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Delfina De La Guerra Papers

 Collection
Identifier: MS-21

Scope and Contents

The Delfina de la Guerra papers contain letters and postcards, a scrapbook, loose newspaper clippings, keepsake pressed flowers attached to paper and the leather folder in which they were previously housed, an inscribed book of genealogy, photographic prints and photographic negatives, a notepad, and a printing block depicting the Casa de la Guerra. Clippings consist of mostly obituaries and society announcements concerning the De La Guerras and their relatives, as well as Santa Barbara news. Many of the clippings in the scrapbook are poetry in English and Spanish. The letters are very romantic and written in Spanish. The pressed flowers include information written on their attached papers about where they were procured, the significance of the site, and the date. The photographs are mostly portraits of unidentified people, probably family members.

Dates

  • 1876 - 1940

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open to researchers. Please use digital facsimiles when possible.

Conditions Governing Use

All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Archivist and Librarian. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation Research Center as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader. Copyright restrictions also apply to digital facsimiles of the original materials. Use of digital files is restricted to research and educational purposes.

Biographical / Historical

Delfina de la Guerra was born on March 21, 1861 and died April 25, 1953. She was the daughter of Pablo Antonio de la Guerra and Josefa Moreno y Castro. She was the sister of María Francisca Antonia (Francisca), Carlos Pablo, María Paulina (Paulina, died the year Delfina was born), Ana María Elena (Elena, died when Delfina was five), Herminia Andrea, and Ynez (no birth or death date given), as well as two siblings who died before Delfina was born (including her twin brother). It is not known how Delfina supported herself, her family fortunes having dwindled and wage-earning men deceased by the time she came of age. She did volunteer as a translator/interpreter at the East Side Social Center, where her sister Herminia was a social worker. Various sources mention that Delfina gave Spanish lessons to Irene Hoffmann, wife of Bernhard Hoffmann, and this is how the relationship formed that eventually led to the restoration of the Casa de la Guerra and development of El Paseo commercial complex.



Delfina de la Guerra carried on her family's ideal of graciousness and the preservation of the old sense of nobility that early 20th century boosters sought to imbue upon the local culture. She was the last surviving member of the family who lived in the Casa and ruled benevolently as de facto figureheads in their Spanish- and Mexican-era heyday. Not much is known about Delfina herself except for the fact that she experienced the turn of the 20th century as a fairly modern woman, unmarried and traveling unchaperoned across the country and abroad. She seemed to have been sentimental and religious, as evidenced by the poetry and religious works she collected in her scrapbook, as well as the collection of flower and plant sprigs kept as souvenirs of her travels as a younger woman from 1893-1915).

Extent

1.5 Linear Feet ( in 5 boxes)

Language of Materials

Spanish; Castilian

Abstract

The Delfina de la Guerra Papers contain the personal papers of Delfina de la Guerra, the last member of the de la Guerra family to reside in Casa de la Guerra. The materials in the collection include photographs, letters, clippings, objects, and pressed flowers.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of William Gaston Campbell and family, descendants of Elizabeth LeClerc Campbell, Delfina’s companion and caregiver before her death.

Existence and Location of Copies

View selections from this collection online at http://sbthpcollections.libraryhost.com/collections/show/7

Related Materials

See; Bowman, Mary M. 1915. Delfina de la Guerra manuscript collection : Report to California Historical Survey Commission. F864.B67 1918 (2 volumes) in the Presidio Research Center.

Personal and business papers of members of the De la Guerra family may also be found at the Santa Barbara Mission Archive-Library, The Huntington Library, the Santa Barbara Historical Museum, and the Academy of American Franciscan History.

Processing Information

The Delfina de la Guerra papers were processed by Torie Quiñonez, Presidio Research Center Librarian and Archivist. Selected materials from the Delfina de la Guerra papers were digitized by Katherine Lowe. Finding aid written by Torie Quiñonez. Collection guide revised by Chris S. Ervin CA on 2020-03-30.

Title
Guide to the Delfina de la Guerra Papers
Status
Completed
Author
Torie Quiñonez with revisions by Chris S. Ervin CA
Date
2020-03-30
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
Undetermined
Script of description
Code for undetermined script
Language of description note
English

Repository Details

Part of the Presidio Research Center Repository

Contact:
215 East Canon Perdido St.
Santa Barbara CA 93101 USA
(805) 961-5369