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Guide to the Parsons family papers, [ca. 1880-1953]
BANC MSS C-B 478
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Table of contents
Collection Title: Parsons Family Papers,
Date (inclusive): [ca. 1880-1953]
Collection Number: BANC MSS C-B 478
Creator:
Parsons family
Extent:
Number of containers: 9 boxes, 5 cartons, 1 vol. and 1 oversize folder
Repository: The
Bancroft Library
Berkeley, California 94720-6000
Physical Location: For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Languages Represented:
English
Collection is open for research.
Copyright has not been assigned to The Bancroft Library. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts
must be submitted in writing to the Head of Public Services. Permission for publication is given on behalf of The Bancroft
Library 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.
[Identification of item], Parsons family papers, BANC MSS C-B 478, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
- 1 album of photographs has been transferred to the Pictorial Collections of The Bancroft Library.
Marion Randall Parsons--writer, mountaineer, and artist--was born in San Francisco in 1878 and made her home in Piedmont and
Berkeley until her death in 1953. She was privately educated and became interested in writing. An active Sierra Club member,
she wrote many articles on her mountaineering experiences which were published in
Sunset,
Out West and
The Sierra Club Bulletin. She also wrote short stories and novels, and worked with John Muir on his
Travels in Alaska, preparing it for publication after his death.
In 1907 she married Edward Taylor Parsons. He was born in 1861, received a degree from the University of Rochester in 1886,
and became one of the first salesmen for the Sherwin-Williams Company. He travelled throughout the west and settled in San
Francisco about 1900. Parsons was an active mountaineer and conservationist, also, and wrote about his experiences, illustrating
many of his articles with his photographs. At the time of his death in 1914 he was on the Board of Directors of the Sierra
Club. His wife was elected to take his place and served until 1936.
Although interested in sketching from 1930, Mrs. Parsons did not begin to work at it seriously until 1936 when illness forced
her to curtail activities. She worked in oils and watercolors and was essentially self-taught. From 1941 to 1952 she exhibited
in Santa Cruz, Oakland, San Francisco and Berkeley.
Old California Houses, which was published in 1952, is illustrated with photographs of her oil paintings.
This collection of papers was given to the Bancroft Library by Mrs. Parsons in 1952, with additional gifts from her estate,
1953-1961. They reflect her main interests--mountaineering, writing and painting--and include letters, unpublished manuscripts,
and photographs. They include also papers of her husband. Portraits were removed and cataloged separately, with call numbers
Portrait 6026-6034.
A Key to Arrangement follows.