Strong (Harriet Williams Russell) Papers, 1815-1939, bulk 1860-1896

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Summary

Title:
Harriet Williams Russell Strong papers
Dates:
1815-1939, bulk 1860-1896
Abstract:
A collection of personal and professional material related to Harriet Williams Russell Strong, California businesswoman and social leader.
Extent:
7 Linear Feet (18 boxes, 2 folders)
Language:
Materials are in English.
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item]. Harriet Williams Russell Strong papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Background

Scope and content:

A collection of 1,072 items from 1815 to 1939, it consists of letters, manuscripts, documents, and two scrapbooks related to the lives and family of Harriet Williams Russell Strong and Charles Lyman Strong. There is material related to mining in Virginia City, Nevada, from 1860 to 1867 and Galena, Nevada, from 1877 to 1880; Hardyville and La Paz, Arizona; and California. There is some material related to the activities of Harriet Strong's father, Henry Pierrepont Russell, in the militia in Nevada; this material includes some references to Native Americans. Of note is one letter from Orion Clemens (brother of Mark Twain) appointing Samuel Andrew Russell to the Nevada Militia in 1863. The subject of California politics appears in the letters of Harriet's sister, Catherine Hundley, and her husband, Patrick Oglesby Hundley; he was a member of the California state assembly from 1860 to 1861 and elected superior court judge of Butte County, California, in 1879. There is also material related to the education of women on the mining frontier, as reflected in letters by Harriet Strong and her friends written from Miss Atkin's Young Ladies Seminary at Benicia, California. Later material relates to California horticulture, flood control, irrigation, and water conservation during the years that Harriet Strong managed the family's property in Whittier, California. The collection also contains some papers related to George Crockett Strong, Civil War general and brother of Charles Lyman Strong.

Biographical / historical:

Harriet Williams Russell Strong (1844-1926) was a California businesswoman and social leader. Harriet Strong was the daughter of Henry Pierrepont Russell, Adjutant General of Nevada. She received her education at Miss Mary Atkin's Young Ladies Seminary at Benicia, California, and later married Charles Lyman Strong, superintendent of the Gould and Curry Mine in Virginia City, Nevada. He later resigned from Gould and Curry and the family moved to Oakland, California. In the 1860s they purchased a portion of Pio Pico's ranch near Whittier, California, and, at the same time, Charles pursued other mining ventures in Arizona, California, and Nevada. After Charles took his own life in 1883, Harriet settled on the ranch in Whittier and took over the management of the property, devising new types of crops, business methods, and flood control. She became an active clubwoman in Los Angeles and was influential in both business and cultural circles.

Acquisition information:
Gift of Mrs. John R. Mage, August 1965.
Processing information:

Processed by Huntington Library Staff, circa 1970. In 2020, Gayle Richardson created the finding aid derived from a legacy summary report.

Arrangement:

Arranged chronologically.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Gayle Richardson
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2024-01-23 15:11:45 -0800 .

Access and use

Restrictions:

Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at the Huntington Library for more information.

Terms of access:

The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item]. Harriet Williams Russell Strong papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Location of this collection:
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108, US
Contact:
(626) 405-2191
reference@huntington.org
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