Gwenfread E. Allen Papers

Collection — Box: 1-2

Identifier: MANUSCRIPT-M00063a

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Approximately half of the collection consists of material relating to Allen’s time as a student at the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Hawai‘i. The bulk of this material is dated 1920-1924, although there are some alumni newsletters and directories from later dates. Much of the material consists of handwritten or typed notes from courses Allen took at UH. There are a few examination books and grade reports and a small number of UH official publications such as course catalogs, student handbooks, and the like. In addition, there is a small amount of memorabilia from both universities which includes flyers, receipts, ticket stubs, souvenir books, membership cards, and so forth.

Most of the remaining materials consist of publications and newspaper clippings. The publications, mostly produced in the 1920s through the 1960s, include periodicals in which Allen’s articles appear. There are also many reports of organizations and corporations which Allen may have worked on as a public relations consultant. The newspaper clippings were arranged by decade, but no attempt was made to place them in chronological order. Most are brittle and many do not indicate where or when they were published. Some clippings are from the San Francisco Chronicle, for which Allen worked as a Hawai‘i correspondent during the 1920s. Other clippings, mostly published in the 1920s through the 1950s, are from the Honolulu Advertiser or Honolulu Star-Bulletin and concern Allen’s friends and acquaintances, although some may be articles written by Allen for the Star-Bulletin.

There is a small amount of memorabilia from Allen’s work as a writer at the Honolulu Star-Bulletin in addition to material related to Allen’s career as an author, such as correspondence, galley proofs, and reprints. Postcards mailed from all over the world by friends and acquaintances span a period of several decades from the 1920s through the 1970s. The postcards were in a shoebox, which was discarded. Travel mementos, including notecards Allen made in 1958 from guidebooks about various sites in Europe and negatives of photographs taken in Yosemite in 1919 form the remainder of the collection. The notecards were in a paper bag labeled “Europe.” The negatives were in an envelope labeled “Yosemite 1919.” Both of these containers were discarded due to their poor condition.

There is no documentation concerning the acquisition of the papers by the UHM Library. The papers were in no discernable order when received and have been organized into series and subseries. Although it is customary to remove publications from archival collections, in this case the publications were retained because some contain Allen’s writings or they provide context for her career as a journalist, public relations consultant, and author.

It should be noted that material related to Allen’s most significant work, Hawaii’s War Years, is part of the Hawaii War Records Depository, and there is nothing in the Gwenfread E. Allen papers related to that book or to most of the other books she authored or edited.

Dates

Creation: Majority of material found in 1920-1978
Creation: 1903-1987

Biographical / Historical

Gwenfread E. Allen was born on January 24, 1904 in Denver, Colorado. She attended college at the University of California, Berkeley and moved to Honolulu in the early 1920s. She graduated from the University of Hawai‘i in 1924, in the first graduating class after it became a university. She joined the staff of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin in 1922 and worked there for 22 years. In 1944 she became a public relations specialist with the War Manpower Commission, then in 1946 she joined the Honolulu Community Chest in a public relations position. Next, she became a researcher at UH, and during this time she wrote Hawaii’s War Years 1941-1945 (1950), for which she won a Friends of the Library award in 1950.

In 1949 she left the university to become a freelance writer and public relations consultant whose clients included the YWCA and Salvation Army. Her other books include The Story of Leahi : Fifty Years of Service, 1901-1951 (1951), The Y.M.C.A. in Hawaii, 1869-1969 (1969), Bridge Builder: the Story of Theodore and Mary Atherton Richards (1970), and Hawaii's Iolani Palace and Its Kings and Queens (1978). She authored numerous newspaper and magazine articles, mostly about topics related to Hawai‘i and the Pacific, and she also edited a number of publications, including the 1966 edition of Men and Women of Hawaii.

Allen served on the boards of many civic and professional organizations, including PR Women of Honolulu, the Salvation Army Auxiliary, and the League of American Pen Women. She died on October 12, 1987.

Extent

2.5 Linear Feet (2 record boxes 1 card file box) : Publications, manuscripts, notecards, notebooks, postcards, negatives, ephemera

2.5 Linear Feet

Language

English

Additional Description

Arrangement

Series Descriptions

Correspondence (3 folders) Miscellaneous correspondence from friends or acquaintances.

Manuscripts (6 folders) Most importantly, this series includes a handwritten family tree Allen compiled for Joseph B. Atherton. There are also a few of Allen’s publicity consultant reports from 1938-1955, song lyrics, poems, and meeting minutes. Some of the items are undated but are probably from Allen’s college years.

Memorabilia (4 folders) This series contains various items Allen retained from the University of California at Berkeley (1920-1921), University of Hawai‘i (1922-1924), and Honolulu Star Bulletin (1924-1954). University of California items include souvenir books, receipts, mementoes from campus events, membership cards, and ticket stubs. University of Hawai‘i memorabilia consists of mementoes from campus events, membership cards, tickets, and pamphlets.

School papers (12 folders) The bulk of the papers are notes from courses Allen took at the University of Hawai‘i and are either handwritten or typewritten. One folder contains course notes from the University of California, Berkeley.

Pamphlets (1 folder) This series contains pamphlets about various topics related to Hawai‘i. Allen may have worked on some of the pamphlets as a public relations consultant.

Pre-publication material (2 folders) Correspondence related to Allen’s book Hawaii’s Iolani Palace (1978) and undated galley proofs for an unknown publication are the only items in this series.

Publications Monographs Subseries (15 folders) Publications, mostly related to Hawai‘i, range from a 1903 edition of David Malo’s Hawaiian Antiquities to a 1965 reprint of the 1919 publication Aloha from Honolulu.

Periodicals Subseries (13 folders) This subseries is primarily individual issues of magazines, almost all related to Hawai‘i. Some contain articles written by Allen. There are a few publications related to the publishing industry.

Reports of Corporations Subseries (4 folders) This subseries consists of individual issues of annual reports of major corporations in Hawai‘i published between 1947 and 1980.

Reports of Organizations Subseries (11 folders) This subseries contains individual issues of annual reports of nonprofit organizations in Hawai‘i. Dates range from 1928 to 1971.

Newspaper Clippings Subseries (8 folders) These are mostly clippings from the Honolulu Advertiser or Honolulu Star-Bulletin published in the 1920s through the 1950s, although there are a few from the 1960s-1980s. Many do not indicate the date or original publication. Many from the 1920s and 1930s are wedding or birth announcements for people who were Allen’s friends or acquaintances. Some clippings are from the San Francisco Chronicle, for which Allen worked as a Hawai‘i correspondent during the 1920s, and they concern various topics related to Hawai‘i such as race relations and Hawaiian customs. Some clippings may be articles written by Allen for the Star-Bulletin.

Reprints Subseries (1 folder) This subseries consists entirely of reprints of Kakaako to Kennebunk by Gwenfread E. Allen, reprinted from Paradise of the Pacific, September 1946.

Postcards (.75 linear feet) Postcards mailed from all over the world by friends and acquaintances span a period of several decades from the 1920s through the 1970s.

Europe Notecards (.25 linear feet) These are notes Allen made in 1958 from guidebooks about various sites in Europe.

Photographic Negatives (47 negatives in paper sleeves) These are size 116 negatives of photographs taken in Yosemite in 1919. They depict scenery, campgrounds, and people, mostly women.