Finding Aid to the Theodora Kroeber Papers, 1881-1983 (bulk
1960-1979)
Finding Aid written by Lori Hines
The Bancroft Library
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-6000
Phone: (510) 642-6481
Fax: (510) 642-7589
Email: bancref@library.berkeley.edu
URL: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/
© 2001, 2010
The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Finding Aid to the Theodora Kroeber Papers, 1881-1983 (bulk
1960-1979)
Collection number: BANC MSS 69/145 c
The Bancroft Library
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-6000
Phone: (510) 642-6481
Fax: (510) 642-7589
Email: bancref@library.berkeley.edu
URL: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/
- Finding Aid Author(s):
- Finding Aid written by Lori Hines
- Finding Aid Encoded By:
- GenX
© 2010 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Collection Summary
Collection Title: Theodora Kroeber papers
Date (inclusive): 1881-1983
Date (bulk): 1960-1979
Collection Number: BANC MSS 69/145 c
Creator:
Kroeber, Theodora
Extent:
Number of containers: 16 boxes, 1 oversize folder.
Linear feet: 6.45
Repository: The Bancroft Library.
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-6000
Phone: (510) 642-6481
Fax: (510) 642-7589
Email: bancref@library.berkeley.edu
URL: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/
Abstract: Contains correspondence, both personal and professional, and
materials related to the publication of her writings. Also includes biographical materials
and a small amount of Kracaw family papers.
Languages Represented: Collection materials are in English
Physical Location: Many of the Bancroft Library collections are stored offsite
and advance notice may be required for use. For current information on the location of these
materials, please consult the library's online catalog.
Information for Researchers
Access
Collection is NOT open for research. Anyone desiring to consult the papers must first
obtain written permission from Karl Kroeber, representing the Kroeber family. This
restriction, unless previously abrogated or modified, will terminate on December 31, 2010,
at which time the papers will be free of all restrictions of access.
Publication Rights
Materials in this collection may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17,
U.S.C.). In addition, the reproduction of some materials may be restricted by terms of
University of California gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions, privacy and
publicity rights, licensing and trademarks. Transmission or reproduction of materials
protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of
the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited
without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively
with the user.
All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from, or otherwise use collection materials
must be submitted in writing to the Head of Public Services, The Bancroft Library,
University of California, Berkeley 94720-6000. See:
http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/reference/permissions.html .
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Theodora Kroeber Papers, BANC MSS 69/145 c, The Bancroft
Library, University of California, Berkeley
Alternate Forms Available
Copy of Saxton Pope correspondence (Box 3, 1 folder); Research materials (Box 10, Folders
1-11, 14, 21-22); Correspondence: Fan Mail 1961-1964 (Box 11, folders 1-5) : also
available on microfilm with call number BANC FILM 2811
Related Collections
A. L. Kroeber Papers, BANC FILM 2049
Kroeber Family Papers, BANC MSS 82/132c
Kroeber Family Pictorial Works, BANC PIC 1970.051--PIC, BANC PIC 1978.128--PIC,
BANC PIC 1980.013-.015-PIC
Timeless Woman: Writer and Interpreter of the California Indian
World,
oral history transcript, BANC MSS 83/27 c.
Separated Material
Photographs have been transferred to Pictorial Collections of The Bancroft Library.
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
library's online public access catalog
Brower, David Ross,
1912-2000--Correspondence
Brown, Jerry, 1938-
--Correspondence
Cody, Fred,
1916-1983--Correspondence
Heizer, Robert Fleming, 1915-
--Correspondence
Ishi, d. 1916
Kracaw family--Archives
Kroeber, A. L. (Alfred Louis),
1876-1960
Kroeber, Theodora--Archives
Le Guin, Ursula K., 1929-
--Correspondence
Pope, Saxton T. (Saxton Temple),
1875-1926
Robbins, Ruth--Correspondence
Singer, Milton
B.--Correspondence
Valory, Dale--Correspondence
Waterman, T. T. (Thomas Talbot),
b. 1885
Anthropologists
Authors, American--California--20th century
Publishers and publishing--History--20th
century
Administrative Information
Acquisition Information
The Theodora Kroeber Papers were given to The Bancroft Library by Theodora Kroeber
beginning in June 1969. Additions were made in February and April 1972. The remainder of
her papers were donated after her death in 1979, by her third husband, John Quinn, and her
daughter, Ursula K. Le Guin, from 1979 to 1997.
