Coolbrith, Ina D. (Ina Donna), 1842?-1928

Kenney is a Mormon author and historian.

Ina Coolbrith was born as Josephine Donna Smith (niece of Mormon Church founder Joseph Smith) in Nauvoo, Illinois in 1841or 1842 (accounts differ). Following her father's death, which roughly coincided with the Mormons' expulsion from Illinois, Josephine's mother took her to St. Louis and married William Pickett. In 1850 the family traveled overland to California; in the process Josephine may have been the first white child to enter the new state. Settling in Los Angeles, Josephine began writing poetry and, after a short marriage, moved to the San Francisco area. There, to avoid identification with Mormonism, Josephine shortened her first name to Ina, and took her mother's maiden name. Ina became associate editor of the Overland Monthly, wrote more poetry, and became acquainted with many of the leading literary figures of the day, including Bret Harte, Joaquin Miller, and Charles Warren Stoddard. In later years she mentored Jack London and George Sterling. Coolbrith also worked as a librarian in Oakland for many years, and in 1915 was named the first Poet Laureate of California. Ina Coolbrith died on February 29, 1928.

Mildred Leo Clemens Schenck was the niece of Samuel Clemens (aka Mark Twain).

Poet and librarian, of Calif. First poet laureate of Calif.

Ina Donna Coolbrith (1842?-1928) moved with her family to California in 1852. Her verse was published in two books, A perfect day (1881) and Songs from the golden gate (1895) and in various periodicals, including Overland monthly, Californian, Harper's weekly, Century magazine, and Scribner's. She was poet laureate of California from 1906-1928.

Biographical Sketch

Ina Donna Coolbrith was born Josephine D. Smith on March 10, 1842, near Springfield, Illinois. Her parents were Agnes Coolbrith and Don Carlos Smith, brother of Joseph Smith, the Mormon prophet. After the death of her father, she went with her mother to live in St. Louis. There her mother married a newspaper man named William Pickett and shortly after the gold rush the Pickett family migrated to California. Ina supposedly entered California in the summer of 1851 on the saddle of James P. Beckwourth -the first white child to cross the Sierra Nevadas over the Beckwourth Pass. The family settled eventually in Los Angeles, and it was there she received her formal schooling. She began writing verses when she was 11 and saw them published in the local papers under the nom-de-plume, Ina.

On September 9, 1858, she married Robert B. Carsley, a partner in the Salamander Iron Works, but the marriage ended in divorce three years later on December 30, 1861. After her marital tragedy, she moved to San Francisco and took for her name her mother's maiden name, Coolbrith, combined with her nom-de-plume, Ina.

Contributing frequently to local magazines and Papers, she gained considerable recognition as a poetess. During the early years of the Overland Monthly she worked closely with Bret Harte, its editor, and Charles Warren Stoddard. Their association was so close they became known as the "Golden Gate Trinity."

Miss Coolbrith made her living not as a poetess but as a librarian. From 1874-93 she worked in the Oakland Public Library; from 1897-1890, in the San Francisco Mercantile Library; and from 1899-1906, in the library of the San Francisco Bohemian Club. Three volumes of her poems appeared, however, between 1881 and 1895: A Perfect Bay and Other Poems (1881); The Singer of the Sea (1894); and Songs from the Golden Gate (1895) .

When the Panama-Pacific International Exposition was held in San Francisco in 1915, she was the president of its World Congress of Authors and Journalists. In the same year she was crowned poet laureate of California, pursuant to an act of the state legislature.

In poor health during most of the later years of her life, Miss Coolbrith died in Berkeley, California, Feb. 29, 1928.

Biography

Correspondence and papers of Ina Donna Coolbrith (1842-1928), California poet. In the early days of the Overland Monthly Miss Coolbrith was associated with Bret Harte as an editor; gave encouragement to the young Joaquin Miller; and by the turn of the century had published several volumes of her own verse. The San Francisco fire destroyed her manuscripts and mementos and left her without employment. When the exposition was held in San Francisco she summoned a World Congress of Authors and in the same year was crowned poet laureate of California.

Unfortunately the present collection contains little of importance bearing on Miss Coolbrith's relation with such literary figures as Bret Harte, Joaquin Miller, or George Sterling.