Abbie Ann Stimson Purcell papers, approximately 1894-1982

Abbie Ann Stimson Purcell is a daughter of Abbie Baillargeon and Harold Clarke Stimson. She was born at Hollywood Farm (in present-day Woodinville, Washington) on August 1st, 1916. Stimson was raised between Hollywood Farm and Queen Anne Hill in Seattle, and her siblings were Mary and Virginia. Abbie Ann moved to the Bay Area to attend Miss Wallace’s School in Piedmont, California, and went on to study journalism and University of Southern California from 1936 to 1938. Just before graduating, in 1938, Abbie and some of her friends went to Europe where they hoped to travel for about a year. The Spanish Civil War broke out, and though she wanted to stay and cover it as a journalist, she was denied access since it was considered too dangerous for a woman. She was sent for by her father, and returned along from Le Havre to New York with other refugees on the Queen Mary 1939. Presumably, Abbie’s journalistic ambitions were tempered by this experience, and she enrolled in The Art Center School of Photography in Pasadena. She was a student of Ed Kaminski and Ansel Adams, and her work shows their influence. Her early professional work is mostly interiors and industrial landscapes. In the 1940s, Abbie Ann settled in Inverness California, and was married to Steward Purcell of Fresno, California. Abbie Ann was a professional photographer throughout her life, and had her own studio located in Fresno, California. A poster that she created from her photography was featured in the “Artists for Victory” show at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1942. Abbie Ann created a postcard company in the mid 60s, and continued working as a professional photographer (primarily in northern California) until her death in 1988 (at the age of 72).