The Journal of San Diego History
SAN DIEGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY QUARTERLY
Summer 2001, Volume 47, Number 3
Gregg Hennessey, Editor
Old San Diego Mission
Mary Belle Williams
American, 1873-1943
Oil on Canvas, circa 1927
Unsigned
19 7/8 x 23 7/8 inches
Gift of Anonymous Donor, 84.72.7
Back Cover of this Journal issue:
Balboa Park
Mary Belle Williams
American, 1873-1943
Oil on Canvas, late 1920s-mid 1930s
Courtesy of Miriam and Kevin Munnelly
Williams, Mary Belle (1873-1943)
Painter
Born in Massilon, Ohio on December 13, 1873, the daughter of Henry and Alwida (Beazel) Williams. Mary Belle began art studies as a child and continued at the ASL in New York City. She moved to San Diego about 1906 where her brother owned a gold mine in nearby Julian. In San Diego she maintained a studio in a building she owned at Seventh and Beech streets where Alfred R. Mitchell also lived and worked. Her last six months were spent in a hospital in Los Angeles where she died on June 21, 1943. Her oeuvre includes portraits, landscapes, miniatures, and floral sill lifes. Member: San Diego Art Guild (charter member, 1915). Exhibited: Panama-California Exposition, San Diego, 1915 (silver and bronze medals); Western Painters Traveling Exhibition, 1923-24; San Diego FA Gallery, 1927; California Pacific Int’l Exposition, San Diego, 1935. Works held: San Diego Historical Society; San Diego Public Library (portrait of Kate Sessions). Source: San Diego History Center, CA&A.