William Steele West family papers
Scope and Contents
The collection documents the life, career, and family of William Steele West, particularly his life in Alaska and work with the Wild Goose Placer Mining & Trading Company. Present are West’s diaries and correspondence during his time in Alaska. Several photograph albums contain photographs of the mining operations of the Wild Goose Placer Mining & Trading Company, mining facilities, and miners, including Japanese miners. Many of the mining photographs were taken by A. B. Kinne (1853-1925). There are also photographs of Eskimos and other Alaska Natives, as well as informal family photographs and formal portraits. The collection also contains a small quantity of William Steele West’s personal papers, professional papers relating to his later career, his daughter Margaret West Goodrich’s correspondence, financial records, and legal papers, other personal and family papers, and realia, including commemorative spoons, ivory souvenirs, and beaded gloves from Alaska.
Dates
- 1803 - 1972
- Majority of material found within 1850 - 1910
Creator
Language of Materials
In English.
Conditions Governing Access
This material is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Unpublished materials authored or otherwise produced by William Steele West are in the public domain. There are no restrictions on the use of these materials. Copyright status for other collection materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased from McBride Rare Books on the Frederick W. and Carrie S. Beinecke Fund for Western Americana, 2021.
Arrangement
Organized into four series: I. William Steele West Papers, 1803-1941. II. Margaret West Goodrich Family Papers, 1889-1987. III. Photographs and Portraits, circa 1839-1972. IV. Realia, circa 1890-1959.
Extent
18.06 Linear Feet (19 boxes)
Catalog Record
A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog
Persistent URL
Biographical / Historical
William Steele West (1872-1941) was a lawyer, judge, and businessman. He was born in Austin, Texas to Charles Shannon West (1829-1885), a lawyer and judge, and Florence Randolph DuVal West (1840-1881). William Steele West studied at University of Texas and Cumberland University before working for a bank and later a utilities company. Circa 1900, West became manager of the Wild Goose Placer Mining & Trading Company and moved to Alaska. He married Josephine Johnson West in 1902 and their only child, Margaret West Goodrich, was born in 1904. The family settled in Brownsville, Texas circa 1910, where William Steele West began a law practice and later became a judge. William Steele West was also a member of the Republican State Executive Committee and a board member of several organizations in Texas.
Margaret West Goodrich (1904-1980) was the daughter of William Steele West and Josephine Johnson West. In 1928, she married Emmette Knepp Goodrich. The couple later moved to Mexico City, Mexico and had two children, Joe Anna Goodrich and William Newman Goodrich.
Processing Information
Collections are processed to a variety of levels, depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived research value, the availability of staff, competing priorities, and whether or not further accruals are expected. The library attempts to provide a basic level of preservation and access for all collections, and does more extensive processing of higher priority collections as time and resources permit.
- Alaska -- Description and travel
- Alaska -- Economic conditions -- 20th century
- Alaska -- Gold discoveries
- Alaska -- Pictorial works
- Alaska -- Social life and customs -- 20th century
- Alaska Natives -- Pictorial works
- Alaska Natives -- Portraits
- Ambrotypes (photographs)
- Artifacts (object genre)
- Brownsville (Tex.)
- Candle (Alaska)
- Council (Alaska)
- Daguerreotypes (photographs)
- Eskimos -- Alaska -- Pictorial works
- Eskimos -- Alaska -- Portraits
- Fishers -- Alaska -- Pictorial works
- Gold miners -- Alaska -- Pictorial works
- Gold mines and mining -- Alaska -- Pictorial works
- Golovin (Alaska)
- Goodrich, Emmette Knepp, 1904-1996
- Indians of North America -- Alaska -- Pictorial works
- Indians of North America -- Alaska -- Portraits
- Japanese -- Alaska -- Pictorial works
- Kinne, A. B., (Albert Barnes)
- Mines and mineral resources -- Alaska -- Pictorial works
- Nome (Alaska)
- Ophir (Alaska)
- Panoramas
- Panoramic photographs
- Photograph albums
- Photographic postcards
- Photographs
- Salted paper prints
- Souvenirs
- Texas -- Pictorial works
- Texas -- Social life and customs -- 20th century
- West. Josephine Johnson, 1872-1934
- Wild Goose Mining & Trading Company
- Women -- West (U.S.)
- Title
- Guide to the William Steele West Family Papers
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Stephanie Bredbenner
- Date
- January 2024
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Part of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library Repository
Location
121 Wall Street
New Haven, CT 06511
Opening Hours
Access Information
The Beinecke Library is open to all Yale University students and faculty, and visiting researchers whose work requires use of its special collections. You will need to bring appropriate photo ID the first time you register. Beinecke is a non-circulating, closed stack library. Paging is done by library staff during business hours. You can request collection material online at least two business days in advance of your visit, using the request links in Archives at Yale. For more information, please see Planning Your Research Visit and consult the Reading Room Policies prior to visiting the library.