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Frances B. McAllister Papers (PARTIALLY PROCESSED) 1892, 1938-1983

NAU.MS.474
NAU.PH.2002.31
NAU.MI.2002.31
NAU.AU.2002.31

Biographical Note

Frances Burt McAllister, née Frances Muriel Burt, was born September 17, 1910 in Los Angeles, California. McAllister's parents, Bessie Aurilla Randall and Clyde Arthur Burt, were both born in Michigan in 1892 and married in Windsor, Ontario, Canada in 1909. Shortly thereafter, the Burts moved to California.

Frances McAllister had one sister, Helen Burt (born April 5, 1913), and one half-sister, Florence Jeannette Burt (later Jeannette Kastorff). Frances McAllister's mother Bessie died February 9, 1924, when Frances was 13 years old. After her mother's death, Clyde Burt remarried in 1925 and fathered another child (Jeanette) with his second wife, Bertha Buck.

McAllister attended Huntington Park High School for two years, until her father moved the family to Encino, California, and she transferred to Van Nuys High School. The family moved again to Glendale, California, in 1926. Despite another family move, McAllister finished her high school education at Glendale High School in June of 1927. She went on to attend Glendale Junior College between October 1927 and January 1930. McAllister transferred to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in February 1930, where she majored in philosophy. Frances Burt met the man who would later become her second husband, John Vickers McAllister, during her first year at UCLA. She also began attending Quaker religious services in 1931, going on to worship at many meetings throughout her life.

In June 1931, Frances Burt eloped with Richard Perry, whom she had met through The Manuscript Club at UCLA in 1930. The couple moved to Berkeley, California, where Richard pursued a graduate degree in library science and Frances completed a few semesters at the University of California, Berkeley. In 1932, John Vickers McAllister enlisted Frances and Perry to help him work on a literary magazine titled The Magazine, which she began to do in addition to her coursework. After Richard decided to delay completion of his own graduate program, McAllister wound up completing her bachelor's degree at UCLA in June 1932. She then moved back to Berkeley to begin a one year Master's degree in Philosophy.

Despite having completed all the necessary coursework, Frances did not complete her degree. She missed the final exam for her Master's due to her move to Washington, DC in August 1933, after Perry obtained a job at the Library of Congress. While in DC, she researched Chinese philosophy and esthetics at the Library of Congress. In May 1934, Frances and Perry returned to Los Angeles, both resuming their work on The Magazine with John Vickers McAllister. In 1934, Frances traveled to Europe, where she visited England, France, Switzerland, and the Society Union and participated in the Women's International League of Peace and Freedom Conference.

Frances and Richard divorced in 1934. Frances McAllister continued to work on The Magazine. Simultaneously, she and John Vickers McAllister began a relationship, planning to marry after the 'interlocutory' degrees for their respective divorces was granted and they were legally able to remarry. They came to Flagstaff, Arizona on vacation in 1935. John had bought a piece of property in Flagstaff, on what is now Woody Mountain Road, from Clyde Beeson in 1934. In 1935, France and John began building a log cabin (the Log House) on the property, where they continued their work on The Magazine.

Frances Burt and John Vickers McAllister were married February 21, 1936.In May 1937, the McAllisters moved to New York, where they lived for three years. While she was in New York, Frances McAllister took graduate courses on philosophy at Columbia University and served on the board of the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA). T

Following their time in New York, the McAllisters moved back to southern California, where they built a home in Bel Air. In addition to volunteer work and other philanthropic outreach in California, the McAllisters continued to visit their property in Flagstaff every summer and during holidays to stay in the cabin. They adopted a son, John McAllister Junior, in April of 1943.

In the spring of 1945, John Vickers McAllister fell ill, suffering from intense headaches due to an inoperable tumor on his pituitary gland for several years. During her husband's illness, Frances built a third house in Corona del Mar where she stayed with her son and cared for her husband between hospitalizations. She volunteered at Pacific Oaks, the school where she enrolled her son John. The McAllisters continued to visit Flagstaff during the summers, where they met and befriended Platt and Barbara Cline, Katherine Bartlett, Daisy Albert, Charles and Otellie Loloma, Inge and Cozie McSparron (who ran Thunderbird Ranch in Canyon de Chelly), and others.

John Vickers McAllister died in 1953. Frances McAllister inherited his estate, including the Log House in Flagstaff.

In 1956, Frances McAllister met and married Lyman Thompson through her teaching work at Occidental College in Los Angeles. Thompson and McAllister divorced in 1959. In 1961, McAllister began working with the Friends Committee on National Legislation at the University of California, Santa Cruz, in addition to joining the boards of the Pasadena Symposium and Pasadena Art Museum.