Processing Information
Collection processed by Lori Hines.
Biographical Information
Theodora Kroeber was born Theodora Covel Kracaw in Denver, Colorado on March 24, 1897. She
attended the University of California, Berkeley, and received two degrees in psychology, a
B.A. in 1919, followed by an M.A. in 1920.
In July 1921, she married Clifton Spencer Brown in Berkeley. The birth of two children,
Theodore and Clifton B., soon followed. Clifton S. Brown died in October, 1923. At the
encouragement of her mother-in law, Theodora Kroeber went back to U.C. Berkeley to pursue
graduate work in anthropology. It was at this time she met and studied under Alfred Louis
Kroeber. In March, 1926, they were married, and she once again settled down to family life,
and gave birth to two more children, Karl and Ursula.
This was by no means the end to her intellectual life. She was still immersed in the
academic community of Berkeley, as she entertained A. L. Kroeber's colleagues and
students and Native Americans who came to their home. She accompanied Alfred on his field
trips to Peru (1928-1929 and 1942), and to the Yurok and Mohave country (1930-1958).
After her children had grown, she used the information she had gathered on her travels and
from her associations with A. L. Kroeber's colleagues to write
The Inland
Whale
. Published in 1959, it was an academic success. Although she had written a
few articles previously, this was the true beginning of her writing career--at the age of
62. She followed two years later with the publication of
Ishi in Two Worlds
in 1961. The sources she drew from were Ishi's "white men and women
friends," one of whom was her husband, A. L. Kroeber. Unfortunately, he was not
able to see this project completed. He died in 1960, a year before the book was published.
Soon after its publication,
Ishi in Two Worlds became a best seller. Theodora
Kroeber was brought to the public's attention and forced into the limelight. Even
though she had never met the man, she was now the authority on this new American hero.
Letters, fan mail and requests for appearances came pouring in from people who were touched
by the story of Ishi.
Her writing career flourished and she spent the next 20 years of her life writing and
publishing stories, poetry, novels and articles, including "Poem for the
Living," which was another popular success, and
Alfred Kroeber, A Personal
Configuration
, a biography of her late husband. She also oversaw the publication
of
Yurok Myths and
Karok Myths, two unpublished works by A. L.
Kroeber.
In December, 1970, she married once again, this time to a man 40 years her junior. John
Harrison had served as one of her editors for
Almost Ancestors.
In 1977, Governor Jerry Brown asked her to fill an unexpired term on the University of
California Board of Regents, and she accepted. Serving in this position was too exhausting
for her, so less than a year after being appointed, she resigned. She died of cancer in her
Berkeley home on July 4, 1979.
Scope and Content
The Theodora Kroeber Papers contain correspondence, both personal and professional, and
materials related to the publication of her writings. Also includes biographical materials
and a small amount of Kracaw family papers.
As a faculty wife, she was immersed in the academic community, well known and respected in
the civic community, and in contact with the leaders of each. Anthropologists, including
Robert Fleming Heizer, Milton B. Singer and Dale Valory, scientist Robert J. Oppenheimer (a
short note), politician Jerry Brown, environmentalist David Ross Brower, bookseller Fred
Cody, and illustrator Ruth (Robbins) Schein are among her correspondents. Even though there
is no correspondence among Theodora Kroeber, T. T. Waterman and Saxton T. Pope, these two
anthropologists are referred to in the correspondence and in other parts of the collection.
