Don Meadows papers, 1824-1994 and undated

Summary

Creators:

Abstract:

This collection comprises the personal materials, correspondence, writings, and extensive research files of historian and bibliophile Don Meadows. A small group of files documents the writings of Frances Meadows on Mary Refugio Carpenter Pleasants and other Orange County historical figures. The bulk of this collection consists of geographically organized archival materials, largely printed ephemera, dating from the early- to mid-19th through the late 20th centuries relating to Orange County, other Southern California counties, and Baja California. These materials reflect some of Meadows' historical interests and document a wide range of cultural, social, political, and economic facets of Southern California history. Principal topics covered include: agriculture and ranching; businesses; education; government and politics; health care; museums and cultural institutions; publishing, including newspaper publication; organizations and institutions; prominent people; area promotion, tourism, and advertising; real estate; recreation and entertainment; religion; transportation; water issues; and weather.

Extent:

89.3 Linear Feet (150 boxes and 109 oversize folders) and 3.5 unprocessed linear feet

Language:

English .

Preferred citation:

Don Meadows papers. MS-R001. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California. Date accessed.

For the benefit of current and future researchers, please cite any additional information about sources consulted in this collection, including permanent URLs, item or folder descriptions, and box/folder locations.

Background

Scope and content:

Materials include manuscripts and typescripts; notes; publications, such as clippings, newsletters, brochures, articles, reprints and offprints, pamphlets, directories, and catalogs; handbills and broadsides; maps; photographic prints and negatives; postcards; Meadows' personal book collection card catalog; and other printed ephemera.

Biographical / historical:

Don Meadows was a prominent Orange County historian and scholar. Meadows was born in Shoals, Indiana on October 20, 1897 and his family moved to Orange County, California in 1903. He graduated from Pomona College in 1922 and received an M.S. in Ecological Studies from the University of California, Berkeley in 1931. He worked as a high school biology instructor, which included a position at Avalon High School on Santa Catalina Island. In addition to his teaching career, he also worked as a field supervisor for a biological survey of the Channel Islands, and Park Naturalist at the Big Basin Redwoods and Calaveras Big Trees State Parks.

Meadows published and co-authored a number of works focusing on Southern California, Orange County, and Baja California history and amassed a substantial library and collection of archival materials to support his research. Various works were devoted to Orange County history, including his Historic Place Names in Orange County and Orange County under Spain, Mexico, and the United States, both published in 1966.

He maintained close relationships with many significant local historians, including William McPherson, Bill Kimes, Paul Bailey, Burr Belden, Ed Carpenter, and Charles Heiskell, and also interviewed a number of these and other individuals. He was an active member of many historical and bibliographic organizations, including the Zamarano Club, Los Compadres con Libros, Los Angeles Corral of the Westerners, the Death Valley '49ers, E Clampus Vitus, and the Orange County Historical Society.

Meadows moved to Yuba City, California in 1985, where he died on November 9, 1994. Additional biographical information can be found in Pamela Hallan Gibson, et al., Don Meadows remembered (Orange County: OCDC Press, 1995).

Missing Title
Date	Event
1897	Born in Shoals, Indiana.
1903	Moves with family to Southern California and settles in Orange.
1912	The Postscript
1917	Graduates from Orange Union High School.
1917	Enters Pomona College.
1918	Begins collecting publications and archival material on California, later expanding this personal research collection to include Baja California.
1918-1919	Serves in the Naval Reserve during World War I.
1921	First research trip to Baja California. Returns regularly after ca. 1934.
1921	Pro patria, a play of early California,
1922	B.A. Biology, Pomona College.
1922-1925	Reporter for newspapers in Pomona and Long Beach.
1925-1960	Printing, science, and biology teacher in Long Beach City schools.
1926	Marries Frances Matchette (1898-1989).
1926	Graduate student at Cornell University.
1927-1934	Teaches on Catalina Island.
1931	M.S. Ecological Studies, University of California, Berkeley.
1934	The magic isle, a pageant of Santa Catalina Island,
1936	President, Lorquin Entomological Society, Long Beach.
1936-1941	Field Supervisor, Los Angeles County Museum's Channel Islands Biological Survey.
1946-1952	Park Naturalist, Big Basin Redwoods and Calaveras Big Trees State Parks.
1950	Sells collection of 20,000 lepidoptera specimen to the United States National Museum.
1950	Member of Los Angeles Corral of the Westerners.
1950	Inducted into E Clampus Vitus.
1951	Baja California, 1933-1950: a biblio-history.
1952-1954	Founding Director, Long Beach Natural History Museum.
1954-1957	Member, Board of Consultants for Rancho Los Cerritos Museum, Long Beach.
1955	The American occupation of La Paz.
1955-1960	Instructor, California history, Orange Coast College.
1956-1957	Begins construction of adobe home in Panorama Heights, near Tustin and settles in Orange County.
1956	Sheriff, Los Angeles Corral of the Westerners.
1958	Co-founder, Los Compadres con Libros, Orange County bibliophilic association.
1959	Brand Book #8,
1961	Active in Orange County Historical Society, later serves on Board of Directors.
1961	Grand Noble Humbug, E Clampus Vitus, Platrix Chapter, Los Angeles.
1963	The house of Bernardo Yorba,
1963	Assists in organization of 1st Baja California Symposium.
1963	Historical volume and reference works: Orange County. Meadows' contributions later republished as Orange County under Spain, Mexico, and the United States.
1966	Historic place names in Orange County.
1966	Orange County under Spain, Mexico, and the United States.
1967	Southern California Quarterly.
1968-1969	Member, California Bicentennial Commission.
1972-ca. 1992	Works on "Orange roots" manuscript, a history of Orange County.
1972	Sells research library and archival collections to the University of California, Irvine Libraries.
1972	A California paisano: the life of William McPherson.
1972	Helps found Orange Community Historical Society.
1973	A friendly community near the foothills,
1973-1978	Member, Orange Community Historical Society, Board of Directors.
1975	Irvine, a city on Rancho San Joaquin.
1979	Los Compadres, the first twenty years.
1982	A gathering of tributes to Don Meadows.
1985	Moves to Yuba City, California. Several groups host celebrations in his honor, including the Los Angeles Corral of the Westerners, and the Orange County and Orange Community historical societies.
1994	Dies in Yuba City on November 9.

Acquisition information:

Acquired by gift of Don Meadows and by purchase, 1966 through 1996.

Processing information:

Preliminary processing by Special Collections and Archives staff from 1996 to 1998. Processing completed by Philip Brigandi and Special Collections and Archives student assistants, 2001. Guide edited by Laura Clark Brown in 1996 and Adrian Turner in 2002.

Arrangement:

This collection is organized into 5 series.

Series 1. Biographical material, 1900-1993. 0.9 linear ft.
Series 2. Writings, 1912-1982. 2.9 linear ft.
Series 3. Correspondence, 1906-1994. 8.8 linear ft.
Series 4. Writings of Frances Meadows, 1926-1989 (bulk 1970-1989). 1.3 linear ft.
Series 5. Research and ephemera files, 1824-1994. 63.5 linear ft.

The collection also contains 1 unprocessed accession:

Accession 2017.034. Library card catalog from Don Meadow's personal book collection., circa 1920-1980. 3.5 linear feet

Indexed terms

Subjects:: Cities and towns -- California -- Orange County
Agriculture -- California, Southern.
Cities and towns -- California -- Santa Barbara County
Cities and towns -- California -- Los Angeles County
Cities and towns -- California, Southern
Cities and towns -- California -- San Diego County
Photographic prints -- California -- 20th century.
Photographic prints -- California -- 19th century.
Newspapers -- California -- 20th century.
Slides -- California.
Negatives -- California.
Daguerreotypes -- 19th century.
Ambrotypes -- California -- 19th century.
Postcards -- California.
Clippings -- California -- 19th century.
Ephemera -- California.
Maps -- California.
Broadsides -- California.
Campaign paraphernalia -- California.
Newspapers -- California -- 19th century.
Names:: Online Archive of California
Meadows, Don -- Archives
Places:: California -- Politics and government -- History -- Sources.
California -- Social life and customs -- History -- Sources
California -- Biography
California -- History -- Sources

Access and use

Restrictions:: The collection is open for research.
Terms of access:: Property rights reside with the University of California. Copyrights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. For permission to reproduce or to publish, please contact the Head of Special Collections and Archives.