Ina Coolbrith
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Ina Coolbrith (born Josephine Donna Smith) (March 10, 1841 - February 29, 1928) was a poet, writer, librarian, and a prominent and beloved figure in the San Francisco Bay Area literary community.
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[edit] Biography
Ina Coolbrith's mother was Agnes Moulton Coolbrith and her father was Don Carlos Smith, a brother of the Mormon Prophet Joseph Smith, Jr.. Don Carlos Smith died in 1841 and Agnes was married to Joseph Smith, Jr. in 1842. Leaving this polygamous marriage and the Latter-day Saint community.[1], Agnes took her daughter Josephine Smith with her and moved to Saint Louis, where she married a newspaperman named William Pickett. Pickett, Agness, and young Josephine, travelled overland to California in 1850. Josephine is said to have been the first white child to enter California, riding on the saddle of Jim Beckwourth. The family settled in Los Angeles.
To avoid identification with her former family or with Mormonism, Agnes reverted to using her maiden name, Coolbrith.
Josephine published her first poems while living in Los Angeles. She married Robert Carsley in 1858, but the marriage ended in 1861 after her infant son died. In 1862 she moved to the Bay Area and shortened her first name from Josephine (or Josephina) to Ina, thus becoming Ina Donna Coolbrith.
Coolbrith contributed articles to the influential magazine, the Overland Monthly and published her poetry widely. Her literary work led to her friendship with Alfred Tennyson, John Whittier, Samuel Clemens, Bret Harte, Charles Warren Stoddard, Joaquin Miller, and Ansel Adams.
In 1873 Coolbrith became the librarian at the Oakland Free Library, and there, in 1895, she befriended and mentored the 12 year old Jack London. Jack London called her his "literary mother." She also mentored the poet, George Sterling. Late in life, she campaigned for a proper burial in Westminster Abbey for the remains of her favorite poet, Lord Byron.
In 1915 Coolbrith was named the first poet laureate of California by the Regents of the University of California. Her name is commemorated by Ina Coolbrith Park at Taylor and Vallejo in San Francisco, and Mount Ina Coolbrith, a 7,900 foot peak near Beckwourth Pass in the Sierra Nevada mountains near State Route 70.
She died on Leap Day, February 29, 1928, and was buried in Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland, California.
[edit] See also
List of descendants of Joseph Smith, Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith
[edit] Sources
Dickson, Samuel. Tales of San Francisco, 1947 Stanford press LC # 57-9306
[edit] External links
Poems by Ina Coolbrith:
- Beside the Dead
- The California Poppy
- Fruitionless
- Helen Hunt Jackson
- The Mariposa Lily
- Meadow Larks
- Millennium
- When the Grass Shall Cover Me
Short biographies at:
- Short biography, and photo of a youthful Ina Coolbrith
- Short biography, and photo of a youthful Ina Coolbrith (same photo as at cateweb)
- Short biography, and picture of a middle-aged Ina Coolbrith