Another notable remembrance is in correspondence from James Rosenberg, who wrote of knowing
A. L. Kroeber when they were young.
Theodora Kroeber's charming character emerges in the notes and comments she
pencilled on letters. Her wit is ever present, even as she off-handedly apologizes for being
a poor typist. Many of her business letters are quite personal, because often her business
dealings were with friends or people she knew well. This is clear in her correspondence with
David Hales, one of her editors at the University of California Press. In a note, Theodora
Kroeber stated that, "During a period of ten years or so he followed closely
[Theodora Kroeber's] writing process and often came through with quaint suggestions
which she found helpful." She was very open and gracious in her comments, as shown
in her reaction to Patrick McCoy's letter about the student occupation of
University of California, Berkeley campus in 1967, in her comments about the Board on
Admissions and Relations with Schools (BOARS) Proposal as a U.C. Regent, and even in a
letter about unleashed dogs on campus.
Her correspondence also offers a glimpse into the publishing world. It shows her
frustrations with copyright and permissions when having her work translated into other
languages, and the hold that publishers have over the will of the writer. Most important is
the correspondence with her daughter, the novelist and poet Ursula K. Le Guin, when mother
and daughter comment back and forth about each other's work.
Theodora Kroeber is most famous for portraying the life of Ishi, the California Indian who
stumbled into "civilization" in 1911. Although she never met him, she knew
many of the people who knew him. Very few of her research materials are found here. But as a
result of the book's publication, people who had first-hand accounts contacted her
to tell their stories. These give additional clues regarding this man, who so many people
wanted to know more about.
In his foreward to
A Woman Writes: A Posthumous Autobiography of Theodora Kroeber
Quinn
, John Quinn wrote that, "Theodora destroyed by fire what she was
unwilling to share."
This sums up the collection. These papers focus on a short span of the last 20 years of her
life. There are many holes, and very little of her research materials and comparatively few
of her manuscripts are found here. What remains is correspondence, the finished writings and
the essence of Theodora Kroeber herself.
Series 1:
Correspondence.
1923-1979.
Physical Description: Boxes 1-4; Oversize folder 1
Arrangement
Arranged alphabetically, with the incoming and outgoing letters interfiled. Unidentified correspondents are at the end of
the alphabetical subseries.
Content/Description
This series is divided into two subseries: General and Condolences, with the bulk dating from 1960 to 1979. The General letters
are mostly personal, representing relationships with family, friends, academics and colleagues, but also include correspondence
with publishers or agents when general in nature, or when several works are discussed. Correspondence regarding a specific
publication is filed under the name of the publication in the Writings series.
Professional correspondents of note include David Hales (he is also found under University of California Press), regarding
Sierra Club,
Almost Ancestors and Ishi; Dale Valory, regarding A. L. Kroeber; Indiana University Press, regarding
Inland Whale; University of California, Berkeley Libraries and the Robert H. Lowie Museum of Anthropology (now the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum
of Anthropology) regarding the donation and use of A. L. Kroeber Papers; and the University of California Press, regarding
Theodora Kroeber and A. L. Kroeber's publications.
The bulk of her personal correspondence is with her children, Theodore, Clifton and Karl Kroeber and Ursula K. Le Guin; with
A. L. Kroeber's sister, Elsbeth Kroeber; and with her friends, Ruth Chrisman Aren [Gannett] (which is also the earliest correspondence),
and Lita Osmundsen, which is both personal and professional in nature.
Condolences include letters and telegrams Theodora Kroeber received on the death of her second husband, A. L. Kroeber, and
letters to John Quinn on the death of Theodora Kroeber. Of note are the remembrances many colleagues at the University of
California and universities worldwide wrote about A. L. Kroeber.
box 1, folder 1-2
Arens, Ruth Chrisman.
1923-1926
Content/Description
(see also Gannett, Ruth Chrisman)
box 1, folder 4
Bliven, Bruce and Rosie.
1962-1976
box 1, folder 5
Brower, Anne and David Ross.
1962-1979
box 1, folder 7
Cameron, Eleanor.
1971-1972
box 1, folder 8
Caughey, John Walton and LaRee.
1962-1978
box 1, folder 9
Chandler, Tertius.
1961-1977
box 1, folder 12
Collier, Donald.
1971-1972
box 1, folder 13
Conklin, Harold C.
