Collection context
Summary
- Creators:
- Irish, John P. (John Powell)
- Extent:
- 2 Linear Feet (4 boxes)
- Language:
- English
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item] John Powell Irish Papers, M033, Dept. of Special Collections, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, Calif.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
The major portion of the Irish Papers is the correspondence of John Powell Irish. Included in the collection are the correspondence received by Irish; (not complete) eight items of a biographical nature written by Irish about members of his family and close friends; several legal papers; a scrapbook of editorials; and a book of Irish's speeches, addresses and briefs. In addition, there are articles written by Irish on subjects with which he was closely associated at one time or another during his life.
Of primary interest in the collection are the articles and correspondence written on political subjects such as the Japanese in California, free coinage, woman suffrage and prohibition.
- Biographical / historical:
-
John Powell Irish (Colonel), editor, attorney, farmer, law-maker, and official was born in Iowa City, Iowa, January 1, 1843. He was educated in the primitive public schools of the frontier. As a young man, Irish was a school teacher and then was admitted to the bar in Iowa before he entered journalism as a profession. For twenty years he was editor of the Iowa State Press. In Iowa he was three times elected a representative to the state legislature, 1869-1872. He married Annie Fletcher in 1872. In 1880 he moved to California where he later was editor of the Oakland Times and the Alta California.
Politically, Irish was a "Gold" Democrat and he spoke on economic and financial questions, centering on the sound money and the gold standard viewpoints. In California, Irish became concerned with the treatment of people of Japanese descent living in the United States and he wrote, spoke and acted on the behalf of these people for many years. He founded and organized the American Committee on Justice to further this cause.
John P. Irish was appointed naval customs officer of the Port of San Francisco, 1894, and he was thereafter known as "Colonel" Irish. For twenty-five years Irish was a director of the California Blind Directory Home. He died on October 6, 1923, from an accidental fall when attempting to board a moving streetcar in Oakland, California.
- Acquisition information:
- Gift of Mrs. Frances I. Hus, Daughter of J.P. Irish, 1928
- Processing information:
-
The collection was originally processed by Robert W. Stevenson in 1961; it was reprocessed in 1994 by Christy Smith.
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
Open for research. Note that material must be requested at least 36 hours in advance of intended use.
- Terms of access:
-
While Special Collections is the owner of the physical and digital items, permission to examine collection materials is not an authorization to publish. These materials are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study. Any transmission or reproduction beyond that allowed by fair use requires permission from the owners of rights, heir(s) or assigns.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item] John Powell Irish Papers, M033, Dept. of Special Collections, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, Calif.
- Location of this collection:
-
Department of Special Collections, Green Library557 Escondido MallStanford, CA 94305-6004, US
- Contact:
- (650) 725-1022