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Finding Aid to the David Pesonen papers, 1921, 1947-1987 (bulk
1961-1984)
BANC MSS 98/133 c
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Table of contents
Collection Title: David Pesonen papers
Date: 1921,
Date (inclusive): 1947-1987
Date (bulk): 1961-1984
Collection Number: BANC MSS 98/133 c
Creator:
Pesonen, David E.,
1934-
Extent:
9 cartons;
11.25 linear feet
Repository: The Bancroft Library.
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-6000
Phone: (510) 642-6481
Fax: (510) 642-7589
Email: bancref@library.berkeley.edu
URL: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/
Abstract: The David Pesonen Papers include materials produced and acquired by
Pesonen relating to his professional activities as an environmental activist, lawyer, and
judge in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Languages Represented: Collection materials are in English
Physical Location: Many of the Bancroft Library collections are stored offsite
and advance notice may be required for use. For current information on the location of these
materials, please consult the library's online catalog.
Collection is open for research.
Materials in this collection may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17,
U.S.C.). In addition, the reproduction of some materials may be restricted by terms of
University of California gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions, privacy and
publicity rights, licensing and trademarks. Transmission or reproduction of materials
protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of
the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited
without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively
with the user.
All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from, or otherwise use collection materials
must be submitted in writing to the Head of Public Services, The Bancroft Library,
University of California, Berkeley 94720-6000. See:
http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/reference/permissions.html .
[Identification of item], David Pesonen papers, BANC MSS 98/133 c, The Bancroft Library,
University of California, Berkeley
There are no alternate forms of this collection.
Oral history interview with David E. Pesonen, 1992 : transcript (BANC MSS 95/166
c).
Attorney and activist for the environment, 1962-1992 : opposing nuclear power at
Bodega Bay and Point Arena, managing California forests and East Bay regional parks : oral
history transcript (BANC MSS 97/132 c).
Photographs have been transferred to the Pictorial Collections of The Bancroft
Library.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
library's online public access catalog
Pesonen, David E., 1934- --
Archives.
California. Dept. of Forestry.
California. Superior Court
(Contra Costa County)
Pacific Gas and Electric
Company.
Antinuclear movement
Environmental lawyers -- California -- San
Francisco Bay Area.
Environmentalism -- California.
Environmentalists--California
Forests and forestry -- California.
Judges -- California -- San Francisco Bay Area.
Lawyers -- California -- San Francisco Bay Area.
Nuclear energy -- Environmental aspects --
California.
Nuclear energy -- Law and legislation --
California.
Nuclear power plants -- California -- Bodega
Bay.
Nuclear power plants -- California -- Mendocino
County.
Nuclear power plants -- California -- Point
Arena.
Nuclear power plants -- California -- Sonoma
County.
Nuclear power plants -- Environmental aspects --
California.
Bodega Bay (Calif.)
Point Arena (Calif.)
Clippings.
Legal documents -- California.
Transcripts.
Trial proceedings.
The David Pesonen papers were given to The Bancroft Library by David Pesonen on March 18,
1998.
No additions are expected.
Processed by Josh Roselle in 2010.
David Pesonen was an environmental activist, lawyer, and judge in the San Francisco Bay
Area. After graduating from Boalt Law School, at the University of California, in 1968, he
began work at a San Francisco law firm and became involved in the anti-nuclear movement. He
was elected chairman of Californians for Nuclear Safeguards, and was one of the authors of
Proposition 15—an unsuccessful 1976 ballot initiative to restrict nuclear power
production in California. He was also involved in the successful opposition to proposed
nuclear power plants near Bodega Bay, in Sonoma County, and Point Arena, in Mendocino
County. In 1979 Pesonen was appointed by Governor Edmund Gerald "Jerry"
Brown, Jr. to the office of Director of Forestry. In the final days of Governor
Brown's term in office, he appointed Pesonen to the Superior Court in Contra Costa
County. He ran unsuccessfully for reelection to the post in 1984.
Scope and Content of Collection
The David Pesonen Papers, 1947-1987 (bulk 1961-1984), include materials produced and
acquired by Pesonen relating to his professional activities as an environmental activist,
lawyer, and judge in the San Francisco Bay Area. The collection consists primarily of
environmental reports, court proceedings, newspaper clippings, and correspondence. The
collection is divided into six series: Subject Files; Proposition 15; Bodega Bay Power
Plant; California Department of Forestry; Superior Court Judge; and Mendocino Power
Plant.