Berkeley Hills in Alameda County, California — The American West (Pacific Coastal)

Ina Donna Coolbrith, 1841-1928

Berkeley History

Ina Donna Coolbrith Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Andrew Ruppenstein, May 3, 2020

1. Ina Donna Coolbrith Marker

Inscription. Ina Donna Coolbrith, California's first poet laureate and the nation's first state laureate, was considered "the pearl of all her tribe” by her 19th century colleagues during the Bay Area's first literary heyday.

Born Josephine Donna Smith, a niece of Mormon founder Joseph Smith, she came west with her family during California's Gold Rush. Coolbrith was fifteen and living in Los Angeles when her poetry was first published. After she divorced her husband at age twenty-one, she changed her name to Ina Donna Coolbrith, concealed her Mormon ancestry, and moved to San Francisco, where her celebrity as a poet grew. Coolbrith became Oakland's first public librarian and a mentor to Jack London, guiding him in his reading. She died in Berkeley and is buried in Oakland's Mountain View Cemetery.

When byways in the Berkeley hills were named after Bret Harte, Charles Warren Stoddard, Mark Twain, and other literati in her circle, women were not included. This path was renamed for Coolbrith in 2016.

Berkeley Historical Plaque Project
www.berkeleyplaques.org
2017
Plaque sponsored by the Berkeley Historical Society

Erected 2017 by Berkeley Historical Plaque Project.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Arts, Letters, Music

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• Women. A significant historical year for this entry is 2016.

Location. 37° 53.524′ N, 122° 15.402′ W. Marker is in Berkeley, California, in Alameda County. It is in Berkeley Hills. It is at the intersection of Miller Avenue and Ina Coolbrith Path, on the right when traveling west on Miller Avenue. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 1101 Miller Avenue, Berkeley CA 94708, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in California’s San Francisco Bay Area

and on the Coast Ranges.

It is also on the American Pacific Coast.

Globally, it is in North America,

on the Ring of Fire,

in the Pacific Rim,

in the Western Hemisphere,

in the Western World,

and in the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain

and also Mexico’s Alta California.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Everett and Marie Glass House (about 700 feet away, measured in a direct line); Berkeley Municipal Rose Garden (approx. 0.6 miles away); Rose Walk (approx. 0.7 miles away); La Loma Steps (approx. ¾ mile away); Annie and Bernard Maybeck House (approx. ¾ mile away); Hillside School (approx. 0.8 miles away); Temple of Wings (approx. 0.8 miles away); Site of Napoleon Bonaparte Byrne House (approx. 0.8 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Berkeley.

Also see . . . Ina Coolbrith (Wikipedia). (Submitted on July 11, 2020.)

Ina Donna Coolbrith, 1841-1928 Marker - wide view image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Andrew Ruppenstein, May 3, 2020

2. Ina Donna Coolbrith, 1841-1928 Marker - wide view

The marker is visible here in the shadows, just a few steps along the Ina Coolbrith (foot) Path.

<i>Ina Coolbrith about 1871: about 29 or 30 [years of age]</i> image. Click for full size.

Courtesy of the Oakland Public Library, circa 1871

3. Ina Coolbrith about 1871: about 29 or 30 [years of age]

Credits. This page was last revised on February 7, 2023. It was originally submitted on July 11, 2020, by Andrew Ruppenstein of Lamorinda, California. This page has been viewed 624 times since then and 35 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on July 11, 2020, by Andrew Ruppenstein of Lamorinda, California.