Guide to the San José State University Campus Events Collection
Processed by Kimberly Koshiyama.
SJSU Library Special Collections and Archives
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library
San José State University
One Washington Square
San José, CA 95192-0028
Phone: (408) 808-2062
Fax: (408) 808-2063
Email: special.collections@sjsu.edu
URL: http://library.sjsu.edu/sjsu-special-collections/sjsu-special-collections-and-archives
© 2010
Trustees of the California State University. All rights reserved.
Guide to the Guide to the San José State University Campus Events Collection
Collection number: MSS-2010-02-04
SJSU Library Special Collections and Archives
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library
San José State University
San José, California
- Processed by:
- Kimberly Koshiyama
- Date Completed:
- 2010
- Encoded by:
- Kimberly Koshiyama
© 2010 Trustees of the California State University. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Title: San José State University Campus Events Collection
Dates: 1925-2007
Bulk Dates: 1950-1970
Collection number: MSS-2010-02-04
Creator:
San José State University
Collection Size:
10 boxes, 5.92 linear feet
Repository:
San José State University Library
San José, California 95192-0028
Abstract: The San José State University Campus Events Collection, 1925-2007 (bulk 1950-1970) documents university and student sponsored
events, such as Spardi Gras, Homecoming, and the Centennial and Sesquicentennial celebrations of the university. The records
consist of print materials such as scrapbooks, flyers, calendars, newspapers, and brochures. This collection is arranged into
two series: Series I. Annual Campus Events and Special Events, 1944-2007 (bulk 1950-1970); and Series II. Miscellaneous Campus
Events, 1925-2006 (bulk 1950-1960).
Physical location: For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Languages:
Languages represented in the collection:
English
Access
The collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
Copyright is assigned to the San Jose State University Special Collections and Archives. All requests for permission to publish
or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Director of Special Collections. Permission for publication
is given on behalf of the Special Collections and Archives. Copyright restrictions may apply to digital reproductions of the
original materials. Use of digital files is restricted to research and educational purposes.
Preferred Citation
San José State University Campus Events Collection, MSS-2010-02-04, San José State University Library Special Collections
and Archives.
Processing Information
Collection processed by Kimberly Koshiyama. Finding aid EAD encoded by Kimberly Koshiyama. Reviewed by Danelle Moon and Erin
Louthen.
Project Information
This finding aid was created as part of the Survey and Cataloging Project, a two-year San José State University Library grant
project funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission. The project began in 2008.The Project Director
is Danelle Moon. The Project Archivist is Erin Louthen.
Organizational History
In 1857 the San Francisco Board of Education established Minns' Evening Normal School for current and prospective teachers
in the city. Named after its principal, George W. Minns, the institution was formally established as the first California
State Normal School by the State Legislature in 1862. A decade later, the Legislature voted to move the Normal School to San
José, and the school relocated to its new home on Washington Square prior to the fall term of 1872. After a fire destroyed
the Normal School building in 1880, the Legislature authorized $200,000 to construct a new building on the same site. Completed
in 1881, the building was commonly referred to as the Second State Normal School. After several names and curriculum changes,
Minns' Normal School is now San José State University, offering more than 134 bachelor's and master's degrees with 110 concentrations,
and is recognized as one of the top public universities granting such degrees in the West.
San José State University yearbooks, student handbooks and other event-related materials document a range of campus celebrations
and events that took place between 1925-2007. Noteworthy campus events at SJSU include the Spartan Revelries (1930s-1960s),
Spardi Gras (1929-1950) and Homecoming Week (1948-present). Spartan Revelries was an all-student college musical event written,
produced, and presented entirely by students, and all students on campus were eligible to participate in its production. Another
longstanding event in SJSU's past was Spardi Gras. According to the 1926 campus yearbook
La Torre, Spardi Gras (or Hobo Day on Washington's Birthday) was "a gala occasion of play, sport, and merrymaking, which met with
unprecedented participation by the entire student body, and was later authorized by the Executive Board as an annual event
because of its great success." Homecoming Week is still celebrated today on the SJSU campus, and includes events for students
and alumni such as a movie festival and a bonfire, and culminates with the annual Homecoming football game in Spartan Stadium.
Other significant events covered in this collection include the university's Centennial Celebration in 1957, and the Sesquicentennial
Celebration (150th Anniversary) in 2007.
Bibliography
Gilbert, Benjamin F, and Charles Burdick.
Washington Square, 1857-1979: The History of San José State University. San José: San José State University, 1980.
Walsh, James P.
San José State University: An Interpretive History, 1950-2000. San José: San José State University, 2003.
Related Material
San José State University Office of University Relations Records, MSS-2009-03-06, San José State University Library Special
Collections and Archives.
San José State University Archives Photograph Collection, MSS-2006-05-01, San José State University Library Special Collections
and Archives.
San José State University Public Relations and Publications Records, MSS-2009-03-11, San José State University Library Special
Collections and Archives.
Scope and Content of Collection
The San José State University Campus Events Collection, 1925-2007 (bulk 1950-1970) documents university and student sponsored
events, such as Spardi Gras, Homecoming, and the Centennial and Sesquicentennial celebrations of the university. The records
consist of print materials such as scrapbooks, flyers, calendars, newspapers, and brochures.
Arrangement
This collection is arranged into two series: Series I. Annual Campus Events and Special Events, 1932-2007 (bulk 1950-1970);
and Series II. Miscellaneous Campus Events, 1925-2007 (bulk 1950-1960).
Subject Headings
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
San José State University -- Anniversaries, etc.
San José State Teachers College -- History.
San José State College -- History.
California State University, San José -- History.
San José State University -- History.
Education, Higher -- California -- San José.
Collection Contents
Series 1:
Annual Campus Events and Special Events
1932-2007
(bulk 1950-1970)
Physical Description: 8 boxes
Series Scope and Content Summary
The materials in this series document sixty years of campus events and student life. The collection consists of San Jose State
University's 150th Anniversary Celebration programs, Spardi Gras scrapbooks and brochures, Centennial publications and speeches,
Bicentennial Celebration programs, 150th Celebration, Summer Festival of the Arts pamphlets and brochures, as well as handbooks,
scripts and programs pertaining to the Spartan Revelries.
Arrangement
This series is arranged by chronologically by event.
Box 1
Centennial Celebration and 75th Birthday Celebration 1937-1957
Box 2
Spardi Gras and Centennial Celebration 1944-1957
Box 3
Spartan Revelries 1950-1960
Box 4
Summer Festival of the Arts 1955-1966
Box 5
Centennial Celebration 1957
Box 6
Centennial Celebration 1957
Box 7
Bicentennial Celebration 1974-1976
Box 8
SJSU 150th Anniversary Celebration 2007
Series 2:
Miscellaneous Campus Events
1925-2007
(bulk 1950-1960)
Physical Description: 2 boxes
Subseries Scope and Content Summary
The materials in this series document various campus events at SJSU, sponsored by the university or outside organizations.
The series includes items such as Student Union and Union Art Gallery art exhibition programs and photographs, a Taiwanese
textile from the Youth Goodwill Mission of Taiwan, fraternity and sorority calendars, newspaper clippings documenting the
dedication of the Morris Dailey Auditorium, and programs and photograph albums dedicated to the Smothers Brothers event on
campus in 1981.
Arrangement
This series is arranged chronologically and alphabetically by event.
Box 1
Miscellaneous Campus Events - Chronological 1925-2007
Box 2
Miscellaneous Campus Events - Alphabetical 1975-1992
