Bolton-Wilder-Brower Family Photographs, circa 1850-circa 1990

Summary

Title:

Bolton-Wilder-Brower Family photographs

Dates:

circa 1850-circa 1990

Creators:

Brower, Robert Weldon

Abstract:

The Bolton-Wilder-Brower Family Photographs collection contains approximately 3,500 items, mostly photographs, dating from ca. 1850-ca. 1990. The collection pictures several generations of the Bolton, Wilder, and Brower families, who settled in various regions of the San Francisco Bay Area from the mid-nineteenth to the early twentieth century.

Extent:

Number of containers: 8 boxes (11 albums, circa 2,800 photographic prints), 4 albums (circa 500 photographic prints), 8 oversize folders, 1 box (62 negatives), 60 negatives, and 1 box (3 ambrotypes) : chiefly b&w ; various sizes.

Language:

Collection materials are in English

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Bolton-Wilder-Brower Family Photographs, BANC PIC 1999.001--PIC, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

Background

Scope and content:

The Bolton-Wilder-Brower Family Photographs collection contains approximately 3,500 items, mostly photographs, dating from ca. 1850-ca. 1990. The collection pictures several generations of the Bolton, Wilder, and Brower families, who settled in various regions of the San Francisco Bay Area from the mid-nineteenth to the early twentieth century. Especially prominent in the collection are the immediate families of Herbert E. and Gertrude Janes Bolton, and Marcus and Gertrude Wilder Brower, as well as that of their grandson Robert Weldon Brower, who compiled the collection. Among the locations featured in the collection are various areas of Berkeley - including many Bolton and Brower residences, and the University of California - as well as family homes in San Jose and Los Gatos. The majority of the photographs are snapshots taken by various relatives or friends of those pictured. Many of the captions provided throughout the collection were supplied by Robert Weldon Brower. The bulk of the material is contained in 15 albums. The collection also contains postcards, negatives, and various ephemera. Manuscripts and other non-pictorial material form a separate related collection, BANC MSS 2003/104 cz.

Biographical / historical:

Herbert E. Bolton

Herbert Eugene Bolton was born on the family farm in Wilton Township, Monroe County, Wisconsin on July 20, 1870. The family later moved to nearby Tomah. After teaching at various local rural schools, Bolton attended the State University of Wisconsin where he studied under historian Frederick Jackson Turner and received a Bachelor of Letters degree in 1895. He then attended the University of Pennsylvania, where - under the guidance of John Bach MacMaster - he received his Doctor of Philosophy degree in history in 1899. In 1901, Bolton became an instructor at the University of Texas and soon developed an interest in the history of the Spanish Southwest, an era which until then was little-studied by American historians. In 1909, Bolton accepted a position at Stanford University, but was soon lured to the University of California, Berkeley and its recently acquired library of Hubert Howe Bancroft. In 1911, Bolton began his professorship at Berkeley, where he would teach for the remainder of his career. Specializing in the history of Spanish colonial North America, Bolton became one of the most pioneering and distinguished American historians of his time. A prolific writer and field researcher, Bolton was also a devoted mentor to countless students, many of whom became prominent historians themselves. During his tenure at U.C. Berkeley, Bolton was Director of The Bancroft Library (1916-1940), Chairman of the Department of History (1919-1940), and Sather Professor of History (1931-1940). Bolton retired in 1944.

Bolton married Gertrude Janes in 1895. The Boltons had six daughters - Frances, Helen, Laura, Eugenie, Gertrude, and Jane - and a son, Herbert, Jr. Herbert E. Bolton died in Berkeley on January 30, 1953.

Marcus Brower

Marcus Theodore Brower was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1871. His family later moved to San Jose, California, where his father, Theodore Marcus Brower, established a print shop. After learning the print trade from his father, Marcus opened his own printing firm, Marcus Brower & Co., in San Francisco in 1912.

In 1898, Marcus married Gertrude Wilder, daughter of Alphonso Eli Wilder, one of the early founders of Los Gatos, California. Marcus and Gertrude had one child, Theodore Wilder Brower, born in 1900. Moving to Berkeley shortly before World War I, Marcus Brower lived there until his death on November 22, 1959.

Robert Weldon Brower

Robert Weldon ("Bob") Brower was born in Berkeley, California in 1921. The son of Laura Bolton Brower and Theodore Wilder Brower, Bob graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 1943 and worked for the California Ink Company. He is now retired.

Acquisition information:

The Bolton-Wilder-Brower Family Photographs were received as a gift from Robert Weldon Brower in 1998.

Processing information:

Processed by Chris McDonald in 1999 and 2010.

Arrangement:

The albums are arranged chronologically by families — Wilder-Brower, then Bolton. The additional non-album material is arranged separately in the same manner and placed in folders.

Some of the albums originally contained loose items. To prevent their loss or misplacement, these items have been separated from the albums, foldered, and shelved among the albums in the PIC boxes.

Additions are arranged in general family and subject groupings as received.

Accruals:

Additions to the collection, received in 2000, were transferred from the Bolton family papers (BANC MSS C-B 841).

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.

Rules or conventions:

Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: a Content Standard

Related resources

Related material:

Bolton-Wilder-Brower Family Papers (BANC MSS 2003/104 cz)

Alternative form available:

There are no alternate forms of this collection.

Other descriptive data:

Many albums which were in a fragile, deteriorating, or otherwise at-risk condition were disassembled and rehoused in order to ensure the preservation of their contents. These are all shelved in boxes in the --PIC location. Four albums are stored in phase boxes and shelved in the --ALB location.

Some of the albums in the collection originally contained self-adhesive note slips affixed throughout their pages to identify various individuals and locations pictured in the albums. Because the adhesive of such products is potentially damaging to photographic material, these note slips were removed. In order to retain the information contained in the notes, the album pages were photocopied prior to the removal of the slips. The photocopies are foldered and shelved among the albums in PIC Box 4.

Numerous unidentified individuals pictured in the collection are not included in the following listing. All locations listed are in California unless otherwise stated. Contents descriptions include references to related material – such as negatives, photocopies, or loose items – located elsewhere in the collection.

All individuals are, wherever possible, referred to by their proper names as opposed to their common names or nicknames. "Ted" Brower, for example, will be listed as "Theodore Wilder Brower." Middle names are often inserted to distinguish between individuals who had the same first and last names. Wherever possible, women are referred to by their maiden and, if applicable, married names (e.g. "Laura Bolton Brower"), regardless of when they were photographed.

Indexed terms

Subjects:

Pioneers--California--Los Gatos--Photographs
Dams--California--Amador County--Photographs
Photograph albums

Names:

Wilder family--Pictorial works
Bolton, Herbert Eugene, 1870-1953--Family--Pictorial works
Brower, Marcus--Family--Pictorial works
Wilder, Alphonso Eli--Family--Pictorial works

Places:

San Jose (Calif.)--Pictorial works
Los Gatos (Calif.)--Pictorial works
San Joaquin River (Calif.)--Pictorial works
Jackson (Calif.)--Pictorial works
Amador County (Calif.)--Pictorial works
Bear River (Amador County, Calif.)--Pictorial works

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:

Finding Aid written by Chris McDonald

Date Prepared:

© 1999, 2010

Date Encoded:

Machine-readable finding aid generated by Finding Aid author(s) via EAD XPress; markup validated by The Bancroft Library staff using OAC validation tools; Date of source: November 2010

Restrictions:

COLLECTION STORED, IN PART, OFF-SITE: Advance notice required for use.

RESTRICTED NEGATIVES. Use of negatives only by permission of the appropriate curator. Inquiries regarding these materials should be directed, in writing, to the Head of Public Services, The Bancroft Library.

RESTRICTED AMBROTYPES. Use of ambrotypes only by permission of the appropriate curator. Inquiries regarding these materials should be directed, in writing, to the Head of Public Services, The Bancroft Library.

Terms of access:

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], Bolton-Wilder-Brower Family Photographs, BANC PIC 1999.001--PIC, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

Location of this collection:

UC Berkeley, Bancroft Library

University of California, Berkeley, The Bancroft Library

Berkeley, CA 94720-6000, US

Contact:

510-642-6481

bancref-library@berkeley.edu

Website