 cartons, 6 volumes, 1 box, 1 oversize box and 1 oversize folder 17.5 linear feet 7 digital objects (7 images)
Language:
Collection materials are in English
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], McLean Family Papers, BANC MSS C-B 501, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley

Background

Scope and content:

Family correspondence; diaries; subject files; writings and speeches; scrapbooks; family financial records; real estate ledgers; and materials relating to the McAlpine Mining and Milling Company. The correspondence consists of letters exchanged between members of the McLean family as well as general correspondence. Among the family correspondence are letters from the 1850s and early 1860s between Edward and Sarah McLean and family in Connecticut (some of which document the couple's voyage to California in January of 1858). The bulk of the correspondence is that of Sarah, Agnes, and particularly Fannie McLean. Edward McLean's real estate ledgers document his real estate interests in Oakland, Berkeley, and the Los Angeles Area. Subject files, writings and speeches, and scrapbooks in the collection were created by Fannie McLean and document her work at Berkeley High School as well as her activities in the settlement movement, women's suffrage, and other progressive causes. The collection also includes a substantial number of files on the McAlpine Mining and Milling Company, including correspondence, bylaws, property records, legal records, stock certificates and ledgers, and bills and receipts.

Biographical / historical:

Edward McLean (1818-1886) was the eldest child of Francis McLean and Sarah Childs Berry of Connecticut. In 1843, Edward graduated from Yale University. He moved to San Francisco in 1849 or 1854, partly in search of relief from his chronic asthma, and found work in the insurance business. In 1856, Edward relocated across the bay to Oakland, where he served as one of the original trustees and site selectors of the College of California. He returned to Connecticut briefly in late 1857 to wed Sarah E. Chester. Until 1869, Edward and Sarah resided in Oakland and had five children: Agnes, Edward Jr., Fanny, Francis, and William. Edward continued to work in insurance and also became a real estate broker in the firm McLean and Hardy. He played an active role in organizing and managing a range of East Bay properties, including the Bay View Homestead and the Academy Homestead. Edward was also an original member of the Oakland Board of Education, which was founded in 1868. In 1869, Edward and Sarah McLean moved to Los Angeles, again seeking a more hospitable climate for his chronic illness. He became a senior member of the real estate firm of McLean, Rust and Wilson and later of the firm McLean and Wilson, a prominent real estate agency in nineteenth-century Los Angeles. In Southern California, Edward McLean organized the Santa Gertrudes Company, which had lands in Downey, Fulton, and Norwalk as well as the Mutual Orchard Association, which had lands in Pasadena. Youngest daughter Fannie W. McLean graduated from UC Berkeley in 1885 and was an English teacher and vice-principal at Berkeley High School for over 50 years starting in 1886. She was also director of the San Francisco Settlement Association, vice-president of the National College Equal Suffrage League, and vice-president of the California Civic League. Fannie McLean wrote articles and was an active speaker on a range of progressive issues, including education reform and women's suffrage. Fannie also became one of the directors of the McAlpine Mining and Milling Company in 1902. Eldest daughter Agnes McLean (1861-1944) was a graduate of Samuel Silas Curry's School of Expression in Boston and taught physical education and public speaking at public schools in Berkeley and Los Angeles.

Acquisition information:
The McLean family papers were purchased by The Bancroft Library from Roskie and Wallace in 1952-1953.
Processing information:

Processed by Lara Michels in 2012.

Arrangement:

Arranged to the folder level.

Accruals:

No additions are expected.

Physical location:
Many of the Bancroft Library collections are stored offsite and advance notice may be required for use. For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Rules or conventions:
Finding Aid prepared using Describing Archives: a Content Standard

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Finding Aid written by Lara Michels
Date Prepared:
© 2007
Date Encoded:
Machine-readable finding aid generated by GenX; markup validated by The Bancroft Library using CDL validation tools; Date of source: January 2016

Access and use

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the Head of Public Services, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 94720-6000. Consent is given on behalf of The Bancroft Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission from the copyright owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright owner. See: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/reference/permissions.html.

Restrictions also apply to digital representations of the original materials. Use of digital files is restricted to research and educational purposes.Materials in this collection may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). In addition, the reproduction of some materials may be restricted by terms of University of California gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions, privacy and publicity rights, licensing and trademarks. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.

All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from, or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the Head of Public Services, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley 94720-6000. See: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/reference/permissions.html.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], McLean Family Papers, BANC MSS C-B 501, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley

Location of this collection:
University of California, Berkeley, The Bancroft Library
Berkeley, CA 94720-6000, US
Contact:
510-642-6481
bancref-library@berkeley.edu
Website