Alma de Bretteville Spreckels papers
name: label: Creator
content: Spreckels, Alma de Bretteville, 1881-1968
label: Names
content: California Palace of the Legion of Honor
label: Names
content: Maryhill Museum of Art
topic: label: Occupation
content: Art patrons -- California -- San Francisco
label: Occupation
content: Philanthropists -- California -- San Francisco
label: Topic
content: Decorative arts -- Romania
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The collection was donated to the Archives of American Art by Mrs. Dorothy Munn, daughter of Alma de Bretteville Spreckles, in 1980.
creator: label: Creator
content: Spreckels, Alma de Bretteville, 1881-1968
setName: label: See more items in
content: Alma de Bretteville Spreckels papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: 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.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Alma de Bretteville Spreckels (1881-1968) was an art patron and socialite from San Francisco, California.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.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 0.6 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1920-1978
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.sprealma
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The papers were microfilmed on reels 1732-1733 after receipt. The collection was processed, and a finding aid prepared by Jayna Josefson in 2023 with support from the Smithsonian American Women's History Initiative.
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: The collection is available on 35mm reels 1732-1733 at Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan. Researchers should note that the arrangement of the material described in the container inventory does not reflect the arrangement of the collection on microfilm.
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: 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.