The collection chiefly focuses on correspondence, school records, and ephemera related to Winninette Arnold Noyes, the daughter of California geologist and petroleum engineer Ralph Arnold (1875-1961), as well as correspondence, diaries, and other papers and ephemera relating to the Arnold family of Southern California, their friends, and colleagues.

Ralph Arnold was born in Marshalltown, Iowa, on April 14, 1875. His father, Delos Arnold, was a lawyer and Iowa state senator who became interested in the study of fossils after the discovery of crinoids fossils in LeGrand, Iowa. The Arnolds moved to Pasadena, California, in 1886, and Ralph attended both Pasadena High School and Throop Polytechnic School (now Cal Tech) before receiving his B.A. in geology and mining from Stanford in 1899. He continued at Stanford to complete his M.A.(1900) and Ph.D. (1902) in geology and paleontology. In 1899 Arnold married Frankie Winninette Stokes. The couple had two daughters, Winninette, who married chemist Richard M. Noyes, and Elizabeth (McKee). Arnold worked for the U.S. Geological Survey from 1900 to 1909, and from 1903-1909 published a variety of paleontological articles. He was active in petroleum surveys throughout the United States, and organized the Petroleum Branch of the U.S. Bureau of Mines. In 1910 he left the USGS and spent 1911-1916 surveying petroleum resources in Trinidad and Venezuela, about which experiences he later published a book, The First Big Oil Hunt: Venezuela, 1911-1916. In the 1920s Arnold’s interests turned to politics, and he was actively involved in the Herbert Hoover presidential campaign. He remained committed to the California Academy of Sciences, the Cooper Ornithological Society, and the Sierra Club, among other organizations. Arnold died in Santa Barbara in 1961.

Approximately 540 items in 7 boxes and 3 oversize folders

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.

Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader Services.