Brownie Mary Collection, 1981-2001

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Summary

Creators:
Rathbun, Mary (Mary Jane), 1922-1999
Abstract:
Contains news clippings, flyers, and brochures about Rathbun, the cannabis brownies she served to people with AIDS and other serious illnesses, and the medical marijuana legalization movement; awards, some photographs, and items including her signature vest.
Extent:
3 boxes, 2 oversized flat boxes, 1 framed art piece (2.1 cubic feet)
Language:
Collection materials are in English.
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Brownie Mary Collection (SFH 379), San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library.

Background

Scope and content:

Collection has news clippings, flyers, and brochures about Rathbun, her cannabis brownies, and the medical marijuana legalization movement; awards, some photographs, and items including her signature vest. A copy of her cookbook and some handwritten cookie recipes are included; the brownie recipe is not included. Records of the San Francisco Cannabis Buyers Club are not included.

Biographical / historical:

Mary Jane Rathbun, popularly known as Brownie Mary, was a medical marijuana activist. Born in 1922, she arrived in San Francisco from Minnesota in the late 1940s. She was briefly married and had a daughter who died in a vehicle accident in 1974. She worked as a waitress and began a side cottage business of selling cannabis brownies, baking them in her kitchen, posting flyers for "magically delicious...original recipe brownies," and selling them from a basket in her Castro neighborhood. Rathbun was described as grandmotherly, and she wore a marijuana-themed vest and pendant. With no grandchildren of her own, she called the patients with AIDS that she befriended her "adopted kids." She was twice arrested in San Francisco for possession, receiving community service. This led to volunteering with the Shanti Project, launching her career as an AIDS activist. She volunteered with and delivered her special brownies to San Francisco General Hospital's Ward 86, the AIDS outpatient clinic. Rathbun was arrested a third time in Sonoma County in 1992; the charges were dropped.

In 1991, San Franciscan's passed Proposition P, which urged state lawmakers to legalize use of medical marijuana. California voters passed Proposition 215, the Compassionate Use Act, in 1996. Rathbun appeared on the cover of Newsweek (Nov. 1,1993), and she co-wrote a book with Dennis Peron, founder of the San Francisco Cannabis Buyers Club. In 1997, she and Peron were honored as Grand Marshals of the San Francisco Gay Pride Parade. Mayor Willie L. Brown proclaimed May 2, 1999 as Brownie Mary Day, honoring her for her years of compassionate care of people suffering from illness. Rathbun died of a heart attack at age 77 in 1999.

Acquisition information:
Collection received in 3 accessions, from 2000 to 2001. Bulk of collection was collected by Mary Rathbun, turned over to Beth Moore, and donated by Karen Masonheimer. Shirt and vest, framed proclamation, oversized photograph, and carved wooden keepsake box with trinkets donated by Larry W. Bittner as executor of the estate of Mary Rathbun. Charcoal portrait and stuffed bear donated by Beverly Baber.
Processing information:

Tami J. Suzuki

Arrangement:

Organized alphabetically.

Physical location:
The collection is stored on site.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

The collection is available for use during San Francisco History Center hours, with photographs available during Photo Desk hours. Collections that are stored off site should be requested 48 hours in advance.

Terms of access:

All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the City Archivist. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the San Francisco Public Library as the owner of the physical items.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Brownie Mary Collection (SFH 379), San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library.

Location of this collection:
San Francisco Public Library
100 Larkin Street
San Francisco, CA 94102, US
Contact:
(415) 557-4567
sfhistory@sfpl.org
Website