Guide to the Philip L. Boyd Collection on University of California, Irvine Site Selection, 1958-1964
Processed by Leland Smith.
Special Collections and Archives
© 2003
The UCI Libraries
P.O. Box 19557
University of California
Irvine, California 92623-9557
Phone: (949) 824-3947
Fax: (949) 824-2472
Email: spcoll@uci.edu
URL: http://special.lib.uci.edu
The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Guide to the Philip L. Boyd Collection on University of California, Irvine Site Selection, 1958-1964
Collection number: AS-067
Special Collections and ArchivesThe UCI Libraries
University of California
Irvine, California
- Special Collections and Archives
- The UCI Libraries
- P.O. Box 19557
- University of California
- Irvine, California 92623-9557
- Phone: (949) 824-3947
- Fax: (949) 824-2472
- Email: spcoll@uci.edu
- URL: http://special.lib.uci.edu
- Processed by:
- Leland Smith
- Date Completed:
- 2003
- Encoded by:
- Leland Smith
© 2003 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Title: Philip L. Boyd collection on University of California, Irvine site selection,
Date (inclusive): 1958-1964
Collection number: AS-067
Collector:
Boyd, Philip L.
Extent:
0.2 linear feet (1 box)
Repository:
University of California, Irvine. Library.
Special Collections and Archives.
Irvine, California 92623-9557
Abstract: This collection contains materials related to the selection of the campus site for the University
of California, Irvine. The collection primarily consists of correspondence between former
University of California Regent, Philip L. Boyd and parties interested in or participating in the
selection of the Irvine campus site. Correspondence spans the initial search for a site in 1958 to the development of specific
buildings and the development of a curriculum for the new campus in 1964.
Correspondents include members of the California legislature, local business community leaders,
University Regents, members of the Irvine Company, and California Governor Edmund Brown. Also
included are photographs documenting the signing of the site selection agreement and aerial
photographs of the proposed site. This collection also contains a site selection status report published
in 1958 that details campus site searches for the Southern California Metropolitan Center Section
(Irvine) and the Southern Cross Section (San Diego).
Language:
English.
Collection is open for research.
Property rights and copyright reside with the University of California. For permissions to reproduce or
to publish, please contact the University Archivist.
Philip L. Boyd Collection on University of California, Irvine Site Selection. AS-067. Special Collections and Archives, The
UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California.
Acquired, 1978.
Processed by Leland Smith in 2003.
A rapidly growing California population in the late 1950s prompted the Regents of the University of
California to explore the possibility of adding new campuses in an attempt to meet the state's
escalating need for higher education. Enrollment projections suggested that the University
would require three new campuses by 1970 to meet the rising demand. After selecting Santa Cruz and
San Diego as new outposts for the University, the Regents undertook a search to discover a
campus site in the Southeast Los Angeles-Orange County area. The Regents selected twenty-three
sites in the region based on size, shape, physical setting, availability, accessibility, their relationship to the center
of population and potential for planned community development. Additional criteria for selecting a campus site included finding
an area with a large and increasing population, and a strategic site that would relieve pressure from existing campuses, namely
Los Angeles and Riverside.
Because the new Irvine campus did not previously exist as a University satellite campus, developers
were able to carefully select a site and its development that met the criteria of their conceptualized
model. After narrowing their selection to the three highest-ranking sites, site #9 situated inland from
Newport Beach and located on the Irvine Ranch was tentatively selected. The Irvine Ranch site was
perceived as having the greatest long-term potential for development, despite its relative remoteness.
Planners envisioned a campus surrounded by a burgeoning planned community that naturally
facilitated a relationship between "town and gown." The Irvine Ranch site was also attractive because
ownership of the land resided with a single owner, The Irvine Company.
Once the campus site was chosen, the University undertook to appropriate the necessary land for the
new campus. In 1960 the Irvine Company reached an agreement with the University of California to
deed as a gift one thousand acres of land for a new campus in Orange County. The Regents were
convinced that an additional plot of land would be necessary to meet the new campus's ancillary
needs. Over the course of the next four years, The Irvine Company and UC negotiated the terms of sale
for an Inclusion Area, intended primarily for faculty, staff, and student housing, as well as commercial
development adjacent to the campus. In 1963, the two parties reached an agreement in which UC
purchased 510 additional acres at a price of $6,500 per acre.
Collection Scope and Content Summary
This collection contains materials related to the selection of the campus site for the University
of California, Irvine. The collection primarily consists of correspondence between former
University of California Regent, Philip L. Boyd and parties interested in or participating in the
selection of the Irvine campus site. Correspondence spans the initial search for a site in 1958 to the development of specific
buildings and the development of a curriculum for the new campus in 1964.
Correspondents include members of the California legislature, local business community leaders,
University Regents, members of the Irvine Company, and California Governor Edmund Brown. Also
included are photographs documenting the signing of the site selection agreement and aerial
photographs of the proposed site. This collection also contains a site selection status report published
in 1958 that details campus site searches for the Southern California Metropolitan Center Section
(Irvine) and the Southern Cross Section (San Diego).
This collection is arranged into three categories: correspondence, photos, and reports. Correspondence
is arranged chronologically.
Related materials can be found in the following collections:
· As-089
· Land Agreements between the University of California and the Irvine Company, AS-090
See also: Luckman (Charles) Associates. University of California Site Selection Study; a Report [to the Board of Regents]
on the Search for New Campus Sites, Southern California Metropolitan Center Section [and] South Cross Section. Los Angeles
: Charles Luckman Associates, [1959].
Collection Contents
Box 1 : 1-7
Correspondence, 1958-1964.
Box 1 : 8
Photographs
Box 1 : 8
Signing of agreement for Irvine Ranch site, 1960
Box 1 : 8
Aerial photographs of proposed campus site, 1960 .
Physical Description:
5 items.
Box 1 : 9
Reports
Box 1 : 9
Site Selection Status Report: Southern California Metropolitan Center Section and the Southern Cross Section, 1958