The papers of San Francisco art patron and philanthropist Alma de Bretteville Spreckels measure 0.6 linear feet and date from 1920 to 1978. The collection focuses on Spreckels's founding of and service to the California Palace of the Legion of Honor and the Maryhill Museum of Fine Arts through correspondence, financial and legal records, meeting minutes, photographs, printed material, and registrarial records. Of note are Queen Marie of Romania's handwritten descriptions describing the provenance of her mementos and artifacts donated to the Maryhill Museum of Fine Arts.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of San Francisco art patron and philanthropist Alma de Bretteville Spreckels measure 0.6 linear feet and date from 1920 to 1978. The collection focuses on Spreckels's founding of and service to the California Palace of the Legion of Honor and the Maryhill Museum of Fine Arts through correspondence, financial and legal records, meeting minutes, photographs, printed material, and registrarial records. Of note are Queen Marie of Romania's handwritten descriptions describing the provenance of her mementos and artifacts donated to the Maryhill Museum of Fine Arts.
Biographical / Historical:
Alma de Bretteville Spreckels (1881-1968) was an art patron and socialite from San Francisco, California. Her early childhood was marked by near poverty but her fascination with art led her to studying at the Mark Hopkins Institute of Art (San Francisco Art Institute). Alma worked as an artist model for artists such as Robert Aitken, and she was purportedly the inspiration for Aitken's Dewey Monument in San Francisco.
Alma married the heir of a sugar fortune, Adolph B. Spreckels, with whom she had two children. Following Adolph's death in 1924, Spreckels focused her energies on art patronage and philanthropy, including the founding and sourcing of collections for the Palace of the Legion of Honor and the Maryhill Museum of Art.
Provenance:
The collection was donated to the Archives of American Art by Mrs. Dorothy Munn, daughter of Alma de Bretteville Spreckles, in 1980.
Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Art patrons -- California -- San Francisco Search this
Philanthropists -- California -- San Francisco Search this
Spreckels, Alma de Bretteville, 1881-1968 Search this
Container:
Box 1, Folder 5
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1950-1959
Collection Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Collection Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Collection Citation:
Alma de Bretteville Spreckels papers, 1920-1978. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Processing of this collection received support from the Smithsonian American Women's History Initiative.
Spreckels, Alma de Bretteville, 1881-1968 Search this
Container:
Box 1, Folder 6
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1960-1965
Collection Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Collection Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Collection Citation:
Alma de Bretteville Spreckels papers, 1920-1978. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Processing of this collection received support from the Smithsonian American Women's History Initiative.
Spreckels, Alma de Bretteville, 1881-1968 Search this
Container:
Box 1, Folder 7
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
circa 1920s-1960s
Collection Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Collection Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Collection Citation:
Alma de Bretteville Spreckels papers, 1920-1978. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Processing of this collection received support from the Smithsonian American Women's History Initiative.
Spreckels, Alma de Bretteville, 1881-1968 Search this
Container:
Box 1, Folder 8
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1937-1962
Collection Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Collection Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Collection Citation:
Alma de Bretteville Spreckels papers, 1920-1978. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Processing of this collection received support from the Smithsonian American Women's History Initiative.
Spreckels, Alma de Bretteville, 1881-1968 Search this
Container:
Box 1, Folder 9
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1920-1962
Collection Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Collection Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Collection Citation:
Alma de Bretteville Spreckels papers, 1920-1978. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Processing of this collection received support from the Smithsonian American Women's History Initiative.
Meeting Minutes, California Palace of the Legion of Honor
Collection Creator:
Spreckels, Alma de Bretteville, 1881-1968 Search this
Container:
Box 1, Folder 1
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1935-1964
Collection Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Collection Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Collection Citation:
Alma de Bretteville Spreckels papers, 1920-1978. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Processing of this collection received support from the Smithsonian American Women's History Initiative.
Spreckels, Alma de Bretteville, 1881-1968 Search this
Container:
Box 2, Folder 2
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1949
Collection Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Collection Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Collection Citation:
Alma de Bretteville Spreckels papers, 1920-1978. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Processing of this collection received support from the Smithsonian American Women's History Initiative.
Spreckels, Alma de Bretteville, 1881-1968 Search this
Container:
Box 2, Folder 3
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1928-circa 1940
Collection Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Collection Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Collection Citation:
Alma de Bretteville Spreckels papers, 1920-1978. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Processing of this collection received support from the Smithsonian American Women's History Initiative.
Spreckels, Alma de Bretteville, 1881-1968 Search this
Container:
Box 2, Folder 4
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1937-1978
Collection Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Collection Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Collection Citation:
Alma de Bretteville Spreckels papers, 1920-1978. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Processing of this collection received support from the Smithsonian American Women's History Initiative.