1961-1968
box 1, folder 14
Cortes, Margaret.
1964-1971
box 1, folder 16
Cowell, Olive Thomson.
1972-1976
box 1, folder 20
Darnell, Regna.
1968-1971
box 1, folder 21
Dobson, Jerome and Bridget.
1971
box 1, folder 22
Driver, Harold E.
1961-1973
box 1, folder 23
Du Bois, Cora Alice.
1970-1972
box 1, folder 25
Ediciones Guadarrama, S. L.
1968-1969
box 1, folder 27
Foss, Charlotte Elizabeth.
1977-1979
box 1, folder 28
Freilich, Morris.
1970-1971
box 2, folder 1
Gannett, Lewis and Ruth Chrisman.
1959-1969
Content/Description
(see also Arens, Ruth Chrisman)
box 2, folder 6
Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
1962-1970
box 2, folder 7
Harold Matson Company, Inc.
1973-1974
box 2, folder 8
Heath, Barbara Honeyman.
1965-1966
box 2, folder 9
Heizer, Robert Fleming.
1956-1976
box 2, folder 10
Hogan, William and Phyllis.
1966-1977
box 2, folder 13
Indiana University. Press.
1962-1970
box 2, folder 14
I - J Miscellany.
1967-1974
box 2, folder 15
Kantor, J. R. K.
1970-1979
box 2, folder 16
Kessel, Harlan.
1971-1973
box 2, folder 17
Kluckhohn, Clyde.
1948-1955
box 2, folder 18
Kroeber Anthropological Society.
1967-1976
box 2, folder 19
Kroeber, Clifton B.
1955-1976
box 2, folder 20
Kroeber, Elsbeth.
1943-1962,
undated
box 2, folder 22
Kroeber, Theodore.
1974-1977
box 2, folder 24
La Prade, Z. H.
1969-1974
box 2, folder 25
Lavender, David Sievert.
1963-1966
box 2, folder 26
Le Guin, Ursula K.
1962-1979
box 3, folder 1
Montagu, Ashley.
1967-1970
box 3, folder 6
Osmundsen, Lita.
1960-1974
box 3, folder 8
Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology
[formerly the Robert H. Lowie Museum of Anthropology].
1960-1975
box 3, folder 9
Pitkin, Harvey.
1968-1978
box 3, folder 10
Pope, Saxton, Jr.
1961-1966
box 3, folder 11
Powdermaker, Hortense.
1969
box 3, folder 14
Rosenberg, James.
1955-1970
box 3, folder 15
Rowe, John Howland.
1961-1963
box 3, folder 18
Schein, Ruth and Herman.
1964-1976
box 3, folder 19
Seger, Imogen [Coulborn].
1966-1977
box 3, folder 22
Singer, Milton B.
1962-1964
box 3, folder 23
Stern, Daphne Darling.
1970
box 3, folder 24
Steward, Julian Haynes.
1960-1972
box 3, folder 26
Thoresen, Timothy H. H.
1972
box 3, folder 27
Tonine, Bianca.
1969-1978
box 4, folder 1
University of California.
1960-1977
box 4, folder 2
University of California, Berkeley. Library.
1960-1979
Content/Description
(including The Bancroft Library and the George and Mary Foster Anthropology Library)
box 4, folder 3-4
University of California Press.
1960-1978
box 4, folder 7
V - W Miscellany.
1962-1979
box 4, folder 8
Y - Z Miscellany.
1962-1978
box 4, folder 9
Unidentified.
1969-1979,
undated
box 4, folder 10-13
Upon the death of A. L. Kroeber.
1960-1972
box 4, folder 14-17
Upon the death of Theodora Kroeber.
1979
Series 2:
Writings.
1953-1983.
Physical Description: Boxes 5-9; Oversize folder 1
Arrangement
Arranged first by the type of work, then alphabetically by title.
