About Lucretia Little

Lucretia Hanson Little was born in Alexandria, Virginia but her family moved to Mill Valley in 1919. Her mother, Lucretia K. Hanson, was society editor and historian at the Mill Valley Record. She attended Summit School and Tamalpais Union High School (now Tamalpais High School) and attended Northwestern University. Lucretia Little returned to Mill Valley in 1950 and was hired as the Mill Valley Deputy City Clerk the following year. Little was an ardent supporter and collector of local history, gathering maps, objects and paper materials that City Hall felt were redundant, but she saw their historical value.

In 1969 Little was appointed City Historian by the mayor and conducted extensive research on the history of California, particularly Mill Valley and Marin County. She rallied to create a Mill Valley “Heritage Library” to house artifacts and papers documenting the history of the City and she worked with the Mill Valley Public Library to open such a space. Lucretia Hanson Little died in November 1977, five months after the Lucretia Little History Room officially opened at MVPL. Little’s personal collection originally formed the bulk of the History Room’s resources but today it is home to over 10,000 items, including the Lucretia Hanson Little Collection, a collection of Lucretia’s research notes, correspondence, and copies of documents relating to Mill Valley and Marin County history. Her personal bible is also part of this collection! 

If you have any questions about accessing the Lucretia Hanson Little Collection, the History Room, or about Mill Valley’s history in general, please contact History Room staff at hist@cityofmillvalley.org.