Guide to the Pacific Slope Scrapbooks M0211

Processed by Special Collections staff; machine-readable finding aid created by Patricia White
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
1997 ; revised 2022
Green Library
557 Escondido Mall
Stanford 94305-6064
specialcollections@stanford.edu


Language of Material: English
Contributing Institution: Department of Special Collections and University Archives
Title: Pacific Slope Scrapbooks
source: Bartlett, Washington, 1824-1887
Identifier/Call Number: M0211
Physical Description: 7 Linear Feet (18 volumes in 12 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1855-1906

Scope and Contents

The first series of scrapbooks was created by mayor (and future governor) Washington Bartlett, containing articles pertaining to political and civic issues in San Francisco and California from 1855 to 1886, as well as some notes and memoranda chronicling his duties as mayor. Other scrapbooks were assembled by Mary Sheldon Barnes in the 1890s and include articles and other ephemera related to the American West, including material on Native Americans, Oregon territory, Alaska, Pacific and Asiatic relations, and the San Francisco Peninsula. A scrapbook on the 1906 San Francisco earthquake was added to the collection later.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Pacific Slope Scrapbooks, M0211, Dept. of Special Collections, Stanford Libraries, Stanford, Calif.

Conditions Governing Use

These materials are believed to be in the public domain. There are no restrictions on use of public domain materials.

Conditions Governing Access

Open for research. Note that material must be requested at least 36 hours in advance of intended use.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Collected by Mary Shelden Barnes and other Stanford faculty and students.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

California -- History -- 19th Century
San Francisco (Calif.) -- Politics and government.
San Francisco (Calif.) -- History.
San Francisco Earthquake and Fire, Calif., 1906
Barnes, Mary Sheldon
Bartlett, Washington, 1824-1887

 

Series 1. Scrapbooks of Clippings Relating to San Francisco and California, compiled by Washington Barlett and others

box 1, volume 1

General clippings, 1855-1874

box 1, volume 2

Clippings primarily on railroads, 1872-1875

box 1, volume 3

General clippings, 1873-1874

box 2, volume 4

General clippings, 1875-1877

Box 10, volume 5

General clippings 1883-1885

box 3, volume 6

Clippings and manuscript diary by Mayor Bartlett, 1884

box 4, volume 7

Clippings and manuscript diary by Mayor Bartlett, 1885

Box 11, volume 8

General clippings 1887-1886

box 5, volume 9

Clippings and manuscript diary by Mayor Bartlett, 1886

Box 12, volume 10

General clippings 1887-1894

Scope and Contents

Includes obituaries of Bartlett. Volume compiled by his son Columbus Bartlett.
 

Series 2. Pacific Slope history scrapbooks

box 6, volume 1

Indians

Scope and Contents

Clippings on Native Americans, arranged by subject spanning the period of the 1880s and 1890s. Items of note include:
  • p. 6: letter by Ambrose Bierce on spearheads, 1892 June 19
  • p. 17: letter of M. W. Greer to Mrs. Barnes, 1893 May 9
  • p. 19: letter of L. C. G. Harris to Mrs. Barnes, 1892 May 30
  • p. 94: manuscript copy of a speech of Standing Bear
  • p. 122: manuscript note signed by Margaret Hood
box 6, volume 2

General History

Scope and Contents

Clippings in this volume (which is about half-full) date from 1819 to 1846 and primarily concern the late Spanish/Mexican era and early American pioneers to California. Items of note include:
  • p. 2: telegram from N. P. Vallejo to William Boggs on the death of his father, 1890 Jan. 19
  • p. 3: letter from W. M. Boggs to Mrs. Barnes on the Boggs -Boone relationship, 1892 Dec. 17
  • p. 6: letter from W. M. Boggs to Mrs. Barnes on the Donner Party and Mrs. Kelsey, 1893 Feb 5
box 7, volume 3

General History: Rocky Mountain States, Old Spanish West-Interior, etc.

Scope and Contents

This volume of clippings begins in 1846 and includes on page 105, a manuscript poem, "Song of the Iron Horse."
box 7, volume 4

California - Civil War Period

Scope and Contents

This volume of clippings on California during the Civil War begins in 1850. Items of note include:
  • p. 1: "A Constitution for the Overland Journey Contributed by A. R. Cotton;" typescript
  • p. 2: letter from John Brown Jr., sec. San Bernadino Society of California Pioneers, to Benjamin R. Bledsoe concerning pioneer songs
  • p. 10: letter from W. M. Boggs to Mrs. Barnes concerning flour prices, 1892 Dec. 16
  • p. 21: note from P. Scanlon to Mayor Washington Bartlett authorizing entry to the Alms House, 1885
  • p. 81: certificate concerning railroad fare signed by E. P. Marsellus, Society of California Pioneers, along with program and invitation to unveiling of Junipera Serra monument in Monterey, 1891
box 8, volume 5

Oregon Country

Scope and Contents

This volume contains clippings, 1846 and later, about the area that became the states of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. Also included on pages 11-12 is a manuscript of the song "Oregon" by Henry Hill, collected by his daughter Nell Hill of Stanford University.
box 8, volume 6

Alaska, Pacific and Asiatic Relations

Scope and Contents

This volume contains clippings pertaining to Alaska, the Sandwich Islands (i.e. Hawaii), China, Japan, and other Pacific and Asian countries, 1860s-1890s. Of note on page 37 are two letters from U. Thompson to Mrs. Barnes concerning Hawaiians, 1893.
box 9, volume 7

San Francisco Peninsula

Scope and Contents

This volume of clippings pertains to the general history of the San Francisco peninsula in the 1890s, including a series of articles by Mary J. Gates in the Mountain View Weekly Register. Also included is an undated printed circular letter of the Law and Order League of California.
box 9, volume 7a

1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire

Scope and Contents note

This volume was assembled by G. A. Batchelder (possibly Grace Batchelder?) and contains clippings from April 1906 in the weeks following the earthquake and fire. Some ephemera related to the calamity was also pasted in, including items belonging to Mary Edith Griswold, an editor at Sunset magazine (who wrote about her quake experience in Sunset) and her husband, journalist Edwin A. Emerson, Jr. An envelope of clippings from April 1946 was added later.