Finding Aid to the Louise Sorbier Papers, 1854-1956,
MS 2031
Finding aid prepared by California Historical Society staff; revised by
Tanya Hollis and Marie Dunlap in 2010.
California Historical Society
678 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA 94105
415-357-1848
reference@calhist.org
2001, 2010
Title: Louise Sorbier papers
Date (inclusive): 1854-1956
Collection Number: MS 2031
Creator:
Sorbier, Louise, 1847-1929
Physical Description:
7 boxes, 1 flat box
(4.5 Linear feet)
Repository:
California Historical Society
678 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA, 94105
415-357-1848
reference@calhist.org
URL: http://www.californiahistoricalsociety.org/
Physical Location: Collection is stored onsite.
Language of Materials: Collection materials are in English.
Abstract: Comprises correspondence, organizational records,
legal documents, bound volumes, newspaper clippings, and ephemera documenting the
personal life and official activities of San Francisco suffragist and civic leader
Louise Sorbier. The bulk of the collection consists of correspondence, most of which
is addressed to Louise Sorbier. Also contains scattered records of women's and civic
improvement organizations in which Sorbier participated, including the Women's
Educational and Industrial Union, Woman's Congress Association of the Pacific Coast,
California Suffrage Amendment Campaign Association, Arguello Boulevard Improvement
Club, and Cemetery Beautifying and Anti-Removal Association; correspondence
addressed to Cecile Sorbier in her role as president of the San Francisco Club; a
scrapbook of newspaper clippings about the women's suffrage movement in San
Francisco in the 1890s; and newspaper clippings, mainly documenting the women's
suffrage and cemetery anti-removal campaigns in San Francisco.
Information for Researchers
Access
Publication Rights
Copyright has not been assigned to the California Historical Society. All
requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted
in writing to the Director of Research Collections. Permission for publication
is given on behalf of the California Historical Society 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.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Louise Sorbier Papers, MS 2031. California Historical
Society.
Arrangement
Arranged in three series: Series 1: Papers, 1854-1956; Series 2: Volumes,
1888-1927; Series 3: Newspaper Clippings, 1893-1928. The Papers and Newspaper
Clippings series are arranged in chronological order.
Separated Materials
Sorbier family photographs have been transferred to the Photography Collection,
shelved in the Portraits Collection.
Biographical Information
Louise Sorbier, née Bacon, was born in 1847 in Paris. She immigrated to San Francisco
with her parents as a child. She had three daughters with her husband, Jules
Sorbier: Josephine Sorbier (1873-1899), Cecile Sorbier (1875-1952), and Marie
Sorbier (1877-1947). She and Jules Sorbier divorced in 1877.
Louise Sorbier was a prominent organizer and member of many women's and civic
improvement organizations in San Francisco in the late nineteenth and early
twentieth centuries. She served as president of the Women's Educational and
Industrial Union, an organization founded in 1891 to provide women with educational
opportunities and vocational training. At the same time, she was active in the
women's suffrage movement of the 1890s, serving as president of the Eleventh
Amendment Club, and treasurer of the Woman's Congress Association of the Pacific
Coast, the California State Suffrage Constitutional Amendment Association, and the
Women's Suffrage Association. As an officer of these organizations, Sorbier
advocated the amendment of the state constitution to guarantee women's suffrage in
California.
In the 1900s, 1910s, and 1920s, Louise Sorbier was active in various civic
improvement efforts in San Francisco, including and prominently, the cemetery
anti-removal movement. She served as director of the Outdoor Art League, president
of the Cemetery Beautifying and Anti-Removal Association, and vice president of the
Arguello Boulevard Improvement Club. Her daughter Cecile followed in her footsteps,
serving as president of the San Francisco Club and Memorial Museum, Golden Gate Park
Endowment Committee, beginning around 1916. Louise Sorbier died in 1929.
Scope and Contents
This collection comprises correspondence, organizational records, legal documents,
bound volumes, newspaper clippings, and ephemera documenting the personal life and
official activities of San Francisco suffragist and civic leader Louise Sorbier.
Papers (1854-1956) mainly consist of correspondence addressed to Louise Sorbier.
Also included are scattered records of women's and civic organizations in which
Louise Sorbier participated, including the Women's Educational and Industrial Union,
Woman's Congress Association of the Pacific Coast, California Suffrage Amendment
Campaign Association, Arguello Boulevard Improvement Club, and Cemetery Beautifying
and Anti-Removal Association; as well as correspondence addressed to Cecile Sorbier
in her role as president of the San Francisco Club; Sorbier family wills; other
legal documents; and ephemera. Volumes (1888-1927) include a scrapbook of newspaper
clippings documenting the women's suffrage movement and its leaders in San Francisco
in the 1890s; the constitution and minutes of the Arguello Boulevard Improvement
Club; and five volumes of Women's Educational and Industrial Union records,
including three ledgers, a membership book, and the Ladies' Finance Committee
address book. Newspaper clippings (1893-1928), taken from various San Francisco
newspapers, mainly document the women's suffrage and cemetery anti-removal campaigns
in San Francisco, including the activities of the Woman's Congress, California State
Suffrage Constitutional Amendment Club, Eleventh Amendment Club, Women's Suffrage
Association, and Cemetery Beautifying and Anti-Removal Association.
