Includes journalism and an autobiography by the American writer James Brewster, as well as documents and other materials related to him.

Brewster was born in Blooming Grove, New York, in 1830. He began his journalistic work on the newspaper at Beliot College in Wisconsin, and continued to contribute to newspapers throughout the country steadily until shortly before his death. Brewster married Lucy Gale Truesdell, and then in 1858 moved to San Francisco. In addition to writing and serving occasionally as an editor, he held a succession of other jobs, including hotel man, lumber boss, and farm hand, and more ofen, school teacher, first in "the gold fields" and then on the island of Oahu, where he opened "Brewster's School" in Honolulu. He traveled widely within the United States and Europe, writing under various pseudonyms besides his own name, including Algernon, Truthful James, Cottonade, Bumlebee, and Veritas. Returning to California, Brewster started the first public school in Santa Barbara before ending up in Santa Cruz, where he died in 1907.

0.6 linear feet

1.5 document boxes

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Collection open for research.