Content/Description
The Writings series is divided into four subseries: Books, Articles and Book Reviews, Poetry, and Other Writings. These writings
are mostly published works, with some unpublished or abandoned projects. The books on Ishi are in their own series. The folders
relating to each work contain some or all of the following: correspondence with publisher/editorial correspondence (some regarding
rights and reproductions), typescripts, galleys, newsclippings, reviews, promotional material, and congratulatory letters.
There are comparatively few manuscripts, and very few research materials or notes.
box 5, folder 1-8
Alfred Kroeber: A Personal Configuration .
1965-1978,
undated
Content/Description
correspondence, annotated typescript, author's corrections, reviews
box 5, folder 9-11
Almost Ancestors: The First Californians .
1966-1970,
undated
Content/Description
correspondence, promotional material, reviews
box 6, folder 1-5
Carrousel .
1974-1978
Content/Description
correspondence, annotated typescripts, unbound printer's copy, reviews
box 6, folder 5-7
Cooking for Sex: From Soup to Bed (The Soup Primer) .
1973-1974,
undated
Content/Description
[unpublished] correspondence, annotated typescript
box 6, folder 8
Drawn From Life .
1977-1978
Content/Description
correspondence, reviews
box 6, folder 9-14
Grand Junction [unpublished novel].
1972-1973
Content/Description
correspondence, notes, photographs of miner's tombstone, typescript
box 7, folder 1
A Green Christmas .
1967-1968
Content/Description
correspondence, reviews
box 7, folder 2-6
I, Chadwick .
1973-1974
Content/Description
correspondence, author's corrections, annotated typescripts, copies of illustration
box 7, folder 7-14
The Inland Whale .
1957-1977,
undated
Content/Description
correspondence, typescript, revised galleys, reviews, congratulatory letters
Articles And Book Reviews.
1961-1983
box 8, folder 1
History of Kamtschatka and the Kurilski Islands, with the Countries Adjacent .
ca 1963
Content/Description
by S. P. Krasheninnikov [book review]
box 8, folder 2
"The Hunter Ishi".
1961-1965
Content/Description
correspondence, reprint from
The American Scholar
box 8, folder 3
"On Changing Doctors without Trauma".
1977-78
Content/Description
correspondence, annotated typescript
box 8, folder 4
"Plastic Hippy" [unpublished].
1972-1974,
undated
Content/Description
correspondence
box 8, folder 5
"Retrospective on Oral History".
1983
Content/Description
published reprint of Appendix I from
Timeless Woman: Writer and Interpreter of the California ndian World, Bancroft Library, Regional Oral History Office interview.
box 8, folder 6
"Shropshire Revisited," coauthored with A. L. Kroeber.
1962,
undated
Content/Description
correspondence, notes
box 8, folder 7
Stranger and Friend: The Way of an Anthropologist .
1966
Content/Description
by Hortense Powdermaker [book review]
box 8, folder 8-10
"Poem for the Living".
1962-1968
Content/Description
correspondence including readers' responses, signed typescript
oversize-folder 1A
original page from
This Week Magazine.
Nov. 11, 1962
box 8, folder 11-12
"The Dancing at Tylissos," from
Tillai and Tylissos.
1979
Content/Description
photocopy of annotated typescript, annotated galley
box 8, folder 13
Miscellany.
1970,
undated
Other Writings.
1953-1979
box 9, folder 1
Bloody Island Massacre [undeveloped project].
ca. 1975
Content/Description
notes, bibliography
box 9, folder 2
Bread and Butter Anthropology [undeveloped project.
ca. 1962[?]
Content/Description
regarding A. L. Kroeber], notes and bibliography
box 9, folder 3
Dedicatory Letter to the Editor [about A. L. Kroeber].
1969
Content/Description
reprint from the
Kroeber Anthropological Society Papers, no. 40
box 9, folder 4
Handbook of the California Indians, by A. L. Kroeber.
1966
Content/Description
[foreword], annotated page proof
box 9, folder 5
[In memory of Kathleen Tolman].
undated
Content/Description
photocopy of annotated typescript
box 9, folder 6-7
Ishanihura [libretto].
1968-1970,
undated
Content/Description
correspondence, annotated typescript, notes
box 9, folder 8
"Ishi and Fedna" [privately distributed story].