Spreckels, Alma de Bretteville, 1881-1968 Search this
Container:
Box 2, Folder 5
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
circa 1928
Collection Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Collection Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Collection Citation:
Alma de Bretteville Spreckels papers, 1920-1978. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Processing of this collection received support from the Smithsonian American Women's History Initiative.
Registrarial Records, California Palace of the Legion of Honor
Collection Creator:
Spreckels, Alma de Bretteville, 1881-1968 Search this
Container:
Box 2, Folder 6
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1926-1957
Collection Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Collection Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Collection Citation:
Alma de Bretteville Spreckels papers, 1920-1978. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Processing of this collection received support from the Smithsonian American Women's History Initiative.
Registrarial Records, Maryhill Museum of the Fine Arts
Collection Creator:
Spreckels, Alma de Bretteville, 1881-1968 Search this
Container:
Box 2, Folder 7
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1948-1950
Collection Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Collection Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Collection Citation:
Alma de Bretteville Spreckels papers, 1920-1978. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Processing of this collection received support from the Smithsonian American Women's History Initiative.
Spreckels, Alma de Bretteville, 1881-1968 Search this
Extent:
0.6 Linear feet (Boxes 1-2)
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1920-1978
Scope and Contents:
Spreckels's professional correspondence include letters from Clifford Dolph, Loie Fuller, Walter Heil, Thomas Carr Howe, Malvina Hoffman, Harry Noyes Pratt, Lloyd LaPage Rollins, and Queen Marie of Romania. Financial and legal records contain price lists, insurance valuations, and agreements for Spreckels's donations and loans to museums and other institutions. Also found are records focusing on the formation and running of the California Palace of the Legion of Honor and the Maryhill Museum of Art. Included are meeting minutes and registrarial records which include lists of works of art, valuation records, and donation records. Photographs are of Queen Marie of Romania, her artifacts, and two photos of busts by Malvina Hoffman. Provenance records consist of handwritten and typescripts of Queen Marie's recollections and descriptions of each artifact donated.
Collection Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Collection Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Collection Citation:
Alma de Bretteville Spreckels papers, 1920-1978. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Processing of this collection received support from the Smithsonian American Women's History Initiative.
Spreckels, Alma de Bretteville, 1881-1968 Search this
Container:
Box 1, Folder 1
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1920-1929
Collection Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Collection Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Collection Citation:
Alma de Bretteville Spreckels papers, 1920-1978. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Processing of this collection received support from the Smithsonian American Women's History Initiative.
Spreckels, Alma de Bretteville, 1881-1968 Search this
Container:
Box 1, Folder 2
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1930-1939
Collection Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Collection Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Collection Citation:
Alma de Bretteville Spreckels papers, 1920-1978. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Processing of this collection received support from the Smithsonian American Women's History Initiative.
Spreckels, Alma de Bretteville, 1881-1968 Search this
Container:
Box 1, Folder 3-4
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1940-1949
Collection Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Collection Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Collection Citation:
Alma de Bretteville Spreckels papers, 1920-1978. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Processing of this collection received support from the Smithsonian American Women's History Initiative.
Spreckels, Alma de Bretteville, 1881-1968 Search this
Extent:
126 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Sound recordings
Interviews
Date:
1980 November 24-1981 January 9
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Ian McKibbin White conducted 1980 November 24-1981 January 9, by Thomas Carr Howe, for the Archives of American Art.
White speaks of his education; U.S. Navy service, 1952-1955; travel, his museum career including work at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden, the Brooklyn Museum, the Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum at Bowdoin College, and the California Palace of the Legion of Honor; the merger of the California Palace of the Legion of Honor and the M.H. de Young Memorial Museum into the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco; the funeral of Alma de Bretteville Spreckels; Thomas Carr Howe as his mentor; FAMSF's "blockbuster exhibitions"; membership organizations; development of the American collection; fiscal problems and museum staff. He recalls David Levine, Jack McGregor, Aaron Shikler and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Ian McKibbin White (1929-) is a museum administrator of Honolulu, Hawaii. White was the longtime director of Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.
General:
Originally recorded on 5 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 10 digital wav files. Duration is 5 hr., 16 min.
Provenance:
These interviews are part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and others.
Occupation:
Arts administrators -- California -- San Francisco -- Interviews Search this
Function:
Art museums -- California -- San Francisco
Genre/Form:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Sponsor:
Funding for the digital preservation of this interview was provided by a grant from the Save America's Treasures Program of the National Park Service.
