Collection is open for research.
Gift of Margery Hoffman Smith estate, December 1981. Materials previously designated Mss 2660-1, gift of Marshall Steel, Jr., November 1985; materials previously designated Mss 2660-2, gift of Jane Watson Steel, August 1988.
Margery Hoffman Smith was born in 1888 to a prominent family in Portland, Oregon. She became a leading supporter of the arts, both in Portland and later in San Francisco, where she lived with her husband Ferdinand C. Smith, a partner in the brokerage house of Merrill, Lynch, Pearce, Fenner and Smith. In the 1930s, Margery Hoffman Smith worked with the Works Progress Administration, supervising the handcraft work carried out for Timberline Lodge. Her later contributions to the Portland Art Museum and the Oregon School of Arts and Crafts greatly enhanced both institutions.
Margery Hoffman Smith papers, Mss 2660, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
Contains material previously designated Mss 2660-1 and 2660-2.
Margery Hoffman Smith photographs collection, Org. Lot 126, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
Collection includes correspondence and diaries of Julia Hoffman, 1891-1934; correspondence of Margery Hoffman Smith, 1896-1981; financial records; inventories of art collections; appointment calendars; memorabilia regarding the Smith and Hoffman families; miscellaneous papers and correspondence relating to Smith's professional and philanthropic activities. Materials previously designated Mss 2660-1 include: inventories and appraisals, 1957-1981; financial records, 1963-1981, of the Wauna Land Company, the Julia E. Hoffman Trust, the F.C. Smith Trust, and donations to the Portland Art Museum; and correspondence with Jane Steel. Materials previously designated Mss 2660-2 include: correspondence and financial records, 1975-1986, concerning estates and trusts; history of 825 Francisco; insurance information; notebook of Jane Steel.
The Oregon Historical Society owns the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from copyright owners.