The Helen Moore Roberts Collection consists of much nineteenth century family correspondence (notably of letters to Capt. J. Milo Hinton from his children and from English relatives); family photographs; dance programs; souvenir booklets and magazines. Many of these dance publications document performances that took place in northern California between 1920 and 1980.

Helen Moore Roberts was born in Stockton in 1900. Her mother, Elwena Hinton, was the daughter of San Joaquin Riverboat Captain, John Milo Hinton. Her father, Royal T. Moore, was the son of Henry H. Moore, Stockton druggist. Both families had lived in Stockton since the 1860s. Mrs. Roberts was educated in the Stockton public schools and she studied ballet there with Lucille Halwick. Following her 1919 graduation from Stockton High School, Helen Roberts studied dance at Mills College and the University of California. Because her parents opposed her wish to have a career as a professional dancer, Helen taught ballet at Miss Snell's Nursery School and at Lucille Halwick's school. In 1927, Helen Moore married Hamilton Roberts. The following year, the couple had a daughter, Marlyn Anne. From 1932 until 1970, Helen Moore Roberts operated her own Stockton dancing school. In 1936, with Manlio Silva, founder of the Stockton Symphony, she co-founded the Stockton Symphony Ballet. Mrs. Roberts was director and principal choreographer of this organization for many years. Mrs. Roberts teaching had a lasting impact on hundreds of Stockton dance students, who received from her a kind of "finishing school" education in which ballet techniques and manners were given equal attention. In 1977, the Stockton Arts Commission honored Helen Moore Roberts as a "Stockton Pioneer in the Arts." She died in 1990 at the age of eighty nine.

Collection is open for research.