Julia Cooley Altrocchi papers, 1848-1972, undated, bulk 1935-1965

Summary

Creators:

Altrocchi, Julia Cooley

Abstract:

The papers of Julia Cooley Altrocchi including correspondence, manuscripts, galley proofs, clippings, broadsides, publications and artifacts.

Extent:

13 cartons, 5 oversize boxes, 2 oversize folders, 3 cardfile boxes, 7 volumes (16.8 linear feet)

Language:

Collection materials are in Italian , English

Background

Scope and content:

The Julia Cooley Altrocchi papers provide researchers with insight into early-mid 20th century literary life in the San Francisco Bay Area and Cooley Altrocchi’s development as a writer.

Highlights of the papers include unpublished original manuscripts, poetry, lectures, notes, as well as numerous clippings, diaries and scrapbooks that chronicle Cooley Altrocchi’s life and career. The collection also contains correspondence with individuals such as Gertrude Atherton, Langston Hughes, Esther B. Darling, Hildegarde Hawthorne, Evelyn Wells and Albert Bender, among others. Included as well are materials and writings by and about Rudolph Altrocchi, photographs, research material, broadsides, artwork, publications and artifacts.

The collection spans the years 1848 to 1972, with the bulk concentrating on the years 1935 to 1965. It is divided into eight series: I. Correspondence, II. Writings, III. Subject Files, IV. Organizations, V. Clippings, VI. Photographs, VII. Scrapbooks and VIII. Artifacts.

Biographical / historical:

Julia Cooley Altrocchi (1893-1972) was an author and poet. A resident of Berkeley, California from 1928 until her death, Cooley Altrocchi was born in Seymour, Connecticut and raised in Chicago, Illinois. The daughter of Harlan Cooley and Nellie Wooster Cooley, Cooley Altrocchi attended University High School at the University of Chicago and graduated from Vassar College in 1914. She married Rudolph Altrocchi in 1920. The couple moved to the San Francisco Bay Area upon the latter’s appointment as Professor and Chair of the Italian Department at the University of California, Berkeley; after holding positions at Columbia University, University of Pennsylvania, Harvard University, the University of Chicago and Brown University.

Cooley Altrocchi published her first book of poetry, Poems of a Child, at the age of 11, and published a number of other monographs, many of which delved into the history of California and its people. Notable among these was Snow Covered Wagons (1936), a story-in-verse about the Donner Party expedition. Other works included Wolves Against the Moon (1940), The Old California Trail (1945), Black Boat (1945) The Spectacular San Franciscans (1949) and Girl with Ocelot and Other Poems (1964). Her writings also appeared in various literary journals and anthologies.

Cooley Altrocchi was active in Bay Area literary circles, and served as President of the California Writers Club from 1941 to 1943. She was also an honorary member of the Ina Coolbrith Circle, the San Francisco Browning Society and the Poets of the Pacific, and a member of the National Poetry Society of America and National League of PEN Women, among other organizations.

Acquisition information:

The Julia Cooley Altrocchi papers were given to the Bancroft Library by Julia Cooley Altrocchi from 1960-1972. Additions were made by Paul H. Altrocchi in 1973 and 1998.

Rules or conventions:

Finding Aid prepared using Describing Archives: a Content Standard

Location of this collection:

UC Berkeley, Bancroft Library

University of California, Berkeley, The Bancroft Library

Berkeley, CA 94720-6000, US

Contact:

510-642-6481

bancref-library@berkeley.edu

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