1962
Content/Description
copyright registration
box 9, folder 9-12
Karok Myths, by A. L. Kroeber [preface].
1976-1978,
undated
Content/Description
correspondence, editor's notes, annotated typescripts, reviews
box 9, folder 13
Pigsty Landing [unpublished].
1953,
undated
Content/Description
correspondence, notes, annotated typescript
box 9, folder 14
"Theodora" [obituary].
1979
Content/Description
annotated carbon copy of typescript, memorial program
box 9, folder 15
"The Willow-basket Fence" (limited vocabulary stories).
1972,
undated
Content/Description
[short story] correspondence, annotated typescript
box 9, folder 16-19
Yurok Myths, by A. L. Kroeber [preface].
1973-1978
Content/Description
correspondence, annotated typescript, reviews
box 9, folder 20
"Culture Generations," by Rudolph Scherer [translation].
1968-1971
Content/Description
correspondence, newsclipping, typescript
box 9, folder 21
Miscellany.
1966,
1979,
undated
Content/Description
annotated typescripts and notes on unpublished or abandoned projects
Series 3:
Ishi.
1911-1978
Physical Description: Boxes 10-13.
Arrangement
Arranged by genre type.
Content/Description
The Ishi series is divided into the four subseries: Research and Production Materials, Correspondence, Rights and Permissions,
and Publicity. This is where material relating to the Ishi are found. Exceptions are "The Hunter Ishi," an article in the
Writings series, and correspondence on mixed subjects, found with the publishers in the Correspondence series.
The first subseries, Research and Production Materials, contains what little remains of Theodora Kroeber's notes and research
material on Ishi. Of special interest are the first-hand accounts of Ishi by people who wrote to her after the first book
was published, maps from A. L. Kroeber's Ishi notebook (pages 73 & 74), and financial records of Ishi's estate.
The Correspondence subseries contains incoming and outgoing business correspondence having to do with the publication of the
books, separated by publisher; general correspondence, alphabetically arranged by the name of the correspondent; and fan mail.
Included in the general correspondence are praises and comments by reviewers and colleagues. In a letter to Bill Hagan of
the
San Francisco Chronicle, Theodora Kroeber gives a summation of her readers' responses.
Fan mail, arranged for the most part by date, is comprised of responses from readers all over the world, telling how much
they loved the story of Ishi and how it changed their lives, and asking further questions about the story. Attached to the
letters are Theodora Kroeber Quinn's replies, in which she elaborates on Ishi, adds more details of the story, or explains
the story from a different angle. Materials sent by elementary school classes are kept together as a group. These include
children's letters and art work inspired by Ishi.
The Rights and Permissions subseries, contains correspondence between Theodora Kroeber, her publishers and people interested
in reprinting parts of Ishi, writing their own version of Ishi, translating the story into another language, or using the
story as the basis for a film.
The final subseries, Publicity, contains information about Theodora Kroeber's public appearances, transcripts of her interviews,
articles about Ishi published after the book was released, and reviews and promotional materials about the book.
Research And Production Materials.
1911-1977
box 10, folder 1
Notes.
1958-1960,
undated
box 10, folder 2-11
First hand accounts of Ishi.
1961-1977
box 10, folder 12-13
Notes and correspondence on the Yana Region.
1961-1967,
undated
box 10, folder 14
Maps from A. L. Kroeber notebook.
undated
box 10, folder 15
Ishi's finances.
1915-1960
box 10, folder 16-17
Illustrations from book.
undated
box 10, folder 18-20
Production notes.
1955,
undated
box 10, folder 21-22
Newsclippings.
1911-1959,
undated
Correspondence.
1916-1978
box 10, folder 23-25
University of California Press.
1959-1978,
undated
box 10, folder 26
Parnassus Press.
1962-1977,
undated
box 11, folder 1-13
Fan mail.
1961-1978,
undated
Rights And Permissions.
1961-1978
box 12, folder 12-19
Foreign translations.
1961-1978
box 12, folder 20-23
Films.