In 1967, Frances McAllister moved to Flagstaff full time. Since the Log House was not suitable for year-round living, she built a house designed by architect Walter Reichhart on Woody Mountain Road. She developed several gardens around her home on Woody Mountain Road. During this time, McAllister befriended people such as Marguerite and Phil Wells, Wilson Riles, and others. McAllister frequently hosted events at her home, such as a 1968 meeting to discuss forming "Friends of NAU" with Lawrence J. Walkup, Ralph Bilby, and Norman Sharber, and Quaker gatherings for Arizona Quakers.

Frances McAllister became known as a local leader and philanthropist in Flagstaff. She was a founding member of the Flagstaff Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends in 1968 and donated the Flagstaff Quaker Meetinghouse on Beaver Street to the Flagstaff Friends Meeting. She established the Chair in the Community, Culture and Environment at Northern Arizona University and provided financial support for the Biology and History Departments at NAU. McAllister was close personal friends with Platt Cline and former NAU President Lawrence Walkup. Walkup advised McAllister on her approach to teaching and education. In 1968 and 1969, she trained staff at the Head Start Program in Flagstaff and established the Coconino Coalition for Children and Youth. In 2002, NAU awarded McAllister with an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters.

Throughout her adult life, McAllister travelled internationally, often in connection to her philanthropic work or work with Quaker organizations.

McAllister lived in the Woody Mountain Road house for 14 years before establishing the private nonprofit Transition Foundation Horticultural Institute on that property in 1981. The Transition Zone later became the Arboretum at Flagstaff.

Frances McAllister supported many nonprofit organizations in Flagstaff, including Lowell Observatory, the Museum of Northern Arizona and the Suzuki Program of the Flagstaff Symphony Association. She also supported the Long Marine Lab at U.C. Santa Cruz and helped develop the UCSC library in its early years. She was a board member and president for the Museum of Northern Arizona and the Flagstaff Symphony Associated boards. She was also an honorary Trustee at Lowell Observatory and a trustee at the Center for Democratic Institutions in Santa Barbara founded by Robert Hutchins, and The International Ocean Institute in Malta. She served as a member of the Arizona Board of Education's Committee on Basic Goals for Social Studies, the Arizona Humanities Council, the Arizona Commission on the Arts, and the State Advisory Committee for the White House Conference on Library and Information Services. She was named Arizona Daily Sun Citizen of the Year in 1983, received the "Women of Distinction" Award from the Soroptimist International of Flagstaff in 1990 and 1999, the Regents Award and the Governor's Arts Award in Support of the Arts in 1998, and the Board Chair Award from United Way of Northern Arizona in 2004.

Frances McAllister died August 3, 2008 at the age of 97.

Information provided in this biographical history note is drawn from The Journals of Frances B. McAllister, 1910-2008 (2013), compiled and edited by Robin Cameron; an oral history with Frances McAllister by Bill Ragains in 1981 (NAU.AU.43); an oral history interview with Frances McAllister conducted by Monte Poen on October 10, 2005 (NAU.96.108.24A-B); an oral history interview with Frances McAllister conducted by Karen Underhill in 2004; the "About" page of the Arboretum at Flagstaff website.

Scope & Content Note

Manuscript materials in the Frances B. McAllister papers consist of poetry written by Frances McAllister. However, the bulk of the Frances B. McAllister papers consists of photographs, moving images, and sound recordings documenting McAllister's family, travels, and life in Flagstaff, Arizona. Many of these materials pertain to McAllister's vacation trips and other travel within the United States and abroad.

Arrangement

Restrictions

Conditions Governing Access

Processed manuscript materials (NAU.MS.474) and slides and transparencies (NAU.PH.2002.31.001) are available for research.

Semi-processed prints and negatives (NAU.PH.2002.31.002) and unprocessed materials in Accession 2002.31 of the Frances B. McAllister papers may include fragile, obsolete or near-obsolete, or sensitive material which require advance review by Special Collections and Archives staff. Please contact Special Collections and Archives at least three weeks in advance to request access.

Due to a lack of required playback equipment and the fragility of the materials in question, all 8mm and 16mm films in the moving images portion of the Frances B. McAllister papers (NAU.MI.2002.31) are unavailable for access and use in the Miriam Lemont Reading Room. Researchers are advised to utilize digitized versions of the original films available online via the Colorado Plateau Digital Collections. Please see the Digital Material Available note to learn more. Researchers interested in any 8mm or 16mm films which have yet to be digitized by SCA should contact the department to learn more.

Open-reel audiotapes are considered an obsolete format. Due to the inherent fragility of these materials, as well as the risks posed by digitization, SCA is unable to provide access to open-reel audiotapes in the Frances B. McAllister papers (NAU.AU.2002.31) either onsite in the Miriam Lemont Reading Room or online via the Colorado Plateau Digital Collections as of March 2023.

Conditions Governing Use

It is the responsibility of the user to obtain permission to publish from the owner of the copyright (the institution, the creator of the record, the author or his/her transferees, heirs, legates, or literary executors). The user agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Arizona Board of Regents for Northern Arizona University, its officers, employees, and agents from and against all claims made by any person asserting that he or she is an owner of copyright.

Related Material

Frances B. McAllister : my life and times [bound manuscript] by Frances B. McAllister, HQ1435.A6 M335 1945

The journals of Frances B. McAllister, 1910-2008 edited by Robin Cameron, HQ1435.A6 M335 2013

Commonplace book: a collection of poems & writings by Frances B. McAllister, PN6245 .M333 2000

Frances B. McAllister Papers. Mss 285. Department of Special Collections, Davidson Library, University of California, Santa Barbara.

Monte Poen Collection, NAU.OH.96.108. Special Collections and Archives. Northern Arizona University. Cline Library. Flagstaff, Arizona.

Platt Cline Collection, NAU.MS.91, NAU.PH.473. Special Collections and Archives. Northern Arizona University. Cline Library. Flagstaff, Arizona.

Clara M. Lovett Presidential Papers, R.G.1.13. Special Collections and Archives. Northern Arizona University. Cline Library. Flagstaff, Arizona.

Separated Materials

Special Collections and Archives transferred materials related to Frances McAllister's role as a board member for the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions (CSDI), a think tank located in Santa Barbara, California, and the International Ocean Institute (IOI), established at the University of Malta in the 1970s, to the Department of Special Collections, Davidson Library, University of California, Santa Barbara in 2011. Please see the Related Materials note for more information.

Administrative Information

Digital Material Available

SCA staff, notably Jess Vogelsang, digitized selected photographs from the Frances B. McAllister papers in June 2021. Olivia "Liv" Hall digitized selected moving images in April 2023 to support the NEH moving image grant, which features newly digitized films from the Colorado Plateau and Four Corners region.

Digitized photographs and films from the Frances B. McAllister papers are available online via the Colorado Plateau Digital Collections. Select "Colorado Plateau Archives." Use the advanced search menu to search for "Frances B. McAllister" in the "Creator" field or in the "Collection name" field, or search "NAU.PH.2002.31" or "NAU.MI.2002.31" in the "Call number" field.

Click here to view all digitized material from the Frances B. McAllister papers.

The digitization of and public online access to moving image materials from the Frances B. McAllister papers was made possible through generous funding from the National Endowment of the Humanities (NEH) Humanities Collections and Reference Resources: Implementation grant (PW-277441-21), 2021-2024.

Preferred Citation

[Title or brief description of file or item.] Frances McAllister papers [manuscripts], NAU.MS.474, Box [ ], Folder [ ]. Special Collections and Archives. Cline Library. Northern Arizona University. Flagstaff, Arizona.

[Title or brief description of file or item.] Frances McAllister papers [photographs], NAU.PH.2002.31.[ ], Series [ ], Box [ ], Folder [ ]. Special Collections and Archives. Cline Library. Northern Arizona University. Flagstaff, Arizona.

[Title or brief description of file or item.] Frances McAllister papers [moving images], NAU.MI.2002.31.[ ]. Special Collections and Archives. Cline Library. Northern Arizona University. Flagstaff, Arizona.

[Title or brief description of file or item.] Frances McAllister papers [audio recordings], NAU.AU.2002.31.[ ]. Special Collections and Archives. Cline Library. Northern Arizona University. Flagstaff, Arizona.

Acquisition Information

Frances McAllister donated her photographs, moving image materials, and sound recordings in January 2002.

Robin Cameron donated manuscript materials in June 2013.

Processing Information

Ariel Apple processed manuscript materials (NAU.MS.474) from the Frances McAllister papers in February 2015.

In 2004-2006, SCA staff including Jonathan Pringle surveyed Accession 2002.31, which consists of photographs, moving images, and sound recordings documenting McAllister's family, travels, and life in Flagstaff, Arizona. Sam(antha) Meier inventoried and processed slides and transparencies in the Frances McAllister papers (NAU.PH.2002.31.001) in May 2021. Meier is currently processing prints and negatives (NAU.PH.2002.31.002) as of June 2021.

The audio recordings (NAU.AU.2002.31) and moving images (NAU.MI.2002.31) in the Frances B. McAllister papers have been partially processed as of May 2023. In 2022, Sam Meier and Nix Mendy assessed and prepared these materials for digitization as part of SCA's National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) grant, which focuses on preserving at-risk films from the Colorado Plateau and the American Southwest. While Mendy added all moving image and audio recording titles to the finding aid to support future processing projects, only films and associated audio that fit the grant scope were digitized by Olivia "Liv" Hall in spring 2023.

Appraisal

Commercial musical recordings (7" vinyl records) and blank open-reel audiotapes were removed from Frances B. McAllsiter papers in March 2023.

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