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Finding aid of the The Mary Emily Foy Collection
MS.614
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Table of contents
Title: The Mary Emily Foy Collection
Dates: 1949-1981
Collection number: MS.614
Creator:
Foy, Mary Emily, 1862-1962
Collection Size:
6 folders
Repository:
Autry National Center. Institute for the Study of the American West
Los Angeles, CA 90065
Abstract: The collection contains information about, and works by, Mary Emily Foy.
Physical location: Braun Research Library Manuscript Archives
Languages:
Languages represented in the collection:
English
Collection is open for research. Appointments to view materials are required. To make an appointment please visit href=http://www.autrynationalcenter.org/research_application.php
or contact library staff at (323).221-2164.
Copyright has not been assigned to the Braun Research Library, Autry National Center. All requests for permission to publish
or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Library Director. Permission for publication is given on behalf
of the Braun Research Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the
copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.
[Item identification] The Mary Emily Foy Collection, MS.614. Braun Research Library, Autry National Center, Los Angeles, CA
Biography / Administrative History
Mary Emily Foy (1862-1962) was the daughter of Samuel Calvert Foy and Lucinda (Pet) Macy Foy, early Los Angeles pioneers.
From 1880 to 1894, she served as the third Los Angeles City Librarian, the first woman to hold the position. She is particularly
well known for her involvement in the California Woman's Suffrage Movement and her involvement with the Democratic Party.
She was Vice President of the Political Equality League, Secretary of the Votes for Women Club, President of the California
Woman's Democratic League, and a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1916 and 1920. In 1934, she ran unsuccessfully
for Congress in the 15th Congressional District.
Mary Foy's interests in history and archaeology lead her to organize the California Parlor of the Native Daughters of the
American West, and to her involvement with the local chapter of the American Institute for Archaeology, and the Southwest
Society. Foy was also founder of First Century Families, descendants of Los Angeles settlers during its first 100 years, and
wrote for the Jeffersonian, Woman's Bulletin, and the Los Angeles Herald and Express.
Scope and Content of Collection
The collection consists of biographical information on Foy; newspaper articles, especially from the Los Angeles Times; articles
by Foy; and letters of correspondence.
Original order.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in
the library's online public access catalog.
Foy, Mary Emily, 1862-1962.
Native Daughters of the American West.
Archaeological Institute of America. Southwest Society.
Libarians--California--Los Angeles--History.
Women--Suffrage--California--History.
Los Angeles (Calif.)--History.
First Century Families (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Mary Emily Foy: Miss Los Angeles Herself (Southern California Quarterly, Summer 1996 / Jane Apostol
MS. 503, Joseph Benjamin Collings Papers, 1878-1951. Correspondence between Collings and Foy, 1951. Braun Research Library,
Institute for the Study of the American West, Autry National Center, Los Angeles, CA.
Papers of Mary Emily Foy, 1879-1957 (490 pieces, 3 boxes ). The Henry E. Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical
Gardens, San Marino, California.
Photographs of the interior and exterior childhood residence, portraits of Samuel Calvert Foy and Mary Foy, and Foy Saddle
and Harness Shop. Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection, History and Genealogy Department, Los Angeles, California.