1962-1978,
undated
box 13, folder 1
Personal appearances.
1962-1965
box 13, folder 3
Radio transcriptions.
1962
box 13, folder 7-13
Reviews.
1961-1974,
undated
box 13, folder 14-16
Promotional materials.
1961-1977,
undated
Series 4:
University Of California, Board Of Regents.
1977-1978.
Physical Description: Box 14.
Arrangement
Arranged by genre type.
Content/Description
This series contains materials relating to the brief time in which Theodora Kroeber served as a Regent of the University of
California. Included are correspondence, business as well as congratulatory letters from friends and politicians; her official
"maiden" and "farewell" statements; material related to the meetings themselves, such as agendas, memos, and reports; and
her notes. Filed last are newsclippings, relating to her selection and service as a regent, and miscellaneous ephemera.
Of note are the reports she received about the proposed Dark Sky Optical Observatory at Junipero Serra Peak for the Lick Observatory,
and the notes she had taken before and after the meetings, where she gives her impressions of the regents' proceedings and
policies, and her comments on issues brought before the meetings.
box 14, folder 1-3
Correspondence.
1977-1978
Content/Description
General and congratulatory letters
box 14, folder 4-5
Statements.
1977-1978
Content/Description
"Maiden" statement and "farewell" statement
box 14, folder 8
Newsclippings and ephemera.
1977-1978
Series 5:
Biographical Material.
1960-1982.
Physical Description: Boxes 14-16.
Arrangement
Arranged by genre type.
Content/Description
This series includes biographical information on Theodora Kroeber Quinn, including her vitae, an annotated transcript of her
oral history, autobiographical notes and letters, a posthumous autobiography, diaries and travelogues, and miscellaneous ephemera
relating to her personal life.
Some early fragments of her writings can be found here, for example, autobiographical notes entitled "Softly, if Spoken,"
which John Quinn refers to in the preface to her autobiography,
A Woman Writes. The diaries were heavily edited by Theodora Kroeber, but small portions including "early
Carrousel thoughts" remain here.
A Woman Writes, compiled and edited by John Quinn, but never published, includes some of her short writings and poetry, as well as her own
comments on her work.
The Miscellany includes a few issues of "The Palette," an art newsletter published by John Quinn, to which Theodora Kroeber
contributed.
box 14, folder 9
Vitae.
1963-1977,
undated
box 14, folder 10-13
Bancroft Library, Regional Oral History Office.
1976-1978
Content/Description
annotated transcript of
Timeless Woman: Writer and Interpreter of the California Indian World
box 15, folder 1-2
Autobiographical notes and letters.
1961-1978,
undated
box 15, folder 3-12
A Woman Writes: A Posthumous Autobiography of Theodora Kroeber Quinn 1981
Content/Description
[unpublished] annotated typescript
box 16, folder 2-3
Diaries.
1961-1976,
undated
box 16, folder 4
80th birthday party.
1977
box 16, folder 5-6
Miscellany.
1960-1979,
undated
Series 6:
Kracaw Family Papers.
1881-1959.
Physical Description: Box 16.
Arrangement
Arranged by genre type.
Content/Description
This series is dedicated to Theodora Kroeber's family, the Kracaw's and the Johnstons, and includes family histories, personal
narratives, diaries and writings not by Theodora Kroeber. The personal narratives (recollections) written by her mother, Phebe
Jane Johnston Kracaw, and her uncle, George D. Johnson, are of particular value for the information they give about crossing
the Plains, frontier life in California and Oregon, and encounters with Native Americans, including one in Western Pennsylvania,
dating back to the French and Indian War.
box 16, folder 8-10
Genealogy.
ca. 1930-1932,
undated
box 16, folder 11-16
Recollections of frontier and pioneer life.
undated
box 16, folder 17-18
Diaries of Phebe Jane Johnson Kracaw [mother].
1884-1934
box 16, folder 19
Letter from Charles Emmet Kracaw [father] to Phebe Johnson [Kracaw].
1881
box 16, folder 20
Writings by Forest Charles Kracaw [brother].
1942-1959
