COOLBRITH, Mrs. Ina Donna

Ina Donna Coolbrith, who was born in Nauvoo, Illinois, on March 10, 1841, grew up in California and became its Poet Laureate.

During her prolific writing career, Ina contributed to Overland Monthly and later ran it with Bret Harte and Charles Warren Stoddard.  She also contributed to Californian, Century, Galaxy, Harper's Magazine, and Scribner's Magazine.

Also a librarian, she played a positive role in the lives of many young readers, including Jack London.  A 1919 New York Sun article about Coolbrith quotes London's recollections about Ina:

"No woman has affected me to the extent you did.  I was only a little lad, I knew nothing about you, yet in all the years that have passed, I have met no woman so 'noble' as you.  I have never seen you since those library days, yet the memory picture I retain of you is as vivid as any I possess."

Ina passed away in Berkeley, California on February 29, 1928.  She was buried in Oakland, California's Mountain View Cemetery.

Coolbrith, Ina D. (Ina Donna) 1841-1928

• The sun. (New York [N.Y.]), 07 Dec. 1919. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. <http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030431/1919-12-07/ed-1/seq-75/>

• The San Francisco call. (San Francisco [Calif.]), 08 Aug. 1897. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. <http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85066387/1897-08-08/ed-1/seq-21/>

• The San Francisco call. (San Francisco [Calif.]), 27 Oct. 1895. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. <http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85066387/1895-10-27/ed-1/seq-17/>