Index
This index is derived from a list of added entries in the legacy finding aid for the
Louise Sorbier papers. Names and subject headings are unauthorized. Dates, when
available, indicate the dates of the materials in which names or topics are
referenced.
Alemany, Joseph Sadoc
July 21, 1879, October 17, 1882
Arguello Boulevard Improvement Club, San Francisco
1909-1927
California Patriotic League, San Francisco
California State Woman Suffrage Educational Association
Cameron, George Toland
1925-1926
Cameron, Helen (DeYoung)
1921, 1928
Catholic Church, San Francisco
Cemetery Beautifying and Anti-Removal Association, San
Francisco
1915-
Cemetery Protective Organization, San Francisco
Church and social problems - Catholic Church
Democratic Party, San Francisco
1932
DeYoung, Michael Henri
1921-1924
DeYoung Museum, San Francisco
1921-1928
French in San Francisco
French Mutual Benevolent Society, San Francisco
1877
Gayley, Charles Mills
October 1, 1901
Girls High School, San Francisco
1895
Gleeson, Richard A.
Gordon, Laura deForce, ALS
1895 (Folder 3)
Hibernia Savings and Loan Society, San Francisco
December 29, 1877
Huntington, Collis P.
October 17, 1898
Japanese in San Francisco
1914
Johnson, Hiram W.
September 12, 1923
Martinache, N.J.
1877
Mitchell, Ruth Comfort
1920
Montgomery, George
1879-1900
Native Daughters of the Golden West, Grand Parlor
1916
Odd Fellows Cemetery Association, San Francisco
1907-1915
Patigian, Haig
October 11, 1924
Ramm, Charles A.
September 22, 1899
Regan, Dora
July 21, 1879, October 17, 1882
Richardson, Friend W.
September 22, 1926
Richmond District, San Francisco
1909-1927
Robinson, Elmer
1948
Rolph, James
March 14, 1923, January 30, 1926, January 7, 1926
Roullier, Albert
1931
Roullier, Emile Victor
1901
Samuels, D. Dry Goods, San Francisco
1874
San Francisco Club
San Francisco Savings Union
1882
Shaw, Anna Howard
Folder 25
Shortridge, Samuel M.
December 2, 1920
Sorbier, Cecile Marie
Sorbier, Josephine Marie
Sorbier, Jules Edmond
Tourny, George
1925-1926
Van Wyck and Cushing
1874
Women's Congress Association, San Francisco
1896
Women's Educational and Industrial Union
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
library's online public access catalog.
Sorbier, Cecile Marie, 1875-1952
Societies--California--San Francisco.
Women civic leaders--California--San Francisco.
Women--California--San Francisco.
Women--Societies and clubs.
Women--Suffrage.
Clippings.
Scrapbooks.
Administrative Information
Acquisition Information
Gift of the Cecile M. Sorbier Estate through Mr. George H. Cabaniss, Jr. November
1952.
Accruals
No additions are expected.
Processing Information
Processed by California Historical Society staff; additions processed by Marie
Dunlap in 2010.
Series 1:
Papers
1854-1956
Extent:
5.0 boxes
Scope and Contents
Documents the personal lives and civic activities of Louise Sorbier and her
daughter Cecile Sorbier. Includes correspondence, mostly addressed to Louise
Sorbier; scattered records of women's and civic organizations in which
Louise and Cecile Sorbier participated; legal documents; and ephemera.
Papers spanning the years 1854 to 1899 include letters to Louise Sorbier, in
English and French, as well as scattered records of the Women's Educational
and Industrial Union, Woman's Congress Association of the Pacific Coast, and
California Suffrage Amendment Campaign Association.
Papers spanning the years 1900 to 1921 include letters to Louise and Cecile
Sorbier, as well as scattered records of the Arguello Boulevard Improvement
Association and Cemetery Beautification and Anti-Removal Association. The
bulk of the correspondence addressed to Cecile Sorbier concerns her work as
president of the San Francisco Club and Memorial Museum, Golden Gate Park
Endowment Committee.
Legal documents include the wills of Louise Sorbier and her daughters, Cecile
and Marie Sorbier.
Box 1, Folder 2
1890-1894
Scope and Contents
Includes the annual report of the Women's Educational and Industrial
Union, 1888-1889, and the constitution and by-laws of the Woman's
Congress Association of the Pacific, 1894.
Box 1, Folder 4
1896-1897
Scope and Contents
Includes annual reports of the Women's Educational and Industrial Union,
1896-1897 and 1897-1898.
Box 1, Folder 4A
Women's Suffrage Vote
1896
Box 2, Folder 9
1911
Scope and Contents
Includes minutes of the Depositors Mutual Aid and No Fee Association of
the California Safe Deposit and Trust Company.
Box 2, Folder 12
1913 January-March
Scope and Contents
Includes handwritten copy of the constitution of the Cemetery Protective
Association and Handbook of the California Legislature.
Box 3, Folder 14
1914 January-July
Scope and Contents
Includes report of the Committee appointed by the Conference of Cemetery
Protectors to Interview Mayor Rolph.
Box 3, Folder 16
1915 January-April
Scope and Contents
Includes Handbook of the California Legislature.
Box 4, Folder 19
1917
Scope and Contents
Includes minutes of the Cemetery Protective Association.
Box 5, Folder 24
Family wills
1926-1956
Scope and Contents
Includes the wills of Christine Breon (1926), Louise Sorbier (1928),
Gaston Bacon(1929), and Cecile Sorbier (1949).
Series 2:
Volumes
1888-1927
Extent:
10.0 volumes
Scope and Contents
Comprises ten bound volumes of notes, newspaper clippings, and records
documenting Louise Sorbier's personal life and official activities. Volume
one, a scrapbook of clippings from various San Francisco newspapers,
includes articles about the Women's Educational and Industrial Union,
Woman's Congress, and other women's suffrage organizations in San Francisco
and California in the 1890s. Also included are biographical sketches and
portraits of Sorbier herself, Anna H. Shaw, Sarah B. Cooper, Susan B.
Anthony, Charlotte Perkins Stetson, and other prominent suffragists. Volume
two comprises the constitution and minutes of the Arguello Boulevard
Improvement Club (formerly the First Avenue Improvement Club), of which
Sorbier served as vice president. Volumes three, four, and five consist of
Sorbier's calligraphy and French notebook, address book, and personal
expenses and address book, respectively. Volumes six, seven, eight, nine,
and ten are records of the Women's Educational and Industrial Union, of
which Sorbier served as president. These include three ledgers (volumes six,
seven, and eight): educational courses and union accounts, 1890-1902, which
lists the organization's courses and instructors; lunch room and cooking
school accounts, 1889-1892; and the treasurer's ledger, 1888-1902. Volumes
nine and ten are the membership book and Ladies Finance Committee address
book of the Women's Educational and Industrial Union, respectively.
Oversize Box 1
Scrapbook of newspaper clippings
1893-1897
Scope and Contents
Includes a detailed index of women's names found in Louise Sorbier's
scrapbook.
Processing Information
Pages from Louise Sorbier's scrapbook have been removed from their
original binding and encapsulated in mylar.
Box 6, Folder 1
Arguello Boulevard Improvement Club Constitution and
Minutes
1909-1927
Box 6, Folder 2
Calligraphy and French notes
undated
Box 6, Folder 4
Personal expenses and address book
1874
Subseries 2.1:
Women's Educational and Industrial Union records
1894-1902
Box 6, Folder 5
Ledgers
1888-1902
Extent:
3.0 volumes
Scope and Contents
Ledgers include accounts of classes taught by the Women's Educational
and Industrial Union.
Box 6, Folder 6
Membership book
1894-1899
Box 6, Folder 7
Ladies Finance Committee address book
undated
Series 3:
Newspaper Clippings
1893-1928
Bulk, 1898-1921
Extent:
1.0 box
Scope and Contents
Taken from the San Francisco
Call,
Chronicle,
Examiner,
Monitor,
Post,
Daily News,
Fillmore
District News
,
Mission Enterprise,
and other San Francisco newspapers, clippings in this series document the
activities of many of the women's suffrage and civic improvement
organizations in which Louise Sorbier participated, including and
prominently, the Cemetery Beautifying and Anti-Removal Association.
Newspaper clippings published between 1893 and 1898 primarily concern the
women's suffrage movement in San Francisco, including the activities of the
Woman's Congress, California State Suffrage Constitutional Amendment Club,
Eleventh Amendment Club, and Women's Suffrage Association. Also included are
clippings about Susan B. Anthony, Anna Shaw, and P.C. Yorke ("Father
Yorke").
Newspaper clippings published between 1912 and 1921 primarily concern
cemetery anti-removal efforts in San Francisco, especially the activities of
the Cemetery Beautifying and Anti-Removal Association, founded in 1915 with
Sorbier as president. Also included are clippings about Mount Saint Joseph's
Orphanage (1911), the California Safe Deposit and Trust lawsuit (1912), and
the Outdoor Art League (1904-1916).
Box 7, Folder 3
Outdoor Art League
1904-1916
