Ina Coolbrith
Ina Coolbrith, born Josephine Donna Smith on March 10, 1841, in Nauvoo, Illinois, was a significant figure in American literature and the first poet laureate of California. The daughter of Mormon parents, she moved to California with her family in 1852. Coolbrith began her writing career in 1854, publishing poetry in prominent outlets such as the Los Angeles Times and later gaining national recognition with her collections like *A Perfect Day and Other Poems* and *Songs from the Golden Gate*. She also had a notable career as a librarian and mentor, influencing emerging writers in the San Francisco Bay area, including Isadora Duncan and Jack London.
Her life was marked by personal hardships, including a tumultuous marriage and the loss of her home in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Despite these challenges, Coolbrith's literary contributions were celebrated; she was honored with a laurel wreath at the Panama Pacific International Exposition in 1915 and her legacy includes the naming of Mount Ina Coolbrith in her honor. Coolbrith's poetry, often characterized by traditional verse forms, continued to resonate through her later years, showcasing her enduring impact on American literature. She passed away in 1928 in Berkeley, leaving behind a rich legacy recognized by various honors, including a plaque installed in her memory at the Oakland Public Library.
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Ina Coolbrith
Poet
- Born: March 10, 1841
- Birthplace: Nauvoo, Illinois
- Died: February 29, 1928
- Place of death: Berkeley, California
Biography
Ina Coolbrith was born Josephine Donna Smith in Nauvoo, Illinois, on March 10, 1841. She was the oldest daughter of Mormon parents, Don Carlos and Agnes Coolbrith Smith. Her mother was unhappy with the polygamist lifestyle of the Morman church and ran away with her second husband to Los Angeles. In 1852, Coolbrith and her family entered California through the Beckwourth Pass in a covered wagon train. Coolbrith began to publish her poetry in 1854, with her first poems appearing in the Los Angeles Times.
Coolbrith attended Benicia College for Women, which later became Mills College. The school awarded her an honorary M.A. degree in 1924. In 1858, Coolbrith married her first husband, Robert Carsley, and a tumultuous period followed during which her marriage failed and her infant son died. Following a deep depression, she moved to San Francisco in 1862, where she worked as a journalist on the Overland Monthly. She and the magazine’s editors, Charles Warren Stoddard and Bret Harte, gained prominence in the San Francisco Bay area, where they were known as the Golden Gate Trinity. Coolbrith also enjoyed a distinguished career as a librarian at the Mechanics Institute Library, the Bohemian Club Library, and the first librarian employed at the Oakland Public Library.
By the late 1870’s, Coolbrith had earned a national reputation, and her verse appeared regularly in such magazines as Galaxy, Putnam’s, Scribner’s, and Harper’s Weekly. She worked at the Oakland Free Public Library from 1874 through 1893, where she met and mentored the young Isadora Duncan and future authors Jack London and Mary Austin. In the salons she organized during this time, she also met and encouraged other emerging California writers, including Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Joaquin Miller, and Edwin Markham.
In 1906, Coolbrith lost her San Francisco home and all her possessions in the city’s catastrophic earthquake and fire. Through the generosity of her literary friends, another home was built in the city’s Russian Hill neighborhood, and she lived there until deteriorating health forced her to move in with her niece in Berkeley. She died in Berkeley in 1928.
Coolbrith was a conventional lyric poet who composed in a variety of traditional verse forms. Her best-known poem, published in 1868, is the often-anthologized “In Blossom- Time,” which beautifully describes the approach of spring. Some of Coolbrith’s most powerful poems were written after her eightieth birthday. Her most notable published works are her poetry collections, A Perfect Day and Other Poems (1881), Songs from the Golden Gate (1895), and the posthumously published Wings of Sunset (1929).
Throughout her lifetime, Coolbrith received many honors. She was the first person asked to write a commencement ode for the University of California, which she did on two occasions. She was also the first woman member of San Francisco’s Bohemian Club. At the Panama Pacific International Exposition in 1915, she was appointed president of the Congress of Authors and Journalists; in arranging for the congress, she wrote more than four thousand letters to the leading writers and journalists in every country. During the exposition, the president of the University of California and the board of regents formally presented her with a laurel wreath. In addition, she was named the first poet laureate of California in 1915 by the state legislature. On the day of her funeral, the legislature adjourned in her memory and soon afterward named a 7,900-foot peak near Beckwourth Pass “Mount Ina Coolbrith.” A park in Russian Hill also was named in her honor. In 1991, the Ina Coolbrith Circle installed a plaque in her memory in the lobby of the main branch of the Oakland Public Library.
During her illustrious career, Coolbrith enjoyed a far- reaching reputation. She conducted correspondence throughout the nation and the world with many writers, including Alfred, Lord Tennyson, John Greenleaf Whittier, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and James Russell Lowell. Her closest friends included writers Bret Harte, Gertrude Atherton, Joaquin Miller, Charles Warren Stoddard, and William Keith. As a result of these accomplishments, she is not only a pioneer of the American West but also a pioneer of literature.