Writing Themselves into History

A window into the world of nineteenth-century California, from two women who experienced it firsthand.In the early years of Californias statehood, Emily Brist Ketchum Bancroft (18341869) and Matilda Coley Griffing Bancroft (18481910) had front-row seats to the unfolding of the Golden States history. The first and second wives of historian extraordinaire Hubert Howe Bancroft, these two women were deeply engaged members of society and perceptive chroniclers of their times, and they left behind extensive records of their lives and work. Writing Themselves into History offers a rich immersion in nineteenth-century California, detailing Emilys and Matildas experiences with public life, motherhood, and business against the backdrop of San Franciscos high society and the states growth amidst the tumult of the American Civil War. The book also highlights Matildas significant involvement in Hubert Howes trailblazing research on the history of the American Westincluding her work collecting oral histories from women members of the LDS Churchand her evocative descriptions of travels throughout the Pacific Northwest and beyond.Kim Bancrofts commentary offers historical context and points up Emilys and Matildas keen insights, and she pays special attention to the two womens complex and nuanced portraits of gender, race, and class in the nineteenth-century West. This book is a valuable resource for American West and womens studies scholars, and for anyone with an interest in Californias first decades as a state.