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Guide to the Baeck Family Papers, [ca. 1859-1972]
BANC MSS 74/101 c
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Table of contents
Collection Title: Baeck Family Papers,
Date (inclusive): [ca. 1859-1972]
Collection Number: BANC MSS 74/101 c
Creator:
Baeck Family
Extent:
Number of containers: 7 boxes, 2 cartons, 1 scrapbook, and 2 oversize folders
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.
Abstract: Includes papers of Anna R. Baeck, some relating to student days at the University of California, Class of 1912; papers of
her father, San Francisco Judge Timothy H. Rearden, including letters, manuscripts of writings, copies of legal decisions,
etc. Contains Civil War correspondence, including letters from a cadet on the U.S.S. Constitution. Family papers also include
those of Anna Baeck's uncle, Joseph D. Redding, relating to his career as a San Francisco attorney and as composer. Some papers
of other members of the family also included: Benjamin D. Redding, Samuel Cowles, Anita C. Rearden, and Myra C. Redding. Correspondents
include Ambrose Bierce, Ina Coolbrith, and Porter Garnett.
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], Baeck Family papers, BANC MSS 74/101 c, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
The Baeck family papers were given to The Bancroft Library by Anne C. Baeck in 1973, with additions in 1974.
The Baeck family Papers consist primarily of papers of Anna R. Baeck; papers of her father, Timothy H. Rearden, and her mother,
Anita C. Rearden; and papers of her uncle, Joseph D. Redding and his wife, Myra C. Redding.
Anna Wooster (Rearden) Baeck was born in San Francisco in 1888, the daughter of Anita Elizabeth (Cowles) and Judge Timothy
Henry Rearden. After attending public schools in California and Illinois, she entered the University of California at Berkeley
where she was a member of the Prytanean Society. In 1912, the year of her graduation, she wrote the first ''Partheneia'' to
be given there by the women students. After teaching school for several years, she was married in 1917 to John Eric Baeck
and resided in Berkeley almost continuously until her death in 1970. Her papers relate mainly to her academic career at the
University, literary interests and family affairs.
Her father, Timothy Rearden, was born in Wooster, Ohio in 1839. He attended high school in Cleveland and was graduated from
Kenyon College in 1859. Serving briefly in the Civil War, he came to San Francisco in 1863, worked in the mint while studying
law and opened an office about 1872. In 1883 he was appointed by Governor Stoneman to fill a vacancy in the Superior Court;
in 1884 he was elected to succeed himself and served through 1890. He was married in 1888 to Anita Cowles, daughter of his
friend Judge Samuel Cowles. Rearden was a serious student of languages and literature, a member of the Chit-Chat Club and
part of the literary scene which included Ambrose Bierce, Bret Harte and Fanny Osbourne. His book
Petrarch and Other Essays was published after his death which occurred on May 10, 1892. His papers relate to his career, life in San Francisco, and
to his studies and writings.
Joseph Deighn Redding (Anna Baeck's uncle) was born in Sacramento in 1859, the son of Mary Prescott (Putnam) and Benjamin
Barnard Redding. He was graduated in 1874 from the California Military Academy in Oakland, attended Harvard Law School from
1877 to 1879, was admitted to the California bar in 1879 and practiced law in San Francisco almost continuously until several
years before his death in 1932. In 1882 he was married to Myra Augusta Cowles who died in 1945. He was a member of the Bohemian
Club, serving as president from 1885 to 1886, and was the author of several of its ''Grove'' plays. He also wrote the operas
Natoma and
Fay-Yen Fah. Redding's papers relate mainly to his career and to his musical activities.
Most of the photographs have been removed and indexed separately.
A key to arrangement describes the collection in greater detail. Separate lists of significant correspondents have been prepared
for each member of the family.