Correspondence, manuscript, artwork and photographs related to Olivia Converse's writings about Mexican plants.

Olivia Poole Long Converse was born November 23, 1898. She was the daughter of Louis Long. According to her friend Isabel Kelly, she was raised in California and attended UC Berkeley. She married George P. Converse, grandson of Edmund Cogswell Converse, former president of U.S. Steel, in 1922 and they were subsequently divorced in 1928. She lived part time in Santa Barbara and also spent much of her time in Valle de Bravo, a town located on a large lake, about two hours from Mexico City. While in Mexico, she worked on a book on garden plants of Mexico writing the text and making original drawings of about 70 plants she hoped to describe. Her yearly stays in Mexico were interrupted by the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941, and she was unable to go back until 1944 to resume work on her book.

4 linear feet 5 boxes

Copyright has not been assigned to the Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration, UC Santa Barbara. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Director. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Cheadle Center 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 reader.

Collection is open for research.