author
Maria Antonia Field
b. 1885
A California writer with deep ties to the state's early Spanish past, she wrote warmly about the mission era and its legacy. Her books blend local history, family memory, and a strong sense of place.
1 Audiobook
Chimes of Mission Bells; an historical sketch of California and her missions
by Maria Antonia Field
About the author
Born in 1885, Maria Antonia Field was a California author best known for Chimes of Mission Bells, a historical sketch of California and its missions first published in 1918. Contemporary records also show that she wrote Five Years of Vocal Study Under Fernando Michelena, published in 1922, reflecting a serious interest in music as well as history.
Her writing is closely linked with Monterey and the California mission tradition. In Chimes of Mission Bells, she centered her work on the missions and on figures such as Junipero Serra, and the book notes that she read a tribute at the crowning of the Serra statue in Monterey on November 23, 1913.
Available records indicate that she lived from 1885 to 1962. Although biographical details about her life are limited, her surviving books show a writer devoted to preserving a particular vision of California's religious and cultural history.