University of California, Santa Barbara, History and Antecedents Collection, 1880-2004

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Summary

Abstract:
The UCSB History and Antecedents collection brings together materials from multiple sources on the growth of the university from a small normal school at the turn of the 19th century to the large state university it is today. The collection is arranged generally chronologically and by subjects such as predecessor institutions, important figures in UCSB history, previous campuses, events, etc.
Extent:
19.5 linear feet (19 document boxes, 11 half-sized document boxes, 21 oversize flat boxes, 11 volumes, 1 map cabinet drawer, and 56 audiotapes)
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

University of California, Santa Barbara, History and Antecedents Collection. UArch 100. Department of Special Collections, Davidson Library, University of California, Santa Barbara.

Background

Scope and content:

The UCSB History and Antecedents collection brings together materials from multiple sources on the growth of the university from a small normal school at the turn of the 19th century to the large state university it is today. The collection is arranged generally chronologically and by subjects such as predecessor institutions, important figures in UCSB history, previous campuses, events, etc. Early materials were donated by Hazel Severy, Ednah Rich Morse, and Anna Blake. Photographs from these donations were separated to the University Archives Photographs collection for improved archival storage and easier retrieval.

There is no series in this collection specifically for the Mesa Campus, which was used by the UC Santa Barbara College mainly for its Industrial Arts department and is now the site of the Santa Barbara City College (SBCC). However, the University Archives Photographs collection contains a box of black and white photos of the campus. For historical information, see the Office of Public Information subject files, UArch 12 file on the Mesa Campus.

The collection is arranged in the following series:

Series I, Anna S. C. Blake Manual Training School, 1880-1977. The Blake School, located in Santa Barbara city, taught home economics skills (sewing, cooking, etc.) to women and wood Sloyd (a Scandinavian system of handicraft education). The series contains correspondence with Anna Blake, newspaper clippings, scrapbooks, and school ephemera such as event invitations, applications, etc. See also University Archives Photographs collection, Series I: Antecedents.

Series II, Ednah Rich, 1889-1936. Ednah Anne Rich (later Ednah Rich Morse) was the principal of the Anna S. C. Blake Manual Training School and the first president of the Santa Barbara State Normal School of Manual Arts and Home Economics. These files cover history of both institutions, and include school registers, correspondence, clippings, and typed descriptions of various aspects of the schools by Ednah Rich. See also University Archives Photographs collection, Series I: Antecedents and Series II: Riviera Campus.

Series III, Hazel Severy, 1898-1964. Teacher of science, home economics, and chemistry, and Chair of the Science and Mathematics Department at the Santa Barbara State Normal School. This series contains scrapbooks, school registers, account books, and clippings dating from the Sloyd School to the Santa Barbara State College era. See also FacP 37, Hazel Severy papers; University Archives Photographs collection, Series I: Antecedents and Series II: Riviera Campus.

Series IV, Santa Barbara State Normal School of Manual Arts and Home Economics, 1909-1974. In 1909, the city normal school became a state school, with curriculum focusing on teacher training in manual arts and home economics. The series contains date books, scrapbooks, clippings, early yearbooks, course announcements, some financial records, and school ephemera such as men's and women's applications, event invitations, attendance cards, Blue Books, etc.

Series V, Robert E. Easton, 1909-1956. Easton, a prominent businessman of the California Central Coast, was a member of the Board of Trustees for the Santa Barbara State Normal School of Manual Arts and Home Economics. This small series contains materials - including clippings, correspondence, and memos - on his involvement in that institution. See also Robert E. Easton collection, SBHC Mss 55.

Series VI, Santa Barbara State Teachers College, 1921-1939. In 1921, the State Normal School, with its two-year teaching training program, became a four-year college for teacher education. This series contains scrapbooks, program and course announcements, schedules of classes, early publications, and histories of the college.

Series VII, Clarence L. Phelps, 1929-1956. Clarence Phelps was the president then provost of the college for the period of 1918 to 1946, spanning its transformation from State Normal School to State Teachers College to the Santa Barbara State College. This small series contains correspondence, memos, and clippings, mainly from the State College era. See also Office of the Chancellor, Chancellors' records, UArch 17 - series on Clarence L. Phelps; Waldo Phelps oral history, OH 75.

Series VIII, Santa Barbara State College, 1930-1957. In 1930, the State Teachers College expanded its curriculum to become a liberal arts college. The series contains reports and publications, policies, press releases, committee minutes, and scrapbooks, most of which focus on college sports.

Series IX, Riviera Campus, 1945-1998. The Riviera Campus was home to the State Normal School, the Santa Barbara State College, and finally the early University of California, Santa Barbara College, from 1913 to 1954. This series contains mainly materials of the University of California, Santa Barbara College era, with files relating to the campus lease, buildings, etc. There is also a file on the Brooks Institute, which later took over the campus.

Series X, University of California, Santa Barbara College, 1941-1969. With Assembly Bill 956 the University of California system took over the State College in 1944 after lobbying by faculty like William H. Ellison and community members, most notably Pearl Chase and Thomas Storke. Subsequent expansion led to the relocation of the college to the current Goleta Campus at the former Marine Corps Air Station. The series contains a large number of clippings, as well as subject files on committees and groups, policy, courses of study, scholarships, and legislation. Includes a scrapbook of the Child Development Laboratory of the Department of Home Economics.

Series XI: Marine Corps Air Station, 1944-1992. In use during World War II and covering a large amount of land in Goleta, the MCAS was divided after the war for use by the city. The Santa Barbara Municipal Airport took over a portion of the air station and the expanding UC Santa Barbara College took over the barracks on the Goleta mesa for a new campus. This series contains files on the purchase of the property, maps, plans, and photos, histories of the MCAS, and The Beam, a publication by the Marines stationed there near the end of the war.

Series XII: Goleta Campus, 1949-1990. The Goleta Campus is the current home of UCSB, the site of a former Marine Corps Air Station. This series contains clippings, campus guides, maps, and photos, planning files and property reports, and a student paper on the history of the campus.

Series XIII: Accreditation Reports, 1952-1961. This series contains reports by the university and by the accreditation committees of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) and the California State Board of Education, tracking the progress of UCSB's accreditation and reaccreditation. Some duplicate copies of the reports have been separated and restricted from use as preservation copies.

Series XIV: University of California, Santa Barbara, 1957-1998. In 1958, the UC Santa Barbara College was designated by the UC system as a general campus and became the University of California, Santa Barbara. Today the university is home to five colleges, offers more than 200 majors, degrees and credentials, and in 2010 had an enrollment of 22,000 students with a faculty size of over 1,000. This series contains primarily clippings and articles, as well as posters and a UC flag.

Series XV: William H. Ellison, 1960. William Ellison was a UCSB professor of history from 1924 to 1948, and a prominent California history scholar. This series contains an unbound archival copy and a microfilm copy of his monograph Antecedents of the University of California, Santa Barbara, 1891-1944. This is a preservation copy and restricted from use, but bound copies are available in the Special Collections Reading Room and in the Main Library, LD781.S32 E45 1960.

Series XVI: Robert Kelley, c. 1977-1979. Robert Kelley received his Bachelor's degree from the UC Santa Barbara College in 1948 and joined the faculty in 1955 as a history professor. He was responsible for the creation of the Public History Program at UCSB. This series contains unbound archival copies of his two histories of the university, UCSB: A Narrative History, 1944-1977 and Transformations: The Santa Barbara Campus of the University of California. 1944-1979. These are preservation copies and restricted from use, but bound copies are available in the Main Library, Special Collections, and the Special Collections Reading Room (see "Related Materials" for call numbers).

Series XVII: Events, 1941-1995. This series contains subject files on a range of events throughout the history of the university, including the All University Arts Festival (1965), anniversaries, building dedications, campus conferences, centennials, Charter Day, the College Bowl (1963), Commencement, Convocation, Halloween in Isla Vista, inaugurations, the Krenek Festival (1979), natural disasters, the Olympics (1984), and University Day. Audiotapes of some events included.

Biographical / historical:

UCSB and its Antecedent Institutions

1898-1909 Anna S. C. Blake Manual Training School
1909-1919 Santa Barbara State Normal School of the Manual Arts and Home Economics
1919-1920 Santa Barbara State Normal School
1921-1934 Santa Barbara State Teachers College
1935-1944 Santa Barbara State College
1944-1958 Santa Barbara College of the University of California
1958- University of California, Santa Barbara

Presidents, Provosts and Chancellors

Date Name Title
1909-1916 Ednah Rich President
1916-1918 Frank Ball President
1918-1944 Clarence Phelps President
1944-1946 Clarence Phelps Provost
1946-1950 John Williams Acting Provost
1950-1955 John Williams Provost
1955 Clark Kuebler Provost
1956 John Snidecor Acting Provost
1956-1958 Elmer Noble Acting Provost
1958-1959 Elmer Noble Vice Chancellor and Acting Chief Campus Officer
1959-1962 Samuel Gould Chancellor
1962-1977 Vernon Cheadle Chancellor
1977-1986 Robert Huttenback Chancellor
1986-1987 Daniel Aldrich Acting Chancellor
1987-1994 Barbara Uehling Chancellor
1994- Henry Yang Chancellor

Campuses

Date Location Institution
1898-1913 Santa Barbara city Anna S. C. Blake Manual Training School
1913-1954 Riviera Campus SB State Normal School; SB State Teachers College; SB State College; University of California, Santa Barbara College
1940s-1954 Mesa Campus University of California, Santa Barbara College
1954- Goleta Campus University of California, Santa Barbara College; University of California, Santa Barbara

Acquisition information:
Various, including Hazel Severy, Ednah Rich Morse, Anna Blake, Easton family; mostly undetermined. Audio merged from University Archives Recordings in 2010.
Physical location:
Del Sur, University Archives, 25A (Boxes 1-29, 51); 30B (Boxes 30-50 and 1 oversize scrapbook); Annex 2 (audio).
Rules or conventions:
Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: a Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Boxes containing preservation copies of publications are restricted from use; please use alternate copies in collection or Reading Room. Audio stored off-site; advance notice required for retrieval.

Terms of access:

Copyright has not been assigned to the Department of Special Collections, UCSB. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Department of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which also must be obtained.

Preferred citation:

University of California, Santa Barbara, History and Antecedents Collection. UArch 100. Department of Special Collections, Davidson Library, University of California, Santa Barbara.

Location of this collection:
UC Santa Barbara Library
Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9010, US
Contact:
(805) 893-3062
special@library.ucsb.